Rare Book Monthly
Booking Diversity
Eric Stetson Western History; Eugene Vigil Antiquariat Botanicum; and "Cookbook Lady" Lori Hughes.
Speaking of delicious, I guess one of the most unique and ghastly items I found was an unassuming octavo, ex-library book offered by Lux Mentis Booksellers of Portland, Maine, and it was quite extraordinarily expensive. It was A History of Gastronomy by Jay Jacobs, categorized under Deviant Psychiatry. What is so hot about that, you might ask? Well, there were two library cards still in the pocket and they were each signed by Jeffrey Dahmer, arguably the 20th Century's most infamous cannibal serial killer. The fact that he took out ‘A History of Gastronomy' twice shortly after killing his first victim is ...well...intriguing. They believe that Dahmer was trying to understand his aberrant desires. Yuck!
I chatted with Jeff Towns from Dylan's Book Store in Wales, UK; that would be Dylan Thomas, not Bob Dylan. He was there for the San Francisco fair and then going on to the Los Angeles show the following weekend, as were many of the other booksellers we spoke with. He said that if he could do both shows it was worth the time and expense. He noted he had been coming to the states for many years to sell books and had usually done quite well.
My husband, a retired tall ship's captain, was practically embedded into The Wayfarer's Bookshop from West Vancouver, Canada. They specialize in exploration, travel, and voyages. Wow, so many great pictures and books about square-riggers and travel in the days when travel was very difficult. Speaking of Canada, if you've never been to the "book town", Sidney, British Columbia, you should go.
We spoke briefly with Julia Jordan of Blue Ridge Books in Orlean, Virginia. I'm sort of dog crazy, and she had a great collection of dog and horse books, which I also sell and collect myself. She also had some lovely Oriental prints of birds and flowers, and a number of very good children's books.
I visited with Vince Koloski and David Silberman at the San Francisco Friends of the Library booth. I love Friends of Library stores because they usually have really good books for really reasonable prices. They are one of the few places where you can buy a book and actually make a small profit when you sell it. We later went to the Fort Mason store and came away with two boxes of good stuff, including a third edition Betty Crocker.
The best part of it all was the contact with book dealers. Just walking around listening in on some of the conversations was interesting. There was more talk about politics than usual. It is usually just books, books, books, but the 2008 election is engendering more than normal interest. Some of the stalls we meandered through were interesting just because of their locations; the people who have a bookstore near my daughter's home in Covina, California -- Jen and Brad at The Book Shop -- have several dogs that need to be groomed and my daughter is a dog groomer; they also had really nice books. Rannoch Books in Inverness specializes in Civil War books and I happen to have a really rare Civil War item that they will be interested in, I'm sure. H&H Book Services in Glendale, California, does restorations, conservation boxes, and custom folders for manuscripts, and I have a customer who needs to have a book restored and a gun collector who needs a conservation box. We are going to Utah in April, so we will drop in on Ken Sanders Rare Books in Salt Lake. Carpe Diem Books in Pebble Beach is looking for books on Monterey, California, of which I happen to have two. What fun it is to meet like-minded people and explore the amazing world of bibliomania!
Rare Book Monthly
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Sotheby’s
Shelf Life: Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper from the Library of Stanley J. Seeger and Christopher Cone
25 June – July 7Sotheby’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, 2026Forum, 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. £10,000-15,000Forum, 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. £3,000-4,000Forum, 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. £3,000-4,000Forum Auctions
The Private Library:
Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
July 9, 2026Forum, 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. £2,000-3,000Forum, 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. £3,000-4,000Forum, 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. £1,000-1,500Forum Auctions
The Private Library:
Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
July 9, 2026Forum, July 9: Martin (John) Illustrations of the Bible, complete set of 20 mezzotints, good impressions, rarely found in early states, [c.1831-1835]. - Est. £1,000-1,500Forum, 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. £5,000-7,000Forum, 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. £10,000-15,000Forum Auctions
The Private Library:
Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
July 9, 2026Forum, 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. £10,000-15,000Forum, July 9: Wynkyn de Worde.- [Terentius Afer (Publius)] [Comedie...], [Paris, Josse Badius: sold in London by Wynkyn de Worde, & others], [15 July 1504]. - Est. £4,000-6,000Forum, 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 -
Freeman’s, June 30. Thomas Jefferson’s “Birth of the New Nation” letter, carried to Paris with the Treaty of Peace, by a Jewish patriot. $100,000-200,000.Freeman’s, June 30. “The rockets’ red glare.” A British midshipman’s log recording the bombardment of Fort McHenry. $60,000-80,000.Freeman’s, June 30. The Critical Promotion of a Naval Hero, Oliver Hazard Perry Commission signed by James Madison, 1812. $40,000-60,000.Freeman’s, June 30. Born in the USA: First Day of Printing in the United States, July 4, 1776. $15,000-25,000.Freeman’s, June 30. One of the Earliest Printed Announcements of American Independence, in the Exceedingly Rare Original Wrappers, 1776. $10,000-15,000.Freeman’s, June 30. "The Two Big Guns of the N.Y. Yanks": A Striking Type 1 Press Photograph of Lou Gehrig's Hands. $8,000-12,000.Freeman’s, June 30. A Unique Contemporary Manuscript Account of Joseph Smith's Final Words to His Followers, the Day Before his Violent Death. $8,000-12,000.Freeman’s, June 30. The State of Minnesota Officially Certifies the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution Of the United States. $8,000-12,000.Freeman’s, June 30. Extraordinarily Large Manuscript Petition Signed by a Who's Who of Colonial New York to Queen Anne from the Colony of New York. $8,000-12,000.Freeman’s, June 30. Mickey Mantle's First Cover: The Earliest Front-Page Newspaper Image of Mickey Mantle, "Something Good from Joplin". $8,000-12,000.Freeman’s, June 30. A Call to Arms in the Months Following the Declaration of Independence: An Early Continental Army Recruitment Poster. $6,000-9,000.Freeman’s, June 30. Samuel Jones, the Statesman Behind the Newly Discovered "Jones Declaration": His Annotated Set Used in His Working Law Library. $6,000-9,000.