• Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Alken (Henry). Sporting Notions, first edition, T.McLean, 1832-33. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Bardi (Lorenzo). Nuova Raccolta delle piu interessanti Vedute della Citta di Firenze…, Florence, Lorenzo Bardi, [c.1840]. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Crawfurd (John). Journal of an Embassy from the Governor-General of India to the Court of Ava..., first edition, 1829. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Dawe (George, engraver). The Life of a Nobleman, first edition, Geo. Henderson, [c.1825]. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: [Doyle (John)], "H.B.". Political Sketches &c., 10 vol. including The Descriptive Key to H.B., Thomas McLean, [1829-51]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Eben (Adolphus Christian Frederick, Baron von) and Nicolaus Heideloff. Modèles de l'Uniforme Militaire Adopté dans l'Armée Royale de Suède, Rudolph Ackerman, 1808. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Geissler (J.G.G.) and Friedrich Hempel. Mahlerische Darstellungen der Sitten, Gebrauche und Lustbarkeiten bey den Russischen, Tartarischen…, 4 parts in 1, Leipzig and Paris, [1804]. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Hunt (Charles). Portraits of Winning Horses...of the Derby, Oaks, & St. Leger, from the Year 1842 to 1849…, Rock Brothers & Payne, 1849. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Kunike (Adolf Friedrich). Zwey hundert und sechzig Donau-Ansichten nach dem Laufe des Donaustromes…, Vienna, Leopold Grund, 1826. £3,000 to £5,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Lasinio (Carlo). [Matrimony], Florence, 1790. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Reinhardt (Joseph). A Collection of Swiss Costumes, in Miniature, second English edition, James Goodwin, [1828]. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Wengen (Gottfried Durst von). Die Öffentliche Maskerade Bamberg am Fastnachts-Montage 1833…, Bamberg, [1833]. £2,000 to £3,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD

Rare Book Monthly

Articles - January - 2014 Issue

Book Released on Life of Eccentric Book Thief Raymond Scott

Raymond Scott emerges from courthouse with his assistant, wearing his kilt.

An updated account of the life of eccentric book thief Raymond Scott was recently published. The title is Shakespeare & Love. The Inside Story of the Book Crime That Stunned the World. It is a similar title to a book published by the same author, Mike Kelly, along with Scott himself, a few years back, except this one takes us through Scott's sad death, at his own hands, in 2012. Scott was an unlikely character for a major book theft, and yet he made off with a copy of one of the most important books ever published – a Shakespeare first folio. It turned a small-time shoplifter into a celebrity of sorts, a role Scott relished as long as it lasted, but eventually proved to be his downfall.

 

Raymond Scott was an obscure resident of Washington, County Tyne and Wear, in England, most of his life. Not too many people knew him other than the local police. Scott had an aversion to real work, though he did appreciate what it brought – money. Fortunately, he had a father who was more devoted to working for money than spending it. Scott's father was an electrical engineer, and though he certainly wasn't wealthy, he did leave Raymond a little money when he died in 2004. He also left his son the role of taking care of his elderly widow, for which England provides a small caregiver's allowance.

 

Scott had long supplemented his meager income with petty shoplifting. His long resume included pilfering items as small as a bottle of wine and a smoke detector. His record was such that no one suspected him of a major heist at Durham University, a scant ten miles away. In 1998, someone stole their copy of a Shakespeare first folio. The Durham first folio disappeared without a trace, with no sign of what had happened for over a decade.

 

When Scott inherited a little money from his father, his tastes grew from small-time thief to those of an international playboy. Scott spent his money rapidly. He bought a Ferrari, fine wine, nice clothes, and began to travel. The type of thefts Scott was known for would hardly support a lifestyle like this, and his father's money was insufficient to last very long at this pace. Scott turned to the source most of us do when confronted with such expenses, not crime but credit cards. He managed to run up over $100,000 in credit card debt. Of course, even this source doesn't last forever. Alas, eventually the credit card companies want their money back, and with lots of interest.

 

By this time, the jet-setting Scott had developed a romantic interest in a beautiful young Cuban dancer. At 21-years-old, Heidi Rios was 30 years Scott's junior. She was able to overlook the difference so long as Scott lavished gifts upon her and appeared to be the wealthy Englishman he was not. In reality, he was an over 50-year-old man, highly in debt, who lived with his mother in her small home.

 

Scott must have been feeling enormous financial pressure when he walked into the Folger Library in the other Washington – D. C., America, with a copy of the first folio. The Folger Library has by far the most extensive collection of first folios in the world. Scott confidently announced that he was representing a Cuban family which, somehow or other, had come into possession of a first folio. He left the copy at the Folger to be evaluated and valued, Scott undoubtedly concluding the Folger would unobtrusively find him a buyer for his copy if not buy it themselves. If so, he guessed wrong. First folios don't just show up. There are extensive records of where the 232 copies known to exist are kept, and new ones don't appear anymore. Naturally, the Folger searched for any missing copies, and quickly did a comparison with the missing Durham first folio. Although Scott's copy had been defaced in several places to hide its identity, there were enough telltale signs remaining. The Folger recognized that Scott had not come in with a copy that had been lying unknown in Cuba for generations, but the one that had disappeared from Durham University a decade earlier.

 

While the ending of this story is not hard to guess, the trip to that inevitable conclusion was not so obvious. Scott played the role to all the world he must have played to Ms. Rios in Cuba. He continued to act like an international playboy, his personality as large as his income was not. He would arrive at court appearances in outlandish costumes, or make a dramatic appearance. One time he came in a horse-drawn carriage, a beautiful young “assistant” by his side. Another time he chose a stretch Humvee. He once came in a kilt, to emphasize his heritage and his name, “Scott.” In another court appearance he dressed in military fatigues, pointing to the Cuban connection by looking like an aging Che Guevara. Frequently, he would bring bottles of wine or other fine drink along. He would regale the press with protests of his innocence that were as entertaining as his appearances. There was never an absence of laughs when Raymond Scott arrived.

 

And then one day it all ended. Scott was convicted. He was never convicted of stealing Durham's first folio. However, he was convicted of possessing stolen goods and taking them out of the country. He was sentenced to eight years in prison. His high living was over. The fun and games had come to an end.

 

At first, it seemed like Scott was adjusting well to prison life. His history made him somewhat of a celebrity behind bars, and he joked about working in the prison library. However, like everything else in Scott's life, it was a charade. He became deeply depressed, talked about ending it all. Then, on March 14, 2012, he did. At the age of 55, two years into his eight-year sentence, Raymond Scott killed himself.

 

Author Mike Kelly conducted extensive interviews with Scott, both as he was awaiting trial and in prison after his conviction. Ever the publicity hound, Scott wanted his story told. He even went so far as to admitting to the crime for which he was never convicted to Kelly, at least almost. He told of a lonely man who sees a copy of a valuable book kept not in a vault but on a shelf, someone who loved the book both for what it was and as an asset, and who wanted to live life in full in places like Havana, London and Paris. However, he ended his tale by saying it was just a “fairy story, of course.” Scott's life was a fairy story, though this tale was probably the only true one he ever told. You can find Kelly's account of Scott's life on the usual bookselling websites. In a world of fictional characters, Raymond Scott was a Walter Mitty who actually succeeded, for a time, in living out his fantasies.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000
  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas

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