• Koller Auctions
    Books & Autographs
    20 March 2024
    Koller, Mar. 20: DADA - Der Zeltweg. Redaktion: Flake, Serner, Tzara. Zürich, 1919. CHF 5,000 – 8,000
    Koller, Mar. 20: Jespers, Floris - Peeters, Jan. Kinderlust. Antwerpen, J. F. Bogaerts & R. R. Dodson, [1923]. CHF 2,000 – 3,000
    Koller, Mar. 20: FARBENLEHRE - Chevreul, M. E. De la Loi du contraste simultané des couleurs et de l'assortiment des objets colorés. Paris, 1839. CHF 4,000 – 5,000
    Koller, Mar. 20: BOTANIK - Schrank, Franz de Paula von. Flora Monacensis, seu plantae sponte circa Monachium nascentes. München, 1811-1818. CHF 20,000 – 30,000
    Koller, Mar. 20: French Bible manuscript. Latin manuscript on parchment. With 81 illuminated, ornamental and figurative initials. Paris, c. 1250. CHF 90,000 – 120,000
    Koller Auctions
    Books & Autographs
    20 March 2024
    Koller, Mar. 20: Gradual for the use of a Dominican convent. Latin manuscript on parchment, with Flemish rubrics in black and red. Mecheln (?), c. 1520. CHF 25,000 – 40,000
    Koller, Mar. 20: Calendar. French manuscript on parchment. With 12 large colored thorn leaf initials on a gold background. Paris, c. 1380/1390. CHF 40,000 – 60,000
    Koller, Mar. 20: Freud, Sigmund. Collection of 23 handwritten letters to Alphonse Maeder in Zurich. In addition to 4 letter drafts from Maeder to Freud. 2 February 1910 - 21 September 1913. CHF 50,000 – 80,000
    Koller, Mar. 20: Jung, Carl Gustav. Collection of 26 autograph and 3 typescript letters and a postcard to Alphonse Maeder. 1911-1918. CHF 20,000 – 30,000
    Koller, Mar. 20: Nietzsche, Friedrich, philosopher. Handwritten letter signed to Richard Wagner. Basel, September 27, 1876. CHF 20,000 to 30,000
  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas
  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.

Rare Book Monthly

Articles - July - 2015 Issue

Forty Years Going: The Newtown Book Sale

Photo courtesy of The Newtown Bee and Peter Marshall

For forty years, the Newtown Book Sale has been an annual event taking place in Newtown, CT, where an increasingly larger amount of material has appeared for sale over the years. In 1975, it began with a single table. This year? With the greatest amount of donations seen yet, two hundred and thirty-five tables will be used, and that number is not even enough to display the 120,000 books, CDs, DVDs, and LPs—the displays will have to be replenished from boxes as they empty. From humble roots the Newtown Book Sale has grown to become one of the largest book sales in New England.

The sale will take place July 11th through the 15th, and its terms of sale are progressive in nature. On Saturday the 11th and Sunday the 12th, items are sold for their listed price. On Monday the 13th, those prices are halved. On Tuesday the 14th, a bag of books costs $5. And on the final, half day, Wednesday the 15th, whatever remains is given away freely.

Detailed information on the sale can be found at its website.

The following is a select list of items from the Specials Room at the sale. Rare Book Hub members are most likely to find something of interest in this decidedly smaller selection of material compared to 120,000 assorted items.

  • Andrews, Roy Chapman. The New Conquest of Central Asia, narrative of the explorations . . . . NY: American Museum of Natural History, 1932. Ex library, marked discard, hinges shaken.  $250.00. 
  • [Armstrong, Louis] Goffin, Robert. Horn of Plenty. NY: Allen Towne Heath, 1947. Generically inscribed on fly, Best Wishes from Louis Armstrong 1947. Covers slightly bubbled. $225.00.
  • [Autographs] See [Armstrong], Beebe, Cody, [Dickinson], Guthrie, Kranz, Leuning, [Sheridan]
  • Beebe, William. Galapagos World’s End. NY: Putnam, 1924. Signed by Beebe on the title page. Newspaper clippings of Beebe tipped and loosely laid in. Early gift inscription dated March, 1924. Shaken, hinges cracked.    $95.00.
  • Biology of the Reptilia. London: Academic, 1969-82. Volumes 1-13. All very good. Vol 1-3 in jackets, vols 4-13 in glassine (vol  7 lacking). $500.00.
  • Bombay Natural History Society. Journal. Volumes 17-20, bound in seven. Color and B&W plates. ¾ leather. Very good. $200.00.
  • [Bookseller’s ticket], see [Westport, CT]
  • Buenos Aires. Fotoipias Peuser. Np:, np, nd. 2nd edition. 99 photographic plates. 7 copies in Worldcat. Pictorial front cover. VG. $200.00.
  • Christy, Cuthbert. Big Game and Pygmies. L: Macmillan, 1924. Armorial bookplate of William F Roper. Backstrip slightly darkened, some foxing.   $45.00.
  • Cody, William F. An Autobiography of Buffalo Bill. NY: Farrar Rinehart, nd. Illustrations by N C Wyeth. Jacket states “Popular Edition Ninth Large Printing”. Early ownership inscription on front pastedown, “Freddie Garlow / Grandson of / ‘Buffalo Bill’ / Aug 30th 1941.” VG with good DJ.  $25.00.
  • [Dell Mysteries] see [Paperback collectibles]
  • [Dickinson, Emily] Westfall, Douglas. The Life of Emily Dickinson. Orange, CA: Paragon, nd(2000). Stated first printing. “This book celebrates the 25th anniversary production of the stage play, The Belle of Amherst.” Generic 5-line inscription by star Julie Harris on tp. Together with large stiff covered playbill for the play, copyright 1976 but probably from a later performance. Both very good.  $25.00.
  • Dulac, Edmund, illus. Housman, Lawrence. Stories from the Arabian Nights. NY: Scribner, nd(1907). 50 tipped in illustrations, all with original guards. Red gilt stamped cloth. Pages 1-2, 15-16 separated but present, backstrip darkened.   $50.00.
  • _____. Queen of Roumania. The Dreamer of Dreams. L: Hodder Stoughton, nd(1915). Frontis listed at page 17. 6 tipped in illustrations, ll with original guards.Stamped green cloth, backstrip slightly darkened, otherwise very good.    $200.00.
  • _____. Quiller-Couch, Arthur. The Sleeping Beauty and other fairy tales. NY&L: Hodder Stoughton, nd(1910). 30 tipped in illustrations, all with original guards. Gilt stamped red simulated leather, slightest darkening to backstrip, minimal wear to lower corners.  $250.00.
  • _____. Sinbad the Sailor. [L]: Hodder Stoughton, nd(1911). 23 tipped in illustrations, all with original guards. Gilt and blue stamped brown cloth, backstrip slightly darkened.   $325.00.
  • Guthrie, A B, Jr. NY: Sloane nd(1947). Stated first printing. #177 of 500 copies “signed by the author for American booksellers and reviewers.” Fine, with fine trade DJ and numbered “autographed copy” special DJ, some wear.  $200.00.
  • [Herpetology] In addition to the items on this list we will have a large collection of herpetology books at the sale.
  • Hoffman, Abbie. steal this book. NY: Pirate Editions, nd. Paperback, inscribed inside front cover, yippie! Abbie, in felt tip marker. Slightest wear at top of spine, VG.   $250.00.
  • [Illustration] see Dulac, Rackham, Samivel, Tenngren
  • Keats, John. Lamia Isabella the Eve of Saint Agnes.  Waltham St Lawrence: Golden Cockerel Press, 1928.  #24 of 500. Engravings by Gibbings.  Original quarter sharkskin binding by Sangorski & Sutcliffe. Teg, other edges untrimmed. Interior fine, slight sunning to spine and wear to letters, slight discoloration (from leather stain?) at top of both boards.  $375.00.
  • Kranz, Gene. Failure Is Not an Option. NY: S&S, nd. With Mission Control label signed by Kranz attached to fly. VG in VG DJ.  $75.00.
  • Luening, Otto. The Odyssey of an American Composer.  NY: Scribner, nd(1980). 1st edition. Ffep has been torn out, reattached with tape, with 7-line inscription by Luening, 1981. Except as noted, very good. $65.00.
  • Moffat, Alex. W. The Galley Guide. NY: Motor Boat Publishing, 1923. Slight markings on covers, very good. $45.00.
  • [Motion Pictures] Christianson, Benjamin. The Devil’s Circus: Behind the Scenes of Circus Life, Based on the Motion Picture Story. NY: Jacobsen Hodgkinson, nd(c1926). Produced and Filmed by MGM, starring Norma Shearer. Three stills from the movie. Paperback, very good. $100.00.
  • Navy, U S. Submarine Chaser Manual. Washington: GPO, 1943. 3rd edition. Title page rubber stamped Received U.S.C.G Training Sta. Apr 8 1943 Fairhaven, Mass. Stiff blue covers. VG. $50.00.
  • New York Lyceum of Natural History. Annals.  NY: Lyceum, 1824-25. Volume I, Parts I and II. Iv, 192, 12 (Catalogue of Books in the Library), iv, [193]-410. 30 Plates (#29 misnumbered), 3 of them colored.  Some foxing throughout but largely on end papers. Marbled boards, half leather, backstrip slightly rubbed.  $250.00.
  • Nielsen, Kay, illus. Quiller-Couch, Arthur. In Powder and Crinoline. [L]: Hodder Stoughton, nd[1913]. 24 tipped in illustrations, all with original guards. Red and gray stamped pictorial cover. Early owner’s name date 1914. Backstrip darkened, slight wear to covers.   $400.00.
  • [Olympics] One World One Dream. In Commemoration of the Theme Slogan of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. Stiff pages, apparently designed to serve stamp collectors as well as Olympics visitors. A number of Chinese postal stamps have been loosely inserted in presumably the correct places, one space remains empty, with an unseparated sheet of 10 stamps loosely inserted at the beginning. Stamps not guaranteed complete. Very good with slipcase. $15.00.

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
  • Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Alken (Henry). Sporting Notions, first edition, T.McLean, 1832-33. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Bardi (Lorenzo). Nuova Raccolta delle piu interessanti Vedute della Citta di Firenze…, Florence, Lorenzo Bardi, [c.1840]. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Crawfurd (John). Journal of an Embassy from the Governor-General of India to the Court of Ava..., first edition, 1829. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Dawe (George, engraver). The Life of a Nobleman, first edition, Geo. Henderson, [c.1825]. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: [Doyle (John)], "H.B.". Political Sketches &c., 10 vol. including The Descriptive Key to H.B., Thomas McLean, [1829-51]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Eben (Adolphus Christian Frederick, Baron von) and Nicolaus Heideloff. Modèles de l'Uniforme Militaire Adopté dans l'Armée Royale de Suède, Rudolph Ackerman, 1808. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Geissler (J.G.G.) and Friedrich Hempel. Mahlerische Darstellungen der Sitten, Gebrauche und Lustbarkeiten bey den Russischen, Tartarischen…, 4 parts in 1, Leipzig and Paris, [1804]. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Hunt (Charles). Portraits of Winning Horses...of the Derby, Oaks, & St. Leger, from the Year 1842 to 1849…, Rock Brothers & Payne, 1849. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Kunike (Adolf Friedrich). Zwey hundert und sechzig Donau-Ansichten nach dem Laufe des Donaustromes…, Vienna, Leopold Grund, 1826. £3,000 to £5,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Lasinio (Carlo). [Matrimony], Florence, 1790. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Reinhardt (Joseph). A Collection of Swiss Costumes, in Miniature, second English edition, James Goodwin, [1828]. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Wengen (Gottfried Durst von). Die Öffentliche Maskerade Bamberg am Fastnachts-Montage 1833…, Bamberg, [1833]. £2,000 to £3,000.

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