Rare Book Monthly
Articles - February - 2004 Issue
(e)Bay Watch
Rare printed order was issued from Norwich, Ct, on February 20th, 1817. $26
Next there’s this:
“Collectible ALMANACK by NATHANIEL AMES for the year 1758. It was published by J. Draper, Boston, MA. The almanac measures approx. 4 x 6.25." The 14 inside pages contain moon phase charts "calculated for the meridian of Boston in New England." Also includes a 2 page article written by the author. This reference served as a model for Ben Franklin's "Poor Richard's Almanack." This item was purchased from the estate of a former history professor."
These early New England Almanacs have been selling for significant money. I’m probably willing to bid $75 for this but I won’t expect to get it. The prices for 18th century almanacs have been strong. This auction listing has a shipping calculator so I put in my zip code and learn I’ll be paying $3.85 for P&H if I’m the successful bidder. This auction doesn’t close for 9 hours and 23 minutes so I have plenty of time.
On the MatchMaker control panel there are three search options for other categories of eBay material we don’t yet automatically search: Ephemera, Manuscripts and Documents. Two or three times a week I read the listings in each of these sections to find material of interest. These lots I can only currently save to my eBay Wish List because they aren’t yet part of the ÆD record system. That makes me grateful to have the same capacity in MatchMaker mainly for books. I need it. If you find a run of ephemera there can be 20 interesting items from a single consignor.
Next there are two pieces of ephemera – both 1863 New York Fire Department Civil War Exemption documents. I recently read The Better Angel, the biography of Walt Whitman in the Civil War years, by Roy Morris, Jr. so I have a vivid sense of life in New York at the time, the risk of fire, and the occasional use of exemptions for local service to avoid military conscription. This piece fits but if I start collecting this stuff my wife is going to start referring to me by Archie Bunker’s nickname for his son-in-law. I’ll pass.
The next item is tough. I collect Poughkeepsie and this is very main stream for me: a 1837 almanac. But it is missing the front page. I’ll call it a research piece and bid up to $20. Shipping will be $2.50 if I get it. We’ll see
The next item is interesting but not exactly main stream. It’s a piece of ephemera: a Sing Sing Public Schools Faithful Study Certificate dated September 22, 1899. My brother would like this but if I give it to him I’ll have to frame it. The current bid is $7.60. Shipping will be $1.50. There are 7 hours and 40 minutes left. Now I’m thinking about The Big House with Robert Montgomery (1932), Angels With Dirty Faces with James Cagney(1938) and 20,000 Years at Sing Sing with Spencer Tracey (1932). Yes, this item is worth a try. For those who haven’t heard of Sing Sing, it's a very famous prison, located on the Hudson River, north of New York.
Next there is The Rhymes of Ironquill, a Topeka, Kansas imprint. A closer look shows this is the 10th edition which is kind of like finishing 10th in a horse race. A glance at ABE shows there are 40 copies available and 6 of them are the 1885 first editions. A book this common needs to be a signed first edition in pristine condition to be interesting. I won’t be bidding on this one.
Rare Book Monthly
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Sotheby’s
Shelf Life: Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper from the Library of Stanley J. Seeger and Christopher Cone
25 June – July 7Sotheby’s, July 7: Ludwig van Beethoven. Autograph sketches for the overture "Die Weihe des Hauses", op.124, [1822], UNPUBLISHED. £150,000 to £200,000.Sotheby’s, July 7: Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice, 1813, first edition, 3 volumes, contemporary half calf. £50,000 to £70,000.Sotheby’s, July 7: Walt Whitman. Leaves of Grass, Brooklyn, 1855, first edition, first issue, original green cloth, the Doheny copy. £50,000 to £70,000.Sotheby’s, July 7: Binding—Sangorski & Sutcliffe—Omar Khayyam. Rubaiyat, London, 1872, third edition, in a magnificent jewelled Peacock binding. £15,000 to £20,000.Sotheby’s, July 7: George Eliot. Middlemarch, Edinburgh and London, 1871, first edition in the original parts. £20,000 to £30,000. -
Forum Auctions
The Private Library:
Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
July 9, 2026Forum, July 9: Hassall (Joan) A large collection of over 300 original woodblocks of engravings for various books, v.d., with Hassall's engraver's glass water-globe (Qty) - Est. £10,000-15,000Forum, July 9: Eragny Press.- [Bradley (Katherine Harris) & Edith Emma Cooper], "Michael Field." Whym Chow, Flame of Love, one of only 27 copies, inscribed by Bradley, the rarest book from the press, 1914. - Est. £3,000-4,000Forum, July 9: [Moore (Thomas Sturge)] [Wood Engravings], 71 wood-engravings printed by David Chambers from the original blocks, the only set on Japanese Hosho paper, from an edition of 5 sets, [1970]. - Est. £3,000-4,000Forum Auctions
The Private Library:
Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
July 9, 2026Forum, July 9: La Fontaine (Jean de) Contes et Nouvelles en vers, 2 vol., engraved plates after Eisen, fine early 19th century blue morocco, gilt, by Bradel l'ainé, Amsterdam [Paris], 1762. - Est. £2,000-3,000Forum, July 9: Erotica.- Prostitution.- Pretty Women of Paris (The); Their Names and Addresses, Qualities and Faults..., [Paris], privately printed at the Press of the Prefecture de Police, 1883. - Est. £3,000-4,000Forum, July 9: Vale Press.- Ricketts (Charles) & Lucien Pissarro. De la Typographie et de l'Harmonie de la Page Imprimée…, [one of 216 copies], bound in dark blue morocco tooled in gilt, by Sarah T.Prideaux, 1898. - Est. £1,000-1,500Forum Auctions
The Private Library:
Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
July 9, 2026Forum, July 9: Martin (John) Illustrations of the Bible, complete set of 20 mezzotints, good impressions, rarely found in early states, [c.1831-1835]. - Est. £1,000-1,500Forum, July 9: Golden Cockerel Press.- Four Gospels of the Lord Jesus Christ (The), one of 500 copies, Mary Gill's copy, Waltham St. Lawrence, 1931 with a signed proof of engraving on japon numbered 10/10 (2) - Est. £5,000-7,000Forum, July 9: Boccaccio (Giovanni) The Decameron, 3 vol., vol.1 extra-illustrated by John Buckland Wright with c.150 erotic original drawings in pen & ink and pencil, 1886 [extra-illustrated c.1940]. - Est. £10,000-15,000Forum Auctions
The Private Library:
Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
July 9, 2026Forum, July 9: Cox (Morris) Collection of Gogmagog Press Books, 35 vol., rare complete collection of printed books issued by the press, limited editions, most signed by Cox, 1957-83. - Est. £10,000-15,000Forum, July 9: Wynkyn de Worde.- [Terentius Afer (Publius)] [Comedie...], [Paris, Josse Badius: sold in London by Wynkyn de Worde, & others], [15 July 1504]. - Est. £4,000-6,000Forum, July 9: Mosley (James) Ornamented Types. Twenty-Three Alphabets from the Foundry of Louis John Pouchée, 2 vol., one of 10 copies for presentation, from an edition of 210, 1992-93. - Est. £1,000-2,000 -
Freeman’s, June 30. Thomas Jefferson’s “Birth of the New Nation” letter, carried to Paris with the Treaty of Peace, by a Jewish patriot. $100,000-200,000.Freeman’s, June 30. “The rockets’ red glare.” A British midshipman’s log recording the bombardment of Fort McHenry. $60,000-80,000.Freeman’s, June 30. The Critical Promotion of a Naval Hero, Oliver Hazard Perry Commission signed by James Madison, 1812. $40,000-60,000.Freeman’s, June 30. Born in the USA: First Day of Printing in the United States, July 4, 1776. $15,000-25,000.Freeman’s, June 30. One of the Earliest Printed Announcements of American Independence, in the Exceedingly Rare Original Wrappers, 1776. $10,000-15,000.Freeman’s, June 30. "The Two Big Guns of the N.Y. Yanks": A Striking Type 1 Press Photograph of Lou Gehrig's Hands. $8,000-12,000.Freeman’s, June 30. A Unique Contemporary Manuscript Account of Joseph Smith's Final Words to His Followers, the Day Before his Violent Death. $8,000-12,000.Freeman’s, June 30. The State of Minnesota Officially Certifies the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution Of the United States. $8,000-12,000.Freeman’s, June 30. Extraordinarily Large Manuscript Petition Signed by a Who's Who of Colonial New York to Queen Anne from the Colony of New York. $8,000-12,000.Freeman’s, June 30. Mickey Mantle's First Cover: The Earliest Front-Page Newspaper Image of Mickey Mantle, "Something Good from Joplin". $8,000-12,000.Freeman’s, June 30. A Call to Arms in the Months Following the Declaration of Independence: An Early Continental Army Recruitment Poster. $6,000-9,000.Freeman’s, June 30. Samuel Jones, the Statesman Behind the Newly Discovered "Jones Declaration": His Annotated Set Used in His Working Law Library. $6,000-9,000.