Old Books Still Matter - Maureen E. Mulvihill, Guest Speaker in Sarasota, Florida
- by Announcement, Rare Book Hub staff
Maureen Mulvihill, writer of the guest series on 17th century women writers that appeared last fall on this website, will speak in the Gelbert Auditorium of the Selby Public Library, 1331 First Street, Sarasota, Florida on April 11th. The topic is "Old Books Still Matter," the time 10:30 a.m.
Dr. Mulvihill will discuss the value of old books as surviving historical artifacts. Within broad contexts of pre-1800 book design and book arts, she will emphasize the continuing appeal of the early book to specialists (collectors, book historians) and generalists (Virginia Woolf's 'common reader'); she will also show what ‘modern’ editions of old books too often overlook. An established writer on English and Irish literary cultures, Dr. Mulvihill is presently at work on Irishwomen's political writings and response, c.1603-1801. Her evolution as a rare book collector is profiled in Fine Books & Collections magazine (Autumn, 2016). For San Francisco’s Rare Book Hub, she wrote a special Guest Series (October-December, 2016), Old Books / New Editions < Publisher's Preview >, being essays on new editions of < Anne Killigrew > < Hester Pulter > and < Margaret Cavendish >.
She is an elected member of the Princeton Research Forum, Princeton, NJ, and Vice-President (2012-2015), Florida Bibliophile Society; originally from Detroit, she is also a member of the Book Club of Detroit (flourishing these 60 years & counting). After 30 years in Brooklyn, NY, she is now a homeowner in lovely Laurel Park, Sarasota, Florida. (Training: PhD, Wisconsin, 1982. Post-doctoral: Columbia University Rare Book School; Yale Center for British Art; and, as NEH Fellow, Johns Hopkins University.
If questions, contact the sponsor / venue at 941-861-1140.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 156: Cornelis de Jode, Americae pars Borealis, double-page engraved map of North America, Antwerp, 1593.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 206: John and Alexander Walker, Map of the United States, London and Liverpool, 1827.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 223: Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, hand-colored double-page engraved world map, Antwerp, 1575.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 233: Aaron Arrowsmith, Chart of the World, oversize engraved map on 8 sheets, London, 1790 (circa 1800).
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 239: Fielding Lucas, A General Atlas, 81 engraved maps and diagrams, Baltimore, 1823.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 240: Anthony Finley, A New American Atlas, 15 maps engraved by james hamilton young on 14 double-page sheets, Philadelphia, 1826.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 263: John Bachmann, Panorama of the Seat of War, portfolio of 4 double-page chromolithographed panoramic maps, New York, 1861.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 265: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1558.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 271: Abraham Ortelius, Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Antwerp: Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 283: Joris van Spilbergen, Speculum Orientalis Occidentalisque Indiae, Leiden: Nicolaus van Geelkercken for Jodocus Hondius, 1619.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 285: Levinus Hulsius, Achtzehender Theil der Newen Welt, 14 engraved folding maps, Frankfurt: Johann Frederick Weiss, 1623.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 341: John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, Plate 26, London, 1827.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.