This month, we review 16 new bookseller catalogues. The variety is deep and wide. Several focus on travels and explorations. Maggs Bros. has a catalogue devoted to travels and voyages. Shapero Rare Books has a catalogue entitled "First Contacts," which refers to first visits by European travelers to distant lands. Hordern House focuses on exploration and discovery in Australia and the Pacific. Aquila Books targets the Polar regions and the Klondike, and those are mostly travel accounts since not many people live in those places.
A few catalogues this month fit into the category of Americana. David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books has a new selection of rare Americana, mostly pamphlets, manuscripts, and other less than book-length material. Old West Books has a great selection of books on the American West, mostly realistic portrayals rather than exaggerated tales of gunslingers and such. Joe Rubinfine offers a collection of signed American historical documents. Just to the north of Americana lies Canadiana, and Patrick McGahern Books offers the Canadas, Canadiana, and angling titles.
Peter Harrington has a collection of some of the most important books you will find, being displayed at this year's high-end art fair Masterpiece 2018. The William Reese Company presents manuscripts, archives, and photographs. Jonathan A. Hill Bookseller features science, medicine, and natural history. Lorne Bair Rare Books targets social movements.
The Veatchs Arts of the Book features beautiful books and their creation. Langdon Manor Books' subjects are women, LGBTQ, Japanese Americans, and American internment camps. Samuel Gedge Ltd. has a summer list of antiquarian books, manuscripts, and ephemera. Brian Cassidy Bookseller offers... well, this one is just too hard to describe.
Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: HAMILTON, Sir William (1730-1803) - Campi Phlegraei. Napoli: [Pietro Fabris], 1776, 1779. € 30.000 - 50.000
Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: [MORTIER] - BLAEU, Joannes (1596-1673) - Het Nieuw Stede Boek van Italie. Amsterdam: Pieter Mortier, 1704-1705. € 15.000 - 25.000
Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: TULLIO D'ALBISOLA (1899-1971) - Bruno MUNARI (1907-1998) - L'Anguria lirica (lungo poema passionale). Roma e Savona: Edizioni Futuriste di Poesia, senza data [ma 1933?]. € 20.000 - 30.000
Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: IL MANOSCRITTO RITROVATO DI IPPOLITA MARIA SFORZA. TITO LIVIO - Ab Urbe Condita. Prima Decade. Manoscritto miniato su pergamena, metà XV secolo. € 280.000 - 350.000
Sotheby's Fine Books & Manuscripts Available for Immediate Purchase
Sotheby’s: Balthus, Emily Brontë. Wuthering Heights, New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1993. 6,600 USD.
Sotheby’s: Charles Dickens. Complete Works, Philadelphia & London: J.B. Lippincott Company & Chapman & Hall, LD, 1850. Limited Edition set of 30 volumes. 7,500 USD.
Sotheby’s: John Lennon, Yoko Ono. Handwritten Letter from John Lennon and Yoko Ono to their Chauffer. 1971. 32,500 USD.
Sotheby’s: Winston Churchill. First edition of War Speeches, Cassell and Company, Ltd., 1941. Set of 7 volumes. 5,500 USD.
Sotheby’s: Andy Warhol, Julia Warhola. Holy Cats First Edition, Signed by Andy Warhol. 1954. 30,000 USD.