Patricia Ahearn, wife of Allen and partner with him in Quill & Brush and in their well regarded guides to book collecting and book values, passed away at the end of May.
The details of her and Allen’s careers have already, like dandelion seeds, been cast to the four corners with obituaries and memorials that remember her passing and acknowledge her life. She had a good run, some 77 years, and was brave in her battles with cancer and Alzheimer’s.
Her death speaks to the impinging reality that besets the entire rare book community. It is a field once young that now gently ages toward last book fairs, last customers and last sales. And in this there is nothing to complain about. The stalwart IBMer is walked out in their sixties and teachers rarely still regale classes by 70. But booksellers, for them there is no statute of limitations, just days on calendars that have more decades than other professions. And this is fortunate for involvement keeps us young.
Allen contributed these thoughts a few days ago:
“I want to thank you for remembering Pat and the kind words.
It's true that our business allows us to continue working at something we like, well passed our mental expiration dates in some cases. Certainly the business was something that helped me get through the three years we cared for Pat. I couldn't work 8 hours a day, maybe 3 or 4. But, I'm lucky to have a large family that gave us support throughout these years.
We received a large number of cards, letters and messages that showed how well so many people remembered her. This helped and also brought many memories that made us tear up when recalling past good times.
I'm not in any hurry to make any major decisions but will let things play out until something becomes obvious or a choice has to be made. The house is large as many of you know and I think I'll put it on the market next spring. My daughter Beth Fisher and I will continue the business.”
Life, when lived well, is doing what you like. By this standard, Pat Ahearn lived well, very well and she will be missed for her laugh and her smile.
Link to Quill & Brush and comments on the passing of Patricia Ahearn
Sotheby’s, July 14: Henry De La Beche. "Awful Changes," 1830. $6,000 to $9,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: [Apollo 11]. Flight Plan, Complete Original Printing Signed by Buzz Aldrin. $5,000 to $8,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: Thomas Alva Edison. Documents Establishing and Ending the Edison Electric Railway Company. $20,000 to $30,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: Richard P. Feynman. Feynman's Lectures on Gravitation 1-16, Including the Original Transcriptions of Lectures 12-16 by Morinigo and Wagner, With Richard Feynman's Manuscript Notations, 1971. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: [Apollo 9]. A Group of Manuals and Mission Documents used by Stuart Roosa as a member of the Astronaut Support Crew. $5,000 to $8,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: [BYTE: The Small Systems Journal]. A collection of early foundational issues of Byte: The Small Systems Journal, with rare hardcover editions. $5,000 to $8,000.
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Inundation papyrus. P.Michael 4, the ‘Inundation papyrus’, a geographical account of the Nile near Canopus, in Greek, remains of two columns from a manuscript scroll on papyrus, Egypt, second century CE. £12,000-18,000
Forum, July 16: Book of Hours, use of Sarum, manuscript on vellum, 6 full-page miniatures, with famous Middle English inscriptions, Southern Netherlands for the English market, [c.1430]. £30,000-50,000
Forum, July 16: Qu'ran, Arabic manuscript on burnished, stencilled, and gold-flecked paper, 447ff., Sultanate Gujarat, Ahmadabad, [after 1411 but no later than 1442]. £15,000-20,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Turner (William). A New boke of the natures and properties of all wines that are commonly vsed here in England, rare first edition of the first English book on wine, By William Seres, 1568. £20,000-£30,000
Forum, July 16: Spenser (Edmund). The Faerie Queene. first edition, Printed [by John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, 1590. £30,000-40,000
Forum, July 16: Shakespeare (William). The Comedie of Errors, extracted from the first folio, Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount, 1623. £15,000-20,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Fleming (Ian). Casino Royale, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1953. £40,000-60,000
Forum, July 16: d'Agoty (Jacques-Fabien Gautier). Anatomie de la Tête, first edition, Paris, chez le Sieur Gautier, 1748. £10,000-15,000
Forum, July 16: Martial Arts.- Lee (Bruce). 'Praying Mantis style' Kung Fu book, containing numerous annotations, diagrams and graphs in Bruce Lee's hand, c. 1960. £50,000-70,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Warre (Capt. Henry James). Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory, first edition, rare hand-coloured issue, 1848. £30,000-40,000
Forum, July 16: Norie (John William). The Marine Atlas, or Seaman's Complete Pilot for all the principal places in the known world..., 1826. £30,000-50,000
Forum, July 16: Mao Tse-tung.- Kim Il-sung.-[Note book for visitors from China to Korea], signed by Mao and Kim, [Beijing, 1954]. £10,000-15,000
