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Articles - November - 2011 Issue

Remembering Burton Weiss

- by Bruce E. McKinney

Burton in Spain in 2006

Burton in Spain in 2006

Burton Weiss, the Berkeley bookselling flamboyant, died this past June and was buried in print a week or so ago.  His obituary in 'The Book Collector' trivialized his death.  In life he was a character and deserved better.

Burton was an extroverted gay man who wore his angst and phobias as campaign medals earned in his decades that started with closets and ended with Glee.  His sexuality was his sentence and punctuation, the subject of colloquies with himself and visitors, his life a story he did not tire of discussing.

He was in his own estimation a great book collector, his material housed in a closet that was unapproachable.  His taste was for absolute perfection, his admonition please don’t touch.

Booksellers and book collectors are under the skin the same.  One acquires his money in other ways and spends it on books.  The other acquires books and trades them for money.  He was both and an open book as well.  Some may not have liked his story but in his frank telling he brought more to life than he took.  I will miss him.  

Rare Book Monthly

  • <b><center>Sotheby’s<br>Year in Review</center></b> <b>Sotheby’s Year in Review:</b> A Rare Hebrew Bible with Micrographic Masorah. Sold: 1,514,000 USD <b>Sotheby’s Year in Review:</b> "The Freedman's Primer.” Sold: 241,300 USD <b>Sotheby’s Year in Review:</b> Smith, William. "The Map that Changed the World." Sold: 139,700 USD <b>Sotheby’s Year in Review:</b> Psalter, C13th. Illuminated Psalter. Sold: 330,200 GBP <b>Sotheby’s Year in Review:</b> Lincoln, Abraham. The abolition of slavery. Sold: 13,697,500 USD <b>Sotheby’s Year in Review:</b> Vergilius. Opera, Venice, Aldo Manuzio, 1501. Sold: 1,041,400 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Year in Review
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: A Rare Hebrew Bible with Micrographic Masorah. Sold: 1,514,000 USD
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: "The Freedman's Primer.” Sold: 241,300 USD
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: Smith, William. "The Map that Changed the World." Sold: 139,700 USD
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: Psalter, C13th. Illuminated Psalter. Sold: 330,200 GBP
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: Lincoln, Abraham. The abolition of slavery. Sold: 13,697,500 USD
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: Vergilius. Opera, Venice, Aldo Manuzio, 1501. Sold: 1,041,400 USD
  • <b><center>Case Antiques<br>2026 Winter Fine Art & Antiques<br>January 31 and February 1, 2026</center><b> <b>Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1:</b> 1775 Map of Virginia, Fry and Jefferson, ex-John Tyler. $6,000 to $8,000. <b>Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1:</b> Albrecht Durer Engraving, The Peasant Couple at Market. $3,400 to $3,800. <b>Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1:</b> 1777 Map: Wm. Faden, British Colonies in N. America, ex. John Tyler. $2,000 to $2,400. <b><center>Case Antiques<br>2026 Winter Fine Art & Antiques<br>January 31 and February 1, 2026</center><b> <b>Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1:</b> 30 Vols. George Eliot 1st Editions; Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Deronda, etc. $1,400 to $1,800. <b>Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1:</b> Celestial Floor Globe c. 1800. $1,400 to $1,800. <b>Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1:</b> Lewis Carroll: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, 1866 London MacMillan. $900 to $1,200. <b><center>Case Antiques<br>2026 Winter Fine Art & Antiques<br>January 31 and February 1, 2026</center><b> <b>Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1:</b> President Andrew Jackson Signed Patent, 1831. $1,000 to $1,200. <b>Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1:</b> Civil War Tintype of Calvin “Old Ballie” Walker, CSA 3rd TN Infantry, KIA, plus 3 Union Images. $800 to $1,000. <b>Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1:</b> 1855 Georgia Pocket Map, W. G. Bonner. $800 to $1,000. <b><center>Case Antiques<br>2026 Winter Fine Art & Antiques<br>January 31 and February 1, 2026</center><b> <b>Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1:</b> Audubon c. 1835 Birds of America Common Cormorant, Havell Edition. $800 to $900. <b>Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1:</b> George Eliot, Middlemarch, 1st Edition in 8 Volumes. $600 to $800. <b>Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1:</b> Four NASA Moon Survey Photos; 144M, 148M, 149M, 149H1. $400 to $600.
    Case Antiques
    2026 Winter Fine Art & Antiques
    January 31 and February 1, 2026
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: 1775 Map of Virginia, Fry and Jefferson, ex-John Tyler. $6,000 to $8,000.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: Albrecht Durer Engraving, The Peasant Couple at Market. $3,400 to $3,800.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: 1777 Map: Wm. Faden, British Colonies in N. America, ex. John Tyler. $2,000 to $2,400.
    Case Antiques
    2026 Winter Fine Art & Antiques
    January 31 and February 1, 2026
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: 30 Vols. George Eliot 1st Editions; Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Deronda, etc. $1,400 to $1,800.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: Celestial Floor Globe c. 1800. $1,400 to $1,800.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: Lewis Carroll: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, 1866 London MacMillan. $900 to $1,200.
    Case Antiques
    2026 Winter Fine Art & Antiques
    January 31 and February 1, 2026
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: President Andrew Jackson Signed Patent, 1831. $1,000 to $1,200.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: Civil War Tintype of Calvin “Old Ballie” Walker, CSA 3rd TN Infantry, KIA, plus 3 Union Images. $800 to $1,000.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: 1855 Georgia Pocket Map, W. G. Bonner. $800 to $1,000.
    Case Antiques
    2026 Winter Fine Art & Antiques
    January 31 and February 1, 2026
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: Audubon c. 1835 Birds of America Common Cormorant, Havell Edition. $800 to $900.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: George Eliot, Middlemarch, 1st Edition in 8 Volumes. $600 to $800.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: Four NASA Moon Survey Photos; 144M, 148M, 149M, 149H1. $400 to $600.

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