Rare Book Hub for 21 years been pursuing two goals, one of them to become the first click world-wide when the interested, enthralled, committed or required want to understand the importance, value and rarity of rare paper. With 14,128,422 records we have captured the essence of the auction flow from the past 175 years, simply by following price changes.
Of course price at auction has always reflected the complex interaction of the copy, its quality, its rarity and its audience. The fact that those auction transactions would be recorded and remembered was never expected, beyond the many small and truncated efforts to provide ballpark perspectives. Because many institutions, individuals and dealers in the field had records incremental to this project, they gave or sold them to us. The outcome is clarity, if you have the eyes to see it.
Sabin’s Bibliotheca Americana set the modern stage in the late 1860’s to provide a systematic approach to bibliographical information for the burgeoning field of Americana. For that category of practitioners, it saved time and saved money by avoiding errors.
Along the way there were both large and small projects to provide deeper, updated information. If your interest was poetry or fiction you’ve had the opportunity to buy updated volumes.
As to determining value, auctions have long been the best single source to confirm cash prices.
For us twenty-one years ago, our goal became to capture both the present and past records. Today our fourteen million records represent a giant step up from Sabin’s first step.
That done, we’ve taken another significant step, to make the 31,388 auction events that comprise Transactions+, to be easily accessible as ad hoc databases on demand. Welcome to the New World!
Why would you want to know? Collectible paper has a life of its own. Every auction has a context. If you are up to knowing, as of today, you can.
Auction Reports are a small link to the left of our Keyword Search. It’s a small link, but it’s a giant step.
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 29th January 2026
Forum, Jan. 29: Plato. [Apanta ta tou Platonos. Omnia Platonis opera], 2 parts in 2 vol., editio princeps of Plato's works in the original Greek, Venice, House of Aldus, 1513. £8,000-12,000
Forum, Jan. 29: Book of Hours, Use of Rome, In Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum, [Southern Netherlands (probably Bruges), c.1460]. £6,000-8,000
Forum, Jan. 29: Correspondence and documents by or addressed to the first four Viscounts Molesworth and members of their families, letters and manuscripts, 1690-1783. £10,000-15,000
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 29th January 2026
Forum, Jan. 29: Shakespeare (William). The Dramatic Works, 9 vol., John and Josiah Boydell, 1802. £5,000-7,000
Forum, Jan. 29: Joyce (James). Ulysses, first edition, one of 750 copies on handmade paper, Paris, Shakespeare and Company, 1922 £8,000-12,000
Forum, Jan. 29: Powell (Anthony). [A Dance to the Music of Time], 12 vol., first editions, each with a signed presentation inscription from the author to Osbert Lancaster, 1951-75. £6,000-8,000
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 29th January 2026
Forum, Jan. 29: Chaucer (Geoffrey). Troilus and Criseyde, one of 225 copies on handmade paper, wood-engravings by Eric Gill, Waltham St.Lawrence, 1927. £3,000-4,000
Forum, Jan. 29: Borges (Jorge Luis). Luna de Enfrente, first edition, one of 300 copies, presentation copy signed by the author to Leopoldo Marechal, Buenos Aires, Editorial Proa, 1925. £3,000-4,000
Forum, Jan. 29: Nolli (Giovanni Battista). Nuova Pianta di Roma, Rome, 1748. £6,000-8,000
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 29th January 2026
Forum, Jan. 29: Roberts (David). The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, & Nubia, 3 vol., first edition, 1842-49. £15,000-20,000
Forum, Jan. 29: Blacker (William). Catechism of Fly Making, Angling and Dyeing, Published by the author, 1843. £3,000-4,000
Forum, Jan. 29: Herschel (Sir John F. W.) Collection of 69 offprints, extracts and separate publications by Herschel, bound for his son, William James Herschel, 3 vol., [1813-50]. £15,000-20,000
Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 72. Edwards (George). A Natural History of Uncommon Birds… [and] Gleanings of Natural History, 7 volumes, 1st edition, 1743-64. £7,000-10,000
Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 87. Walcott (Charles D. et al.). Geologic Atlas of the United States, 227-volume set, U.S. Geological Survey, 1894-1945. £500-800
Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 236. A New Dictionary of the Terms Ancient and Modern of the Canting Crew…, By B. E. Gent., 1st edition, [1699]. £3,000-4,000
Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 245. Frost Fair Broadside. Upon the Frost in the Year 1739-40, Printed on the Ice upon the Thames at Queen-Hithe, 1739/40. £1,500-2,000
Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 270. Micheli (Antonino di). La Nuova Chitarra di Regole…, 1st edition, Palermo, 1680. £10,000-15,000
Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 280. Elgar (Edward). Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, [1910], signed presentation copy. £500-800
Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 282 - Griffes (Charles). Autograph Manuscript Score for Overture to Hänsel und Gretel, c. 1910. £2,000-3,000
Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 304. Churchill (Winston). A terracotta maquette of Churchill by Oscar Nemon, c. 1955. £1,500-2,000
Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 364 - Russian Imperial Archaeological Commission. Mecheti Samarkanda..., Fascicule I Gour-Emir, St. Petersburg, 1905. £2,000-3,000
Sotheby’s Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana 27 January 2026
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: An extraordinary pair of books from George Washington’s field library, marking the conjunction of Robert Rogers, George Washington, and Henry Knox. $1,200,000 to $1,800,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: An extraordinary letter marking the conjunction of George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette, and Benjamin Franklin. $1,000,000 to $1,500,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: Virginia House of Delegates. The genesis of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. $350,000 to $500,000.
Sotheby’s Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana 27 January 2026
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: (Gettysburg). “Genl. Doubleday has taken charge of the battle”: Autograph witness to the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, illustrated by fourteen maps and plans. $200,000 to $300,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: President Lincoln thanks a schoolboy on behalf of "all the children of the nation for his efforts to ensure "that this war shall be successful, and the Union be maintained and perpetuated." $200,000 to $300,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: [World War II]. An archive of maps and files documenting the allied campaign in Europe, from the early stages of planning for D-Day and Operation Overlord, to Germany’s surrender. $200,000 to $300,000.
![<b>Forum, Jan. 29:</b> Plato. [<i>Apanta ta tou Platonos. Omnia Platonis opera</i>], 2 parts in 2 vol., editio princeps of Plato's works in the original Greek, Venice, House of Aldus, 1513. £8,000-12,000](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/df7dd9ac-f0d0-4cb3-a44d-2731758530e4.png "<b>Forum, Jan. 29:</b> Plato. [<i>Apanta ta tou Platonos. Omnia Platonis opera</i>], 2 parts in 2 vol., editio princeps of Plato's works in the original Greek, Venice, House of Aldus, 1513. £8,000-12,000")
![<b>Forum, Jan. 29:</b> Book of Hours, Use of Rome, In Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum, [Southern Netherlands (probably Bruges), c.1460]. £6,000-8,000](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/c40bad29-8cb5-4347-a0fd-5361d39e84a5.png "<b>Forum, Jan. 29:</b> Book of Hours, Use of Rome, In Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum, [Southern Netherlands (probably Bruges), c.1460]. £6,000-8,000")
![<b>Forum, Jan. 29:</b> Powell (Anthony). [<i>A Dance to the Music of Time</i>], 12 vol., first editions, each with a signed presentation inscription from the author to Osbert Lancaster, 1951-75. £6,000-8,000](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/b7fdee12-4803-4d32-9330-a5729091cb92.png "<b>Forum, Jan. 29:</b> Powell (Anthony). [<i>A Dance to the Music of Time</i>], 12 vol., first editions, each with a signed presentation inscription from the author to Osbert Lancaster, 1951-75. £6,000-8,000")
![<b>Forum, Jan. 29:</b> Herschel (Sir John F. W.) Collection of 69 offprints, extracts and separate publications by Herschel, bound for his son, William James Herschel, 3 vol., [1813-50]. £15,000-20,000](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/a06cc0dd-7619-45e9-b155-5ad75ed7b2e5.png "<b>Forum, Jan. 29:</b> Herschel (Sir John F. W.) Collection of 69 offprints, extracts and separate publications by Herschel, bound for his son, William James Herschel, 3 vol., [1813-50]. £15,000-20,000")
![<b>Dominic Winter, Jan. 28:</b> Lot 72. Edwards (George). <i>A Natural History of Uncommon Birds…</i> [and] <i>Gleanings of Natural History,</i> 7 volumes, 1st edition, 1743-64. £7,000-10,000](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/7f9e9df2-b83a-40aa-a1b7-a535a02705d5.jpg "<b>Dominic Winter, Jan. 28:</b> Lot 72. Edwards (George). <i>A Natural History of Uncommon Birds…</i> [and] <i>Gleanings of Natural History,</i> 7 volumes, 1st edition, 1743-64. £7,000-10,000")
![<b>Dominic Winter, Jan. 28:</b> Lot 236. <i>A New Dictionary of the Terms Ancient and Modern of the Canting Crew…,</i> By B. E. Gent., 1st edition, [1699]. £3,000-4,000](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/1832c377-f148-4e66-ba22-33bef01d81a7.jpg "<b>Dominic Winter, Jan. 28:</b> Lot 236. <i>A New Dictionary of the Terms Ancient and Modern of the Canting Crew…,</i> By B. E. Gent., 1st edition, [1699]. £3,000-4,000")
![<b>Dominic Winter, Jan. 28:</b> Lot 280. Elgar (Edward). <i>Concerto for Violin and Orchestra,</i> [1910], signed presentation copy. £500-800](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/df958814-0689-4876-8b73-cfe5c0c6ad24.jpg "<b>Dominic Winter, Jan. 28:</b> Lot 280. Elgar (Edward). <i>Concerto for Violin and Orchestra,</i> [1910], signed presentation copy. £500-800")
![<b>Sotheby’s, Jan. 27:</b> [World War II]. An archive of maps and files documenting the allied campaign in Europe, from the early stages of planning for D-Day and Operation Overlord, to Germany’s surrender. $200,000 to $300,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/9d2762bc-9f26-47ef-96de-1c28070e19f6.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Jan. 27:</b> [World War II]. An archive of maps and files documenting the allied campaign in Europe, from the early stages of planning for D-Day and Operation Overlord, to Germany’s surrender. $200,000 to $300,000.")