Rare Book Monthly

Articles - January - 2004 Issue

Livres Anciens: An Exceptional Catalogue

[Briand].  Dictionaire des Alimens, Vins et Liquors,...

[Briand]. Dictionaire des Alimens, Vins et Liquors,...


This year’s Chamonal Christmas Catalogue carries an implicit message of faith that the confidence that Mr. Chamonal places both in his presentation and in the material he presents are worth careful consideration and a place on the collector’s shelves. Certainly each item offered earns the continuing distinction of having been selected for participation. Let’s hope the market begins to more seriously capture this information and to include it as, in the years to come, these books come back to the market place.

This year’s Christmas presentation in eleven parts includes:
  1. Livres Precieux 1 to 41
  2. Litterature 42 to 116
  3. Gastronnomie 117 to 165
  4. Vin 166 to 200
  5. Medecine 201 to 241
  6. Sciences 242 to 299
  7. Varia 300 to 398
  8. La France 399 to 494
  9. Voyages avant 1800 495 to 548
  10. Voyages XIX siecle 1. 549 to 621
  11. Voyages XIX siecle 2. 622 to 676


To Monsieur Chamonal congratulations are in order.

Some examples:

Une importante compilation historique du XVIIIc siècle, avec une relation de Louisiane
518bis.   [LOUISIANE]
RECUEIL A, B, C. D (...) X, Y, Z, &. A Fontenoy, Luxembourg. Paris Bruxelles, etc., 1745-1762, 24 parties en 12 vol. in-12, bas, fauve marbrée, dos à nerfs, caissons ornés de fleurons, pièce de titre de maroquin rouge, roul. Sur les coupes, tr. Rouges [Rel. de l’époque], rest, lég., qq. cahiers bruins

  Barbier IV 49, Sabin 68417. Edition originale et série complète.

  Importante compilation de pièces historiques “fugitatives”, sur les sujets les plus divers. Elle a été publiée G.-L. Pérau, A.-G. Meusnier de Querlon, l’abbe B. Mercier Saint-Léger, l’abbé J. de La Porte, Et. De Barrazan et B.-C. Gaillard de Graville. “L’abbé de Saint-Léger n’est éditeur que du recueil C” [Barbier].

Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby’s
    Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana
    27 January 2026
    Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: An extraordinary pair of books from George Washington’s field library, marking the conjunction of Robert Rogers, George Washington, and Henry Knox. $1,200,000 to $1,800,000.
    Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: An extraordinary letter marking the conjunction of George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette, and Benjamin Franklin. $1,000,000 to $1,500,000.
    Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: Virginia House of Delegates. The genesis of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. $350,000 to $500,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana
    27 January 2026
    Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: (Gettysburg). “Genl. Doubleday has taken charge of the battle”: Autograph witness to the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, illustrated by fourteen maps and plans. $200,000 to $300,000.
    Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: President Lincoln thanks a schoolboy on behalf of "all the children of the nation for his efforts to ensure "that this war shall be successful, and the Union be maintained and perpetuated." $200,000 to $300,000.
    Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: [World War II]. An archive of maps and files documenting the allied campaign in Europe, from the early stages of planning for D-Day and Operation Overlord, to Germany’s surrender. $200,000 to $300,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    29th January 2026
    Forum, Jan. 29: Plato. [Apanta ta tou Platonos. Omnia Platonis opera], 2 parts in 2 vol., editio princeps of Plato's works in the original Greek, Venice, House of Aldus, 1513. £8,000-12,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Book of Hours, Use of Rome, In Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum, [Southern Netherlands (probably Bruges), c.1460]. £6,000-8,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Correspondence and documents by or addressed to the first four Viscounts Molesworth and members of their families, letters and manuscripts, 1690-1783. £10,000-15,000
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    29th January 2026
    Forum, Jan. 29: Shakespeare (William). The Dramatic Works, 9 vol., John and Josiah Boydell, 1802. £5,000-7,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Joyce (James). Ulysses, first edition, one of 750 copies on handmade paper, Paris, Shakespeare and Company, 1922 £8,000-12,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Powell (Anthony). [A Dance to the Music of Time], 12 vol., first editions, each with a signed presentation inscription from the author to Osbert Lancaster, 1951-75. £6,000-8,000
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    29th January 2026
    Forum, Jan. 29: Chaucer (Geoffrey). Troilus and Criseyde, one of 225 copies on handmade paper, wood-engravings by Eric Gill, Waltham St.Lawrence, 1927. £3,000-4,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Borges (Jorge Luis). Luna de Enfrente, first edition, one of 300 copies, presentation copy signed by the author to Leopoldo Marechal, Buenos Aires, Editorial Proa, 1925. £3,000-4,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Nolli (Giovanni Battista). Nuova Pianta di Roma, Rome, 1748. £6,000-8,000
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    29th January 2026
    Forum, Jan. 29: Roberts (David). The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, & Nubia, 3 vol., first edition, 1842-49. £15,000-20,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Blacker (William). Catechism of Fly Making, Angling and Dyeing, Published by the author, 1843. £3,000-4,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Herschel (Sir John F. W.) Collection of 69 offprints, extracts and separate publications by Herschel, bound for his son, William James Herschel, 3 vol., [1813-50]. £15,000-20,000

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