Rare Book Monthly Articles - October - 2016 Issue

Kurt Sanftleben: The Third Career

Kurt Sanftleben, at 63, has already retired from two careers.  In 1994, he retired as a lieutenant colonel from the United States Army with a little over twenty years of service, and in 2012 he retired once more, the second time from a civilian position as the Director of the United States Marine Corps Research Center.  Now, he has become a serious bookseller and since 2013 a member of the American Booksellers Association of America.  What went wrong?  We were dying to know.   The answer:  nothing.    He is a restless intellectual with a master’s degree and doctorate, who takes on subst...

Old Books / New Editions. Part I.

Welcome to this first installment in my three-part essay series on new editions of 17th-century women writers. We begin with Stuart courtier and poet-painter, Lady Anne Killigrew (London, 1660-1685...

Finding Lots at Auction Part II – An Even Easier Way

Last month, we wrote about the easy way to find books and ephemera offered at over 200 auction houses that regularly or occasionally hold sales in the field (click here). Simply enter your keywords...

40th Annual Boston Antiquarian Book Fair Set for October 28-30

The 40th annual Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair is scheduled a bit earlier than usual this year, so mark it on your calendars now before it slips by. The dates are Friday – Sunday Octobe...

Oct. 5: A Landmark Hunting Sale at Sotheby's Paris

Collectors with a passion for hunting have probably been salivating ever since Sotheby’s Paris announced their sale of Bibliothèque cynégétique du Verne : Vénerie, fauconnerie, chasses, or, the Hun...

Police Seek Thief Who Stole Two Books Worth $20,000 from Manhattan Shop

New York City police recently asked for help identifying a man who stole two valuable books from a Manhattan bookseller. The crime occurred back on April 16, but pictures from a surveillance camera...

John Windle Antiquarian Books Opens William Blake Gallery In San Francisco

Though in his own day William Blake (1757-1827) was little known and often ridiculed as "mad," he is today widely considered to be one of England’s most important creative figures. A self-styled my...

Daillant de la Touche... Do You Have What It Takes?

“There are men whose silhouettes vanish in time,” writes Cristina Trinchero in the collective study La ricerca della verità. Jean_Daillant_de_La_Touche “That’s what happened to François-Jean Dailla...

Amazon to Open Fourth Bookstore in Chicago. But Why?

Amazon has announced plans to open a fourth real, live, bricks-and-mortar bookstore. This next one will be in Chicago. It joins the first, and only store open at the moment, in their hometown of Se...

Oct. 18: Early Printed, Medical, Scientific & Travel Books at Swann

With fall officially upon us, the auction field has shaken off its quiet summer slumber and the calendar is once again chock-full of sales. One such sale taking place this month is Swann Auction Ga...

Syrian Counterfeiters Prey on Those Who Try to Buy Stolen Books

Here is a story about rare and antiquarian book theft that leaves you not sure whether to feel good or bad. It combines some of the worst imaginable thefts with, perhaps, some just rewards for thos...

One Day You Will Be Able to Read Your Books Without Ever Opening the Pages

A recent announcement from the News Office at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) revealed progress in developing a device that will one day allow books to be read without ever turning thei...

Eleven New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

This month we review 11 new book catalogues. Dorothy Sloan Rare Books offers a massive catalogue on ranching, mostly in the American West. High Ridge Books has a collection featuring American maps ...

Rare Book Monthly

  • Gonnelli
    Auction 51
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 14st 2024
    Gonnelli: Leonard Bramer, The descent from the cross, 1634. Starting price 3200€
    Gonnelli: Gustav Hjalmar de Morner Karel, Rome’s Carnival, 1820. Starting price 1000€
    Gonnelli: Various Authors, Mater Dolorosa, 1700. Starting price 200€
    Gonnelli: Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Carcere Oscura, 1790. Starting price 180€
    Gonnelli: Jan Brueghel, Marine fauna view, 1620 ca. Starting price 28000€
    Gonnelli: Ippolito Scarsella, Mary and Christ with Sant Rocco and Arch-Angel Michele,1615. Starting price 8000€
    Gonnelli: Hans Sebald Beham, Adam and Eve, 1543. Starting price 600€
    Gonnelli: Francesco Burani, Baccanale, 1630. Starting Price 280€
    Gonnelli: Giuseppe Maria Mitelli, Plance from Ventiquattr’ore, 1675. Starting price 800€
    Gonnelli: Giuseppe Angeli, Livorno’s Plan, 1793. Starting price 240€
    Gonnelli: XIV Century Artist, Capital “N” letter, 1350 ca. Starting price 340€
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD
  • Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Isaac Newton on chemistry and matter, and alchemy, Autograph Manuscript, "A Key to Snyders," 3 pp, after 1674. $100,000 - $150,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Exceptionally rare first printing of Plato's Timaeus. Florence, 1484. $50,000 - $80,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: On the Philosophy of Self-Interest: Adam Smith's copy of Helvetius's De l'homme, Paris, 1773. $40,000 - $60,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: "Magical Calendar of Tycho Brahe" - very rare hermetic broadside. Engraved by Merian for De Bry. c.1618. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Author's presentation issue of Einstein's proof of Relativity, "Erklärung der Perihelbewegung des Merkur aus der allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie." 1915. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: First Latin edition of Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed. Paris, 1520. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: De Broglie manuscript on the nature of matter in quantum physics, 3 pp, 1954. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Tesla autograph letter signed on electricty and electromagnetic theory. 1894. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Heinrich Hertz scientific manuscript on his mentor Hermann Von Helmholtz, 1891. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: The greatest illustrated work in Alchemy: Micheal Maier's Atalanta Fugiens. Oppenheim, 1618. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Illustrated Alchemical manuscript, a Mysterium Magnum of the Rosicurcians, 18th-century. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Rare Largest Paper Presentation Copy of Newton's Principia, London, 1726. The third and most influential edition. $60,000 - $90,000

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