Rare Book Monthly Articles - October - 2020 Issue

Clarence Wolf: a personal history and perspective

This is the story of bookseller Clarence Wolf.  He’s possesses the spirit of the great booksellers, exemplifying why the field is so compelling.    I have been a bookseller for over fifty years. It’s the only thing I’ve ever done, and for that matter ever really seriously considered. Books have always been a constant throughout my life. Both of my parents were bookish; my father was an artist and writer, and my mother was an editor. There were famous bookmen in my family, one of whom was Edwin Wolf II. Edwin was my cousin and mentor. He began his career working for A.S.W. Rosenbach in the...

Books Located from $3 Million London Warehouse Heist in 2017

One of the largest and most mysterious of book heists in recent memory finally unraveled last month with the discovery of the books under the floorboards of a Romanian garage. The remarkably sophis...

The Discovery: Rare Books Stolen in London Recovered in Romania

Early last month (September), the Italian police arrested a 40-year-old Romanian national in Turin, Italy. The suspect was wanted in the UK for the formidable theft of 260 rare books in 2017. He’s ...

America at a Crossroads

This is not a political statement. Many of you do not appreciate political thoughts on a rare book website, and that is understandable. This is not about politics. It is way more important. It's ab...

WOMEN GET THE VOTE: Celebration of 100th Anniversary of Women’s Suffrage on View in Stunning Online Exhibit at SMU in Dallas

Southern Methodist University hosts a stunning centennial exhibit titled “Women’s Voices, Women’s Votes” now on view at the website of the DeGolyer Library in Dallas. The display offers an intellec...

An Arader Gallery Auction: Dr. Seymour Schwartz In memoriam

Graham Arader became a book and map dealer while an undergraduate at Yale. From the outset, he had the resources, imagination and exceptional memory characteristic of the greatest players in the fi...

Sometimes you encounter old friends: Prized Sang material at Sotheby’s ending October 14th

Even when the Elsie and Phillip Sang Collection was consigned to a series of auctions forty years ago there was a sense that history was being made when so many remarkable examples were offered in ...

How Do You Downsize Thousands of Books?

An article recently appeared in the Chicago Tribune titled Where to begin downsizing when you have thousands of books? The unnamed writer isn't the only one with this problem, although the quantity...

Christies Announces its Fall Various-Owner Books & Manuscripts Sale Online

Christies Announces its Fall Various-Owner Books Manuscripts Sale Online Christie's New York is very pleased to announce its fall various-owner online sale, Fine Printed Books Manuscripts Includ...

Update from the far side of the moon

Marvin Getman, the rare book fair impresario has some good news to report:  The Brooklyn Virtual Antiquarian Book Fair opened on September 4th, 2020 as proxy for what was a year ago an already a st...

Map Collector and Historian Dr. Seymour Schwartz, 92

Dr. Seymour Schwartz, age 92, of Rochester, New York, passed on August 28, 2020. Dr. Schwartz was a world-renowned surgeon. He practiced surgery from the 1950s until his retirement at age 72. He is...

Encouraging Outcomes at Doyle New York

Doyle held its first rare book auction of the Fall 2020 season, Fine Literature featuring The Library of Duncan Cranford, on September 30. 186 lots were offered in an Internet-only auction format, ...

A Very Unusual Way of Preserving Ancient Texts and Manuscripts

There is a process for preserving ancient books and manuscripts taking place in northern India that is unlike any other I have seen before. It is being done at Dar-ul-Uloom, an Islamic seminary in ...

Library Flooded by Hurricane Sally

These are difficult times for everyone. Covid 19 has brought much of the world to its knees. In America, climatic disasters seem to have become the norm. Hurricanes and tropical storms in formerly ...

Two New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

This was another slow month for new catalogues. The coronavirus has changed all sorts of businesses, with the question being, will it ever return to “normal” when the virus goes away? Most likely, ...

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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