Rare Book Monthly

Articles - April - 2014 Issue

New York: Antiquarian Book Fairs April 3-6

As you read this story many have already boarded planes or are driving to New York City.  48.8 million visitors will do so this year, some number measured in thousands will be heading for the American Vatican of rare books, the Armory on Park at No. 643 for the annual four-day affair New York Antiquarian Book Fair, jointly sponsored by the Antiquarian Bookseller’s Association of America and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers.  The majority of participating dealers will be from the United States but many European countries, Canada, South America and countries across the Pacific will also send emissaries.  As disparate as are their home locations they are united by their trade:  sellers of rare materials most of which are printed.

 

The show is on the Upper East Side on Park Avenue at 643, mid-block between 66th and 67th.  There are many hotels nearby and restaurants all over the city.  This is not news to any of the fair regulars, be they dealers, institutions or collectors.  Most have been coming every year for a decade or more.  The issue has never been old-timers; it’s been the new blood.  The various fair committees and the highly experienced show organizer, Sanford L. Smith, have been trying for years to build attendance – often finding success.

 

This year the fair will be busy for several reasons, the economy worldwide is recovering, the local economy robust, and fairs generally benefiting from the decline of local rare bookshops.  More and more this show and others are becoming the field’s adhoc main streets - as itinerant booksellers increasingly travel the globe in pursuit of audiences that once a year come out to meet them in Melbourne, Toronto, Paris, London, New York, San Francisco and Pasadena.  Among all these events the New York Book Fair is the most important.

 

This fair is also a catalyst.  On the same weekend there’s another New York book fair, the Manhattan Vintage Book & Ephemera and Fine Press Book Fair in the Altman Building, 135 W. 18th, a two day Saturday-Sunday affair.  This event, unofficially called the “shadow fair,” lives off the always-interested audience that comes together for the ABAA fair.

 

And there is more.  There are auctions.  They too, like birds on a telephone wire are lined up for consideration, 89 worldwide in April, 23 of them in New York, 18 of them April 1st to the 10th. 

 

Auctions in New York in April 1st to the 10th:

 

Tuesday April 1st

Christies:  Rare Maps from Kenneth Nebenzahl, Inc.

Sothebys:  Gordon Waldorf Collection

Sothebys:  The John James Audubon Collection from the Indiana Historical Society

Sothebys:  The Inventive Eye:  Photographs from a Private Collection

 

Wednesday April 2nd

Heritage Auctions:  Rare Books

Sothebys:  Photographs

 

Thursday April 3rd

Christies:  The Range of Light:  Photographs by Ansel Adams

Swann Galleries:  Astronomy & Science Books from The Library of Martin C. Gutzwiller

Heritage Auctions:  Historical Manuscripts

Heritage Auctions:  Rare Books online segment

 

Friday April 4th

Christies:  Photographs

 

Saturday April 5th

Heritage Auctions:  Photographs

 

Monday April 7th

Heritage Auctions:  Rare Books

Bonhams:  Treasures from the Caren Archive

 

Tuesday April 8th

Swann Galleries:  Printed & Manuscript Americana

Bonhams:  Space History

 

Wednesday April 9th

Doyle New York:  Rare Books, Autographs and Maps

Doyle New York:  Photographs

 

New York Auctions April 11th to 30th

 

Thursday April 17th

Swann Galleries:  The Vernacular Eye:  Photographic Albums, Snapshots & Objects

 

Wednesday April 23rd

Christies:  Prints and Multiples

 

Thursday April 24th

Swann Galleries:  Modernist Posters

 

Tuesday April 29th

Doyle New York:  Old Master, Modern and Contemporary Prints

Swann Galleries:  Old Master Through Modern Prints

 

The extraordinary catalyst for the month is the New York Book Fair and every other event will owe some of their success to its reputation and power.  All events should do well; by rights the Antiquarian Book Fair should be your first stop and do best.  

 

April is an extraordinary opportunity.  If you can be, be there.  If you can’t, follow the events online.

 

Links:

 

The New York Antiquarian Book Fair

 

Manhattan Vintage Book & Ephemera and Fine Press Book Fair

 

The AE Global Auction Search with links to all houses and those sales posted

 

Friends and members of AE can reach me in New York if you would like to talk or to meet.  My number is 415.823.6678, my email address bmckinney@americanaexchange.com.  I have some passes I can share.

 

Rare Book Monthly

  • 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.
  • 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
  • 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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