Lux Mentis logo for Ian Kahn Bookseller (self identified recovering lawyer).
I’m not a big Facebook fan; I have a page but rarely post; but I absolutely salivate over Ian’s Facebook pictures.
It seems after a hard day of buying and selling high end books (and schlepping them to the hall and packing them all up and shipping them on down the road) Kahn and friends all adjourn to some fabulous café or restaurant for the post mortems and fellowship.
As the food arrives, he snaps a few photos on his iPhone and posts them for the rest of us to enjoy.
Trust me, they are all wonderful. The ones he sent from Maxim’s in Paris were incredible. You want fantasy? Imagine a soft golden light, superlative French cuisine and good company. Forget about the mangos and papayas just falling into your lap, these photos really evoked a style of life (and eating) I wish to be able to afford.
According to Ian the pictures are really secondary to the experience of getting together with good friends and having a good meal. “Somehow the conversation just seems to flow.”
There are some drawbacks to this life style, but not many. He admits to being a little overweight, “but it’s solid,” he says. He also mentioned his wife complains because he’s “in New York (SF, LA, London, Dublin, Paris) more than he is in Maine.”
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.
![<b>Sotheby’s, Jan. 27:</b> [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.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/9d2762bc-9f26-47ef-96de-1c28070e19f6.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Jan. 27:</b> [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.")