The future of history will be in its ability to predict the emerging present
We are caught in that particular moment when old men, remembering their dreams, pay homage to them. In some cases they remember a past no longer anchored in the present. As a case in point, the Gannett newspaper organization which achieved both wealth and power through the ownership of daily newspapers in the United States in the 20th century, leveraged that success into, among other things, the Newseum, a homage to the printed word in Washington D. C. It was a splendid, if dated idea, that would have held crowds in thrall in the 1930’s but has rapidly lost ground to the internet, news feeds, and instant messaging. Of course, it’s not the museum located In Washington D. C. that fell behind, it’s the present that is racing ahead. So here’s a note to the future. Museums should focus on the future to anticipate what we will end up living through. Had the Newseum done that they might have survived.
Their end could have been worse.
The New York Times had a story in its west coast edition on Saturday January 26th that both announced the sale and sought to explain it in which it came down to this: insufficient attendance and rising real estate values. It turns out the real estate market is going to bail out the Gannett Foundation [now called the Freedom Forum] and the building will go to one of the few enterprises that has control over its retail prices: higher education. Johns Hopkins, the great Baltimore university, is buying a beachhead in the nation’s capital.
Many in the world of rare books, manuscripts, maps and ephemera will recognize the symptoms: declining audiences, higher costs, and changing methods of interaction. Collectible paper faces many of the same issues. My take away: explain your material in ways that illuminate the future so you won’t be relegated to the past. Yesterday’s news has become a hard sell.
In time the Newseum will become an entirely electronic institution, live online, see its attendance soar and its archives quoted every day around the world. We now have to fit into an evolving world because that world increasingly does not remember us, even if the building is pristine and the location at the nexus of power.
Old World Auctions (Sept 16): Lot 11. Blaeu's Superb World Map on a Polar Projection (1695) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
Old World Auctions (Sept 16): Lot 702. Munster's Largest 16th Century Edition, with Over 220 Woodcut Maps (1598) Est. $18,000 - $20,000
Old World Auctions (Sept 16): Lot 101. Rare Jo Mora "Carte" Showing a NYC-to-Seattle Route through Panama Canal (1933) Est. $900 - $1,100
Old World Auctions (Sept 16): Lot 65. The Waldseemuller/Fries "Admiral's Map" (1541) Est. $8,000 - $9,500
Old World Auctions (Sept 16): Lot 46. Contains all 30 Plates from Atlas Coelestis in Full Original Color (1742) Est. $16,000 - $18,000
Old World Auctions (Sept 16): Lot 129. The First Map to Name New Scotland and Cape Cod (1625) Est. $8,000 - $9,500
Old World Auctions (Sept 16): Lot 663. The First Printed Map Devoted to the Pacific in Full Contemporary Color (1589) Est. $7,500 - $9,000
Old World Auctions (Sept 16): Lot 629. De Jode's Rare Map of Eastern Asia (1593) Est. $7,500 - $9,000
Old World Auctions (Sept 16): Lot 171. De Bry's Influential Map of Colonial North America (1591) Est. $11,000 - $13,000
Old World Auctions (Sept 16): Lot 691. Superb Hand-Colored Image of the Holy Trinity (1502) Est. $800 - $950
Old World Auctions (Sept 16): Lot 606. Important, Early Atlas of Japan with 75 Woodcut Maps in Printed Color (1837) Est. $2,000 - $2,300
Koller, Sep. 16: FRANZÖSISCHE REVOLUTION - ASSEMBLÉE NATIONALE - Extrait des Procès-Verbaux de L'Assemblée Nationale, Des 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26 Août & premier Octobre 1789.
Koller, Sep. 16: MOURADJA D'OHSSON, IGNACE. Tableau général de l'Empire Othoman, divisé en deux parties dont l'une comprend la Législation Mahométane, l'autre l'histoire de l'Empire Othoman [... ]
Koller, Sep. 16: BOTANIK - Blackwell, Elisabeth. A curious herbal, containig five hundred cuts, of the most useful plants, which are now used in the practice of physick.
Koller, Sep. 16: HAIMONSKINDER – Eyn schön lustig Geschicht, wie Keyser Carle der groß, vier gebrüder, Hertzog Aymont von Dordons Süne [...]
Koller, Sep. 16: KRÄUTERBÜCHER - HORTUS SANITATIS - [H]ortus Sanitatis. De herbis et plantis. De animalibus et reptilibus. De avibus et volatilibus. De piscibus et natalibus…
Koller, Sep. 16: GAUGUIN, PAUL, MALER (1848-1903). Eigenhändiger Brief mit Unterschrift und Couvert. An den Künstler und Freund Daniel de Monfreid in Paris.
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 24th September 2026
Forum, Sep. 24:A Plan of the Cities of London and Westminster and Borough of Southwark, 1746 [bound with] A Plan of the Cities of London and Westminster, [c.1755]. £30,000 - £50,000
Forum, Sep. 24: Gafurius (Franchinus). De Harmonia Musicorum Instrumentorum Opus, first edition, Milan, Gotarto da Ponte, 1518. £20,000 - £30,000
Forum, Sep. 24: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, first impression, 1937. £10,000 - £15,000
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 24th September 2026
Forum, Sep. 24: Stackelberg (Otto Magnus v). Costumes et Usages des Peuples de la Grece Moderne, first edition, Rome, 1825. £15,000 - £20,000
Forum, Sep. 24: Piranesi (Giovanni Battista). Le Antichita Romane, 4 vol., Rome, Bouchard and Gravier, 1756. £10,000 - £15,000
Forum, Sep. 24: Henry VIII's Primer.- Church of England.- The Primer, set foorth by the Kynges maiestie and his clergie…,, first edition, by Richard Grafton printer to the Princes grace, 1545; bound with 2 others, similar. £10,000 - £15,000
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 24th September 2026
Forum, Sep. 24: Darwin (Charles). On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, fifth edition, ink inscription in the author's hand laid down to half-title, 1869. £6,000 - £8,000
Forum, Sep. 24: Siebold (P.F. von) J.G. Zuccarini and F.A.W. Miquel. Flora Japonica, 2 vol., first edition, Leiden, for the author, 1835-70. £6,000 - £8,000
Forum, Sep. 24: Illuminated manuscript facsimile.- Constitution Of India (The), Dehra Dun, Survey of India Offices, [c. 1950]. £3,500 - £5,000
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 24th September 2026
Forum, Sep. 24: Mao Tse-tung. Quotations of Chairman Mao, prototype edition, Shenyang, compiled and printed by the Political Department, Air Force Division of Shenyang Military Region, 1963. £3,000 - £4,000
Forum, Sep. 24: Richardson (John). Fauna Boreali-Americana; or the Zoology of the Northern Parts of British America, 4 vol., first edition, Norwich, Josiah Fletcher, 1829-37. £4,000 - £6,000
Forum, Sep. 24:Mite (The), the printer/publisher's own copy with the original type and printing blocks for all three of its editions (1891, 1893 & 1896), Grimsby, Ernest A. Robinson, 1891. £3,000 - £4,000.
Leland Little, September 11: Kenneth Claiborne Royall (1894-1971), Large Archive with Letters from Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Leland Little, September 11: Harry S. Truman, Scarce Autograph Letter Signed as 33rd U.S. President.
Leland Little, September 11: Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) (1835-1910), Autograph Quotation Signed.
Leland Little, September 11:The History of North America, the Extremely Scarce Deluxe "Edition of the Presidents."
Leland Little, September 11: Scarce First Edition of Krafft's The American Distiller.
Leland Little, September 11: Inscribed First Edition of James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room.
Leland Little, September 11: A Signed Limited Edition of Love in the Time of Cholera.
Leland Little, September 11: The Extremely Scarce Limited and Extra-Illustrated Edition of The Works of Charles Dickens.
Leland Little, September 11: A Beautifully Bound Limited Edition of Émile Zola's The Rougon-Macquart.
Leland Little, September 11: The Elaborately Bound and Extremely Scarce The Shakespeare Gallery.
Leland Little, September 11:Hunting, Hawking, Shooting, A Signed Limited Edition Four Volume Set.
Leland Little, September 11: Signed Limited Edition of Salmon-Salmon with a Chapter on Iceland.
Sotheby’s Original Film Posters 10 September 2026
Sotheby’s, Sep. 10: The Invisible Man (1933). Extremely Rare US Leader Press One Sheet. £20,000 to £26,000.
Sotheby’s, Sep. 10: You Only Live Twice (1967). Italian Advance Quattro Fogli. £10,000 to £15,000.
Sotheby’s, Sep. 10: A Dog's Life (1918). Extremely Rare US One Sheet. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, Sep. 10: La Belle et la Bête/Beauty and the Beast (1946). French Style A Grande. £12,000 to £18,000.
Sotheby’s, Sep. 10: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004). US Lenticular Prototype One Sheet. £10,000 to £15,000.
Sotheby’s, Sep. 10: Théâtre d’Ombres (1897). Exceptionally Rare French Poster. £8,000 to £12,000.
