Rare Book Monthly

Articles - October - 2006 Issue

AE's Book Fair Calendar Goes Live!

One of the October events.

One of the October events.


By Bruce McKinney

Effective October 1st AE is adding full coverage of book, manuscript and ephemera fairs around the world to its suite of free services. Links to both a show calendar and a listing of events are now the eighth and ninth items in the free services section (see the menu to the left). AE, on a separate calendar featured on its home page, covers book auctions around the world.

The link to the October calendar shows there are fourteen events upcoming and that they run a total of thirty-three days.

For AE members who are participating in events posted on the fair calendar and list their material in AE's Books for Sale database, we automatically link their online inventories to the event details. The goal is to create a path for collectors to preview participating dealer inventories. With a couple of clicks, the collector can view inventory, ask questions about specific items (via email or phone), and inquire about possible related but unlisted material they are seeking. For the dealer it's an opportunity to bring more appropriate material and create new customer relationships.

We envision it may take several years for collectors to become fully acclimated to this service and its virtues but it should, at the margin, begin to improve show sales quickly.

Dealers understand what they have but often do not know who will want it. Collectors generally know what they want but not who has it. Material that's posted online can be broadly searched by the gathering audience that increasingly understands how this is done. For those collectors, though, who prefer to see the material and discuss it with the dealer, shows are their preferred way to discover and buy. The fair calendar and the list of show events allow collector and seller to combine the best of both selling worlds.

To see how this works, click here to go to the Book Fair List. Next select the link to the Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair on October 14. You will see six booksellers, including four who have posted inventory. Click "Books for sale" for any of them. See An example. At the top of their listings, you will see a link to search their inventory. Then search for something, say, the Civil War. You will get a list of this dealer's matches. Click the title of any of these matches to bring up the detailed record. At the bottom of the detailed record is a link to "Click here to purchase or inquire about this book." It takes you to an email-able form to inquire about the book or request the seller bring it to the show. Try this a few times and the light will shine! What a great tool to make shows far more productive for buyer and seller than was ever possible before.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Heritage Auctions, May 8-9: The New-England Primer Improved. For the more easy attaining the true reading of English. Boston: Printed and Sold by John Boyles, 1770. EXTREMELY RARE AMERICAN PRIMER.
    Heritage Auctions, May 8-9: Lansford W. Hastings. The Emigrants’ Guide to Oregon and California. Cincinnati. George Conclin, 1845. THE VERY RARE FIRST EDITION IN THE SCARCE ORIGINAL PRINTED WRAPPERS.
    Heritage Auctions, May 8-9: J. D. Salinger. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston, 1951. first edition, a fine copy, in an unrestored first issue dust jacket.
    Heritage Auctions, May 8-9: Charles Dickens. A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas. London: Chapman & Hall, 1843. THE VERY FINE A.E NEWTON COPY.
    Heritage Auctions, May 8-9: J. K. Rowling. Only known complete set of full unbound imposed sheets for the First Edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. London: Bloomsbury, 1997.
    Heritage Auctions, May 8-9: Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility: A Novel in Three Volumes. By a Lady. London: for the author by C. Roworth and published by T. Egerton, 1811. FIRST EDITION IN A CONTEMPORARY BINDING.
    Heritage Auctions, May 8-9: J. R. R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. First Editions, First Impressions. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1954-1955. A VERY FINE SET.
    Heritage Auctions, May 8-9: Declaration of Independence. In: The Pennsylvania Ledger: Or the Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New-Jersey Weekly Advertiser. Philadelphia: James Humphreys, No. LXXVII, 13 July 1776.
    Heritage Auctions, May 8-9: William Shakespeare. Mr. William Shakespear's Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies. London, 1685. THE FOURTH FOLIO.
    Heritage Auctions, May 8-9: Frank Herbert. Dune. Philadelphia and New York: Chilton Books, 1965. FIRST EDITION, SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR.
  • Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
  • Fonsie Mealy’s
    Rare Books & Collectors’ Sale
    April 30th & May 1st
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Taylor (Geo.) & Skinner (A.) Maps of the Roads of Ireland, Surveyed 1777. Lond. & Dublin 1778. €500 to €750.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Messingham (Thos.) Florilegium Insulae Sanctorum seu Vitae et Acta Sanctorum Hibernia, Paris 1624. €350 to €500.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Heaney (Seamus). The Haw Lantern, L. (Faber & Faber) 1987, First Edn., Signed and dated. €225 to €350.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Valencey (Lt. Col. Chas.) Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis, Vols. I-IV, 4 vols. Dublin 1786. €400 to €600.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Powerscourt (Viscount). A Description and History of Powerscourt, Lond. 1903. €350 to €500.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Moryson (Fynes). An Itinerary ... Containing His Ten Yeeres Travel Through the Twelve Dominions of Germany, Bohermerland, Sweitzerland…, Lond. (John Beale) 1617. €700 to €1,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: After Buffon, Birds of Europe, c. 1820. Approx. 120 fine hd. cold. plts., mor. backed boards. €125 to €250.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Dunlevy (Andrew). An Teagasg Criosduidhe De Reir Ceasda agus Freagartha... The Catechism or Christian Doctrine by Way of Question and Answer, Paris (James Guerin) 1742. €400 to €700.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: The Georgian Society Records of Eighteen-Century Domestic Architecture in Dublin, 5 vols. Complete, Dublin 1909-1913. €500 to €750.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Scale (Bernard). An Hibernian Atlas or General Description of the Kingdom of Ireland, L. (Robert Sayer & John Bennet) 1776. €625 to €850.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: [Johnson (Rev. Samuel)]. Julian the Apostate Being a Short Account of his Life, together with a Comparison of Popery and Paganism,L. (Langley Curtis) 1682. €300 to €400.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Nichlson (Wm.) Illustrator. An Almanac of Twelve Sports, Lond. 1898. €300 to €400.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Heaney (Seamus) trans. The Light of the Leaves, 2 vols., Mexico (Imprenta de los Tropicos/Bunholt) 1999. €1,500 to €2,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Fleming (Ian). Moonraker, L. (Jonathan Cape) 1955. €1,500 to €2,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Heaney (Seamus) & Egan (Felim) artist. Squarings, Twelve Poems, D. (Hieroglyph Editions Ltd.) 1991. €1,750 to €2,250.
  • Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: ANDERSEN'S EXTREMELY RARE FIRST APPEARANCE IN PRINT. "Scene af: Røverne i Vissenberg i Fyen." in Harpen, 1822.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: FIRST ISSUE OF THE FIRST THREE FAIRY TALE PAMPHLETS, WITH ALL INDICES AND TITLE PAGES. Eventyr, fortalte for Børn. 1835-1837.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: THE FIRST FAIRY TALES WITH A SIGNED CARTE DE VISITE OF ANDERSEN AS FRONTIS. Eventyr, fortalte for Børn. 1835-1837.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: KARL LAGERFELD. Original pastel and ink drawing in gold, red and black for Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes (1992), "La cassette de l'Empereur."
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY OF THE SIXTH PAMPHLET FOR PETER KOCH. Eventyr, Fortalte For Børn, Second Series, Third Pamphlet. 1841. Publisher's wrappers, complete with all pre- and post-matter.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN RARE AUTOGRAPH QUOTATION SIGNED IN ENGLISH from "The Ugly Duckling," c.1860s.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: HEINRICH LEFLER, ORIGINAL WATERCOLOR FOR ANDERSEN'S SNOW QUEEN, "Die Schneekönigin," 1910.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: FIRST EDITION OF ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES IN ENGLISH. Wonderful Stories for Children. London, 1846.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: ANDERSEN ON MEETING CHARLES DICKENS. Autograph Letter Signed ("H.C. Andersen") in English to William Jerdan, July 20, 1847.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY FOR EDGAR COLLIN. Nye Eventyr og Historier. Anden Raekke. 1861.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: DOLL HOUSE FURNITURE BY HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSON, DECORATED WITH FANTASTICAL CUT-OUTS, for the children of Jonna Stampe (née Drewsen), his godchildren.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY FOR GEORG BRANDES. Dryaden. Et Eventyr fra Udstillingstiden i Paris 1867. 1868.

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