Rare Book Monthly

Articles - April - 2012 Issue

At Christie's:  The Nebenzahl Collection - Remnants of a Golden Age

Ptolemaeus.  Geographia.  Basel:  Heinrich Petri, 1552

Ptolemaeus. Geographia. Basel: Heinrich Petri, 1552

Paul Saenger, George A. Poole III Curator of Rare Books and Collection Development Librarian of the Newberry wrote “Ken is an iconic figure among book dealers.  At once, he embodies the highest of ethical standards, bibliographical integrity, and great scholarly acumen, all combined with exemplary human decency.  Over the decades, his concern for nurturing the careers of young curators (Bob Karrow and Jim Akerman among them) has made him a remarkably effective Newberry trustee.”

In his professional career he founded some and joined other organizations and boards, the Phillip Society of the Library of Congress he founded with Eric Wolf, the Imago Mundi Society in London he served as president, the University of Chicago as board member, and Adler Planetarium and Science Museum as board member and its chairman, his eye and discernment setting him apart, his views and opinions important.  What he thought mattered.  Even today, four years beyond where Fulton J. Sheen said life begins he continues on the Board of the Newberry Library, one of the premier repositories of the history of the printed word.

He has also been a prolific writer and the 356 copies bearing his name – works currently on Abe - testify to this.  Many are his book and map catalogues from the 1960s and 70s.  Others are copies of the eight books he has authored and co-authored, many of them translated into German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Japanese.

They include:

Bibliography of Printed Battle Plans of the American Revolution, 1775-95

A Stone Thrown at the Map Maker

Atlas of the American Revolution / Map Selection and Commentary with Don Higginbotham

Maps of the Bible Lands:  Images of Terra Sancta Through Two Millennia

Mapping the Silk Road and Beyond:  2,000 Years of Exploring the East

Maps from the Age of Discovery:  Columbus to Mercator

Atlas of Columbus and the Great Discoveries:  Celebrating the 500th Anniversary of the Discovery of America

Maps of the Holy Land


Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby’s
    10 September 2024
    The Shem Tov Bible
  • ABAA
    75th Anniversary Virtual Book Fair
    September 25-27
    abaa.org/vbf
    ABAA
    75th Anniversary Virtual Book Fair
    September 25-27
    abaa.org/vbf
    ABAA
    75th Anniversary Virtual Book Fair
    September 25-27
    abaa.org/vbf
    ABAA
    75th Anniversary Virtual Book Fair
    September 25-27
    abaa.org/vbf
    ABAA
    75th Anniversary Virtual Book Fair
    September 25-27
    abaa.org/vbf
    ABAA
    75th Anniversary Virtual Book Fair
    September 25-27
    abaa.org/vbf
    ABAA
    75th Anniversary Virtual Book Fair
    September 25-27
    abaa.org/vbf
    ABAA
    75th Anniversary Virtual Book Fair
    September 25-27
    abaa.org/vbf
    ABAA
    75th Anniversary Virtual Book Fair
    September 25-27
    abaa.org/vbf
    ABAA
    75th Anniversary Virtual Book Fair
    September 25-27
    abaa.org/vbf
    ABAA
    75th Anniversary Virtual Book Fair
    September 25-27
    abaa.org/vbf
    ABAA
    75th Anniversary Virtual Book Fair
    September 25-27
    abaa.org/vbf
  • Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    26th September 2024
    Forum, 26 Sep: Bible, Arabic & Latin. Biblia Sacra Arabica, 3 vol., Rome, Tipografia della Congregazione di Propaganda Fide, 1671. £15,000 to £20,000.
    Forum, 26 Sep: Shepard (Ernest). "Wind in the Willows" Toad Escapes from Prison, original pencil drawing with watercolour, 1931. £15,000 to £20,000.
    Forum, 26 Sep: Economics.- Smith (Adam). An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, 2 vol., second edition, Printed for W. Strahan; and T. Cadell, 1778. £12,000 to £18,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    26th September 2024
    Forum, 26 Sep: Burma.- Burmese School (1870s). Folding manuscript, or parabaik, of festivities and processions, probably from the Court Workshop at the Royal Court at Manadaly, Burma, [c. 1870]. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, 26 Sep: More (Sir Thomas). La Description de l'Isle d'Utopie ou est comprins le Miroer des republiques du monde, first French edition, Paris, Charles l'Angelier, 1550. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum, 26 Sep: Botany.- Dioscorides (Pedanius). De medicinali materia libri sex, hand-coloured throughout, Frankfurt-am-Main, Chr. Egenolff, 1543. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    26th September 2024
    Forum, 26 Sep: World.- Blaeu (Johannes). Nova et Accuratissima Totius Terrarum Orbis Tabula Auctore Joanne Blaeu, engraved map, [c.1662]. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum, 26 Sep: Shelley (Mary). Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus, 2 vol., [second edition], Printed for G. and W.B. Whittaker, 1823. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum, 26 Sep: [Evans (Marian)] 'George Eliot'. A complete set of first editions of her works, uniformly bound in red morocco, 1858-1885 (30). £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    26th September 2024
    Forum, 26 Sep: Lewis (C.S.) [The Chronicles of Narnia], 7 vol., first editions, 1950-56. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, 26 Sep: Albertolli (Ferdinando). Porte di Città e Fortezze...di Michele Sammicheli, Milan, 1815. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, 26 Sep: Gregynog Press.- Euripides. The Plays, one of 25 specially-bound copies, this by George Fisher at the Gregynog Bindery, 1931. £4,000 to £6,000.
  • Il Ponte, Sep. 24-25: HAMILTON, Sir William - Campi Phlegraei. Napoli: 1779. € 50,000 - 80,000
    Il Ponte, Sep. 24-25: KIRCHER, Athanasius - Turris Babel. Amsterdam: 1679. € 3,000 - 5,000
    Il Ponte, Sep. 24-25: EDWARDS, George.London - Gleanings of Natural History. Londra: 1758-1764. € 7,000 - 10,000
    Il Ponte, Sep. 24-25: HEVELIUS, Johannes - Cometographia. Danzica: 1668. € 20,000 - 30,000
    Il Ponte, Sep. 24-25: KUPKA, Frantisek - Quatre histoires de blanc et noir. Parigi: 1926. € 10,000 - 15,000

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