Rare Book Monthly Articles - March - 2016 Issue

AbeBooks: Committed to Rare Books and Encouraging the Next Generation of Collectors

AbeBooks, the book listing site or "aggregator," appeared twenty years ago and quickly became the leader in the online revolution in bookselling. It's every move was debated, analyzed, and controversial to at least someone. Today, it has become a ubiquitous part of bookselling. It is often taken for granted. AbeBooks has become, to many, what physical bookstores were to an earlier generation of booksellers. They might print catalogues, attend shows, advertise in trade publications, but practically everyone had a physical store. It was the starting point of bookselling. Today, many bookselle...

Buying Every Day

On a recent day on eBay there was an interesting mix of Hudson River Valley material.   Post card of Zepf’s Hotel Restaurant [near Poughkeepsie].  Buy it now $18.50   An engraving of Esopus La...

Louis Weinstein: Noted Heritage Book Shop Partner Retires and Becomes Hawaiiana Collector on Maui

There are many things remarkable about Louis (Lou) Weinstein, a former partner in Heritage Book Shop Inc. on Melrose Ave. in Beverly Hills, CA.   For one thing, when Weinstein started in business...

The San Francisco Book, Print & Paper Fair

I spent Friday afternoon, the 5th of February, in San Mateo at the County Event Center to attend the San Francisco Book, Print Paper Fair.  I found the show appealing.  I was one of the lucky ones...

Dr. Charron, Barking Fools...

In 1783, Jean-François Bastien put out an edition of Pierre Charron’s De La Sagesse (1) to set the record straight. He argued that all former editions had been incorrect and unfaithful to the first...

All the Stock is Gone, at least for a time

Larry Van de Carr of Chicago, a trusting soul and ABAA member, drove his 2008 Econoline panel van west for the recent ABAA fair in Pasadena to participate in the sturm und drang of a serious book f...

Bonhams presents... The Charlton Heston Collection

If you've ever had a fantasy of being Charlton Heston, or at least owning a large amount of his things, Bonhams has you covered this month. Dubbed TCM Presents... The Charlton Heston Collection, th...

Is Amazon Opening 300-400 Retail Bookstores?

Is Amazon really going to open 300-400 bookstores? Isn't Amazon's success based on not having to pay the costs of physical stores, allowing them to undercut everyone else on price? Late last year, ...

March 17th@Bloomsbury Auctions: 20th Century Books and Works on Paper

Heralding the end of winter, March is a busy month for most auction houses, and for Dreweatts Bloomsbury Auctions, this rings especially true. With no less than five auctions dealing in works on p...

Destructive Book Thief Convicted Again

A 51-year-old Irish man has been convicted of possessing 67 stolen books, taken from an ancient estate in Kildare. Andrew Shannon is a man with a checkered past. He is the type of person the word "...

The Catskill Mountain House: life moves on

Several months ago I was offered a group of legal documents relating to the Catskill Mountain House, the 19th century resort that once perched on mountain cliffs a few miles west of the Hudson Rive...

A Clever Use for Some Unwanted Old Books

What do you do with those old books no one wants that are taking up space on your shelves or in your attic? Here is a use for a few of them, for which we are indebted to the Toronto Star. It won't ...

Fifteen New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

This month we have 15 new catalogues to review. The George S. MacManus Company offers a catalogue of travels and exploration, with an American tilt. Hordern House features early travels and voyages...

Rare Book Monthly

  • 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
  • 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

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