Rare Book Monthly Articles - September - 2021 Issue

Rare Books: fair thee well

As Covid plays cat and mouse, the rare and collectible paper field adjusts to the day to day reality of health and regulation.  The field has long relied on in-person fairs but alas, not right now.  The ABAA, mindful of concerns about health, quickly cancelled the in-person ABAA Fair that was to take place September 9-12 at the New York Armory.  That fair was expected to see 6,000 to 8,000 visitors and many will be disappointed.  Literally days after cancelling the in-person fair, the association announced their next electronic book fair to provide a safe opportunity for collectors and inst...

A Valuable Book Disappeared from a Library...or Did It? A Sign of the Times

A valuable book disappeared from the collection of the Jewish Theological Seminary. Was it stolen, maybe lost? A rabbi set about to unravel this mystery. The answer turned out not to be what he exp...

The Ephemera Society of America: Strong Visuals, Nice People, Good Value

In years past ephemera was often seen as a stepchild to book collecting. Today interest in this field continues to increase, especially ephemera with strong graphic and design elements. Book collec...

Ken Karmiole, ABAA, downsizing

Ken Karmiole, after 45 years in the trade and 18 years in his current office in Santa Monica, he’s now 75, and moving, making room for the next generation of Hollywood stars.  To relocate, he’s dow...

Mark Funke, ABAA, expanding

Elsewhere we’re learning that Ken Karmiole is slowing down and downsizing.  Here you’re finding confirmation that old books have many lives and Ken’s inventory has now moved 400 miles joining Mark ...

Is This the Long-Distant Future of Collecting?

There was an article in Forbes recently that addresses the issue of changes in patterns of long-term collecting. This is not one of those will people be more interested in fiction or non-fiction, o...

A Rare Photograph of Susan B. Anthony is going up for Auction with 199 other lots

One Source Auctions of Canandaigua, New York is in the news because they are going to sell a rare photograph of Susan B. Anthony, the early and important American suffragette.  Stories about it hav...

Thomas Anburey, Half A Dozen Pamphlets and A Pair Of Scissors…

The first time I caught a glimpse at the frontispiece of Thomas Anburey’s Travels through the Interior Parts of America… (London, 1789), it was love at first sight. Entitled “An Indian Warrior Ente...

Overdue Library Book Returned... 300 Years Later

It took a while...   A package showed up in the mail at the Sheffield Cathedral in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, recently. Inside was a book. It was being returned to the cathedral library, which s...

A 100-Year Secret in San Francisco’s Sunset District

These days houses in the Bay area are bought and sold rapidly.  If your house hasn’t been rebuilt within 5 years it’s called tired.  It’s almost inevitable that recently purchased homes will be reb...

New York International Antiquarian Book Fair Announces Cancellation

NEW YORK CITY (August 2021): The New York International Antiquarian Book Fair (NYIABF)—officially sanctioned by Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA) and International League of An...

Sep. 15: Five Centuries of History at Old World Auctions

Over 800 items representing more than five centuries of history will be offered at Old World Auctions’ September 15 sale. Although the core focus of the sale is cartography, historical documents, p...

Christie's: The Exceptional Literature Collection of Theodore B. Baum

Christie's New York is pleased to announce The Exceptional Literature Collection of Theodore B. Baum, which will take place in two parts, live and online, this September. Part One will commence as ...

Yet Another Record Price for a Baseball Card - $6.6 Million

Are we in the midst of a bubble but don't realize it? The only way we can positively know that rapidly rising prices are a bubble is if they fall back down to Earth. Sometimes they do, sometimes th...

Nine New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

This month we review nine new bookseller catalogues. Shapero Rare Books features illustrated natural history. Librairie Clavreuil offers medicine, voyages, science, and literature. The Veatches Art...

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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