This is a busy time of year in the cataloguing business. Twenty new bookseller's catalogues arrived in the past month. A couple of them celebrate anniversaries. From legal specialist The Lawbook Exchange there are 30 important items related to the law for their 30th anniversary. Meanwhile, The Pages of Yesteryear celebrates 49 years in the business with 49 unusual items.
Travel and exploration has always fascinated us. Hordern House offers a collection of discovery and exploration. Patrick McGahern Books has a remarkable collection of material pertaining to the search for a Northwest Passage and to find the missing Franklin Expedition. Aquila Books is also focused on the coldest areas on earth with books on exploration of the polar regions. Plaza Books takes us to the milder climes of Mexico and Central America. Obviously, you will need guides to take you to these far off places and Martayan Lan offers a selection of old maps, globes and atlases.
Books can also be works of art, and several catalogues feature items from the book arts. The Veatchs Arts of the Book has artistic works both monumental and small. Sophie Schneideman Rare Books and The Kelmscott Bookshop both feature artistic works, private press printings, beautiful bookbindings and more. Phillip J. Pirages offers vellum illuminated manuscripts along with books dating as far back as five centuries.
Some catalogues are mostly European in focus. Justin Croft and Simon Beattie have teamed up for the final of three catalogues devoted to a collection of English verse from 1751-1800. Antiquates Fine & Rare Books offers five centuries of English and continental European works. Samuel Gedge Ltd. Rare Books has English and European documents, broadsides, letters, and other ephemeral items from centuries ago. Sotheran's is offering sections from Diderot's Encyclopédie, taken from an incomplete copy, suitable for framing or display.
Schulson Autographs offers a selection of signed manuscripts and documents. And then, several booksellers have collections that cover a wide variety of fields. The William Reese Company usually focuses on Americana or literature, but this catalogue covers everything else, including books, manuscripts, and visual art. James Cummins Bookseller offers rare and important books and manuscripts. Peter Harrington has a mix of material and Raptis Rare Books has something for everyone.
To see all of the reviews of these new catalogues, click here now.
ALDE, Apr. 8: GUEVARA (ANTONIO DE). Histoire de Marc-Aurèle, Empereur Romain, vray miroir et horloge des Princes. Paris, Pierre et Galliot du Pré, frères, 1565. €3,000 to €4,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: HEURES DE LA VIERGE. Horæ in laudem beatissimæ virginis Mariæ ad usum Romanum. Paris, Charles L'Angelier, 1556. €4,000 to €5,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: MONTAIGNE (MICHEL DE). Les Essais. Édition nouvelle, trouvée après le deceds de l'autheur… Paris, Abel L'Angelier, 1595. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [ROJAS (FERNANDO DE)]. Celestina, tragicomedia di Calisto et Melibea, tradotta de lingua castigliana in italiano idioma… Venise, 1531. €2,000 to €3,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CAMÕES (LUÍS DE). Os Lusiadas. Lisbonne, Pedro Crasbeeck, 1613. €2,000 to €3,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CERVANTES (MIGUEL DE). El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Bruxelles, Roger Velpius & Huberto Antonio, 1611. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: LA FONTAINE (JEAN DE). Fables choisies, mises en vers. Paris, Denys Thierry et Claude Barbin, 1678-1694. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CERVANTES (MIGUEL DE). El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Madrid, Joaquin Ibarra, 1780. €3,000 to €4,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: DIDEROT (DENIS) ET JEAN LE ROND D'ALEMBERT. Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. Paris, 1751-1765. €15,000 to €20,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [LIVRE TISSÉ]. LAMARTINE (Alphonse de). Les Laboureurs. Poème tiré de Jocelyn… Lyon, J. A. Henry, 1883. €8,000 to €10,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [LIVRE TISSÉ]. Livre de prières tissé d'après les enluminures des manuscrits du XIVe au XVIe siècle. Lyon, [A. Roux], 1886. €5,000 to €6,000.
Sotheby’s Books, Manuscripts & Objects from Three Important Collections Open for Bidding 2-17 April
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: [Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun]. Le Roman de la Rose, [Geneva or Lyons, c.1481], first printed edition of the most important medieval French vernacular poem. £200,000 to £300,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Castiglione. Il libro del cortegiano. [Venice], April 1528, first edition, in a magnificent binding by Jean Picard for Jean Grolier. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Jacobus de Cessolis. Schachzabelbuch, Strasbourg, 1483, von der Lasa copy. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: World Championship, 1972. A collection of 84 press photographs of the famed match between Spassky and Fischer. £2,000 to £3,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Ben Franklin. Autograph letter signed, to Lord Shelburne, British Prime Minister, during peace negotiations, November 1782. £15,000 to £20,000.
