Rare Book Monthly Articles - March - 2017 Issue

The New York Book Fair March 9-12: the Big Casino

Once a year in the western world the stars align over New York for the New York Antiquarian Book Fair.  It always feels exciting and this year is no exception though a few book collectors may be absent because of this year’s change of schedule.  You are reading about this in the March issue of Rare Book Monthly because the fair is a month earlier due to scheduling conflicts with the Armory and the Fair’s strong preference to continue there rather than face moving to a new and possibly less appealing venue.   Now, with these plans and commitments in place it’s next up to the audience to jo...

Over $2 Million Worth of Rare Books Destined for California Book Fair Stolen from London Warehouse

In what must be the most audacious book theft since the Director of Italy's Girolamini Library stole thousands of antiquarian books under his care, thieves broke into a London warehouse on the nigh...

Lillian Cole: a bookseller weathers changes and challenges

By age 60 many dealers have lost a step and are on their second wind.  Lillian Cole was already 60 in 1985 when she stumbled into bookselling, driven by her love of books. Now, aged 92 and 32 years...

A Geezer’s Listicle: A Few Tips for Sellers from a Late Adopter

I confess, I’m old enough to remember the “Summer of Love” (and what’s more I was there). That makes me over 70 and counting. In the intervening 50 years the content of the antiquarian, rare and co...

An Auctioneer's Lot

In the Bay Area recently for the ABAA’s west coast show I met with Rupert Powell, Vice Chairman of Forum Auctions, and suggested he tell us his story, that is, his career in the book auction field ...

Caren Chooses Christie's, Cowans & Country

Eric Caren, the exceptional collector and sometime dealer, continues this month to explain his decisions about collecting and collections.  He’s recently decided to send some of his best material t...

The ABAA Fair at Oakland has now come and gone

One hundred and seventy three dealers in the books, manuscript, maps and ephemera categories gathered at the recent 3 day ABAA Fair in Oakland to exhibit and offer material to collectors, instituti...

The American Library Association States Its Opinions on Events in Washington

The upheaval in Washington has reached into even the American Library Association. The ALA is not the staid organization one might think, a bunch of cliché librarians telling everyone to be silent....

Auctions in New York in March

Over the past decade auction houses have concentrated their April New York sales around the ABAA fair; creating an auction house – ABAA fair synergy that produced good results on both sides.  This ...

Arader Galleries Spring Auction March 25th

Arader Galleries Spring Auction March 25th – 1pm at 1016 Madison Avenue, New York The Arader Gallery is holding an important sale of rare books and images on March 25th.  The sale will be hosted ...

It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World

    Men shall always comply with women’s desires... The power women have over men is not a negative thing; it’s a gift from Nature, it was meant for the happiness of mankind.   Jean-Jacques...

Mar. 9: Shakespeare, manuscripts, and more at Bonham's New York

Normally when I write previews of upcoming auctions for Rare Book Monthly, I can key in on a few highlights that top the estimates, and also look at the other end of the spectrum for material that ...

The Greatest Private Library of Judaica has been Sold to the National Library of Israel

What was believed to be the largest private collection of books of Judaica recently found a home after almost a decade of uncertainty. The problem was that the collection was too large and valuable...

A Busy Month for Forum Auctions

As spring begins to push away the vestiges of the northern hemisphere’s winter outside, inside auction rooms around the world, things are beginning to heat up. For London-based Forum Auctions, Marc...

Amazon Bookstores to Spread Coast to Coast – Is This Good or Bad for Booksellers?

Amazon has announced the planned opening of four more traditional, bricks-and-mortar bookstores for later this year. They join three already open on the west coast, Seattle, Portland, and San Diego...

So You Think Your Library Has Problems...

As libraries in the West fret over vexing issues such as funding limitations and changing usage patterns, it's sobering to remember how horrifically bad the situation can be in lands torn by war. I...

19 New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

This month we review 19 new catalogues, many prepared for the recent California Antiquarian Book Fair. Donald Heald Rare Books features Americana, travels voyages, natural history and more. Dougla...

Rare Book Monthly

  • 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
  • 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€

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