Rare Book Monthly

Articles - January - 2025 Issue

Multiple Travel, Research, and Residence Grants offered by Libraries

Artist-in-Residence and Research Fellowship at University of Miami’s Kislak Collection (Deadline Jan. 24, 2025)

The University of Miami's Jay I. Kislak Collection of the Early Americas, Exploration, and Navigation is piloting two programs: an Artist-in-Residence and a Research Fellowship. The Kislak Collection is particularly strong Florida history, early Americas, Caribbean, and Polar expeditions. 

Find information at :The Jay I. Kislak Research Fellowship and Artist-in-Residence | University of Miami Libraries and Call for Applications | The Jay I. Kislak Research Fellowship and Artist-in-Residence program. The deadline for applications is January 24, 2025

Fellows and artists will receive a stipend of $4,000/month for up to two months.

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MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES OFFERS VISITING SCHOLAR AWARDS (Deadline Feb. 1, 2025)

Michigan State University Libraries is now accepting applications for visiting scholars for the Summer of 2025. The MSU Visiting Scholars program welcomes researchers at all levels to make use of its world-class collections related to (but not limited to) popular culture, comics, rare books, Africana, LGBTQ activism, Michigan writers, cookery and foodways, as well as both the radical left and right.

Please consult  collections and MSU’s University Archives and Historical Collections for more information on MSU’s unique holdings.

MSU special collections travel grants all share the same eligibility requirements and follow a shared timeline

Eligibility

  • Open to applicants from all nationalities.

    • Non-U.S. citizens are required to obtain a J-1 visa if accepted.

  • Applicants must be at least 50 miles from East Lansing.

  • Any researcher, including undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, artists, activists, or independent researchers may apply.

    • Current or incoming MSU students are not eligible.

  • Projects can be academic, journalistic, or creative.

Timeline

  • Applications are due by February 1, 2025.

  • Notifications will be sent by March 15, 2025.

  • Residency period and award may be used between Monday, May 5, 2025 and Friday, August 15, 2025.

To Apply submit:

  • Cover letter

  • Curriculum vitae of no more than four pages

  • Description of research topic, its significance, and specific materials within University Archives and Historical Collections and/or the Murray and Hong Special Collections to be used (500 word maximum).

  • Description or preliminary list of collections and materials you hope to consult.

  • First and second choice of dates in residence. On-site research period must run for at least five consecutive business days between May 5 and August 15. Please note: our summer reading room hours are Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm.

  • One letter of support from a professional and/or academic reference speaking to the value of your project and the quality of your work. Letters of support can be submitted with the application or separately to the same email address

  • Email submission as a single PDF to [email protected]

  • https://libguides.lib.msu.edu/c.php?g=979266&p=7081208

  • https://libguides.lib.msu.edu/c.php?g=979266&p=7081494 

 

Specific Travel Grant Opportunities

Special Collections Research Fellowship 

This fellowship is open to all researchers whose work would benefit from onsite access to our special collections, including materials held in the Stephen O. Murray and Keelung Hong Special Collections as well as those held in University Archives and Historical Collections. Awards are $3,000 per recipient to prioritize research and make available the use of our world-class collections. 

Lesbian Legacies Endowed Research Fellowship 

Established by Purple, a group of Lansing friends who engage in community activism, the Lesbian Legacies: Amazon Cultural/Political Activism in the Second Wave Feminism Endowment, provides $3,000 to support researchers working in the field of LGBTQ+ studies, including lesbian and gay movements.

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2 UNDERGRAD SACRAMENTO JAPANESE-AMERICAN SPECIAL COLLECTION TRAVEL GRANTS OFFERED (Deadline Feb. 3, 2025)

Sacramento State University Library announced the 2025-2026 Japanese American Archival Collection Undergraduate Research Travel Grant (JAAC URTG). The library provides two annual grants of up to $3,000 for individuals or research teams who wish to use Sacramento State’s vast Japanese-American Archival Collection for research or creative end-products relating to the Japanese- American experience. (https://library.csus.edu/japanese-american-archival-collection.

This research grant is targeted at California public university undergraduates. More information and the application can be found at https://library.csus.edu/japanese-american-archival-collection/undergraduate-research-travel-grant.

A virtual information session will be held on Monday, February 3, 2025, to discuss the grant, application process, budget preparation, and answer questions relating to the JAAC URTG. Priority review begins on February 28, 2025.

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Duke Library Research Travel Grants Available (Deadline Feb. 28, 2025) 

The David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Duke University is now accepting applications for the 2025-2026 Research Travel Grant Program.

Research travel grants of up to $1,500 are offered by the following Centers, subject areas, and collection holdings:

  • Archive of Documentary Arts

  • Doris Duke Foundation Travel Grants

  • Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick Travel Grants (Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History and Culture)

  • History of Medicine Collections

  • Human Rights Archive

  • John Hope Franklin Research Center for African and African American History and Culture

  • John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History

  • Mary Lily Research Grants (Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History and Culture)

Eligibility: Projects must align with the guidelines for selected travel grant(s) regarding topic and collection usage. We encourage applications from students at any level of education; faculty and teachers; visual and performing artists; writers; filmmakers; public historians; and independent researchers. Applicants must reside beyond a 100-mile radius of Durham, N.C., and may not be current Duke students or employees. Awards are paid as reimbursement after completion of the research visit(s).

Deadline: Applications will be accepted through Friday, February 28, 2025, at 6:00 pm EST. Recipients will be announced by the end of April 2025 for travel during May 2025-June 2026.

Learn more: An online information session will be held Wednesday, January 15, 2025, 2-3 pm EST. This program will review application requirements, offer tips for creating a successful application, and include an opportunity for attendees to ask questions. This program will be recorded and posted online afterwards. Register for the session here.

Direct all questions to [email protected] with the subject line “Travel Grants.”

Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby’s
    Shelf Life: Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper from the Library of Stanley J. Seeger and Christopher Cone
    25 June – July 7
    Sotheby’s, July 7: Ludwig van Beethoven. Autograph sketches for the overture "Die Weihe des Hauses", op.124, [1822], UNPUBLISHED. £150,000 to £200,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 7: Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice, 1813, first edition, 3 volumes, contemporary half calf. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 7: Walt Whitman. Leaves of Grass, Brooklyn, 1855, first edition, first issue, original green cloth, the Doheny copy. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 7: Binding—Sangorski & Sutcliffe—Omar Khayyam. Rubaiyat, London, 1872, third edition, in a magnificent jewelled Peacock binding. £15,000 to £20,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 7: George Eliot. Middlemarch, Edinburgh and London, 1871, first edition in the original parts. £20,000 to £30,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    The Private Library:
    Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
    July 9, 2026
    Forum, July 9: Hassall (Joan) A large collection of over 300 original woodblocks of engravings for various books, v.d., with Hassall's engraver's glass water-globe (Qty) - Est. £10,000-15,000
    Forum, July 9: Eragny Press.- [Bradley (Katherine Harris) & Edith Emma Cooper], "Michael Field." Whym Chow, Flame of Love, one of only 27 copies, inscribed by Bradley, the rarest book from the press, 1914. - Est. £3,000-4,000
    Forum, July 9: [Moore (Thomas Sturge)] [Wood Engravings], 71 wood-engravings printed by David Chambers from the original blocks, the only set on Japanese Hosho paper, from an edition of 5 sets, [1970]. - Est. £3,000-4,000
    Forum Auctions
    The Private Library:
    Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
    July 9, 2026
    Forum, July 9: La Fontaine (Jean de) Contes et Nouvelles en vers, 2 vol., engraved plates after Eisen, fine early 19th century blue morocco, gilt, by Bradel l'ainé, Amsterdam [Paris], 1762. - Est. £2,000-3,000
    Forum, July 9: Erotica.- Prostitution.- Pretty Women of Paris (The); Their Names and Addresses, Qualities and Faults..., [Paris], privately printed at the Press of the Prefecture de Police, 1883. - Est. £3,000-4,000
    Forum, July 9: Vale Press.- Ricketts (Charles) & Lucien Pissarro. De la Typographie et de l'Harmonie de la Page Imprimée…, [one of 216 copies], bound in dark blue morocco tooled in gilt, by Sarah T.Prideaux, 1898. - Est. £1,000-1,500
    Forum Auctions
    The Private Library:
    Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
    July 9, 2026
    Forum, July 9: Martin (John) Illustrations of the Bible, complete set of 20 mezzotints, good impressions, rarely found in early states, [c.1831-1835]. - Est. £1,000-1,500
    Forum, July 9: Golden Cockerel Press.- Four Gospels of the Lord Jesus Christ (The), one of 500 copies, Mary Gill's copy, Waltham St. Lawrence, 1931 with a signed proof of engraving on japon numbered 10/10 (2) - Est. £5,000-7,000
    Forum, July 9: Boccaccio (Giovanni) The Decameron, 3 vol., vol.1 extra-illustrated by John Buckland Wright with c.150 erotic original drawings in pen & ink and pencil, 1886 [extra-illustrated c.1940]. - Est. £10,000-15,000
    Forum Auctions
    The Private Library:
    Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
    July 9, 2026
    Forum, July 9: Cox (Morris) Collection of Gogmagog Press Books, 35 vol., rare complete collection of printed books issued by the press, limited editions, most signed by Cox, 1957-83. - Est. £10,000-15,000
    Forum, July 9: Wynkyn de Worde.- [Terentius Afer (Publius)] [Comedie...], [Paris, Josse Badius: sold in London by Wynkyn de Worde, & others], [15 July 1504]. - Est. £4,000-6,000
    Forum, July 9: Mosley (James) Ornamented Types. Twenty-Three Alphabets from the Foundry of Louis John Pouchée, 2 vol., one of 10 copies for presentation, from an edition of 210, 1992-93. - Est. £1,000-2,000
  • 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

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