There are books that are important and others that are valuable. For book collectors and dealers the everyday focus is on value. Readers place their emphasis on content. For many the summer is a chance to escape the hubbub and claptrap of everyday existence. At such moments many hope for an exceptional book to take along. The car is packed, the beach house waits. Friends will arrive soon enough. For the idle moments a few choice books can make all the difference. This month I've asked an interesting group of men and women, who spend their lives amid the printed word, for their recollections and recommendations for a great book or books to read. These are their thoughts.
I asked Joe Trenn of the Book Shed [Benson Vermont] and encountered deep enthusiasm for the works of Anthony Dymoke Powell [pronounced Pole]. He wrote the 20th century cult classic "A Dance to the Music of Time," a fictional account of English life between the world wars. Joe describes this set of twelve books as "Henry James in complexity, rewarding to those who read and reread them." Summers he travels to England to participate in the Powell society. Single volumes, as well as the entire set, are available online.
Michael Thompson of Michael R.Thompson Rare Books of Los Angeles. "For me its 'Language, Truth and Logic' by A. J. Ayer. I first read it around 1962. It totally destroys old school metaphysical philosophy. From it I became an empiricist, becoming less interested in philosophy, and more interested in books as objects. It’s a small book you can read in a few hours. I recommend it to anyone interested in philosophy and religion. It will be a struggle but also a revelation."
For Mr. Thompson's partner Carol Sandberg "Everything else was just stories. Virginia Wolfe made me appreciate the value of the moment, left me in awe that someone could capture the feeling, the experience. All things Virginia Wolfe, that's my recommendation."
Vic Zoshak of Tavistock Books offers this: "Three titles, all of which I read years ago, immediately come to mind - RUBYFRUIT JUNGLE by Rita Mae Brown, a coming-of-age story of a young woman; NEUROMANCER by William Gibson - the hallmark title of the cyber-punk genre which forecast much of what we see in today's commercial society. And then there's 'Pillars of the Earth' by Ken Follett. It's a fantastic historical novel of a master mason who builds a cathedral in 13th (?) century England. I couldn't put the book down; a real page-turner, and totally out of genre for Follett." It was listed #33 on the BBC's Big Read, a 2003 survey with the goal of finding the 'Nation's Best-loved Book.' It was also selected for Oprah's Book Club in 2007."
Mary Cooper Gilliam of Franklin Gilliam Rare Books, Charlottesville, Virginia offers "Billy Lee Brammer's 'The Gay Place being related novels: The Flea Circus, Room Enough to Caper, Country Pleasures.' It's a very good story and his only book, considered a very good political novel, perhaps the best since 'All the Kings Men' [by Robert Penn Warren]. You can read it for fun and relevance today."
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 156: Cornelis de Jode, Americae pars Borealis, double-page engraved map of North America, Antwerp, 1593.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 206: John and Alexander Walker, Map of the United States, London and Liverpool, 1827.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 223: Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, hand-colored double-page engraved world map, Antwerp, 1575.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 233: Aaron Arrowsmith, Chart of the World, oversize engraved map on 8 sheets, London, 1790 (circa 1800).
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 239: Fielding Lucas, A General Atlas, 81 engraved maps and diagrams, Baltimore, 1823.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 240: Anthony Finley, A New American Atlas, 15 maps engraved by james hamilton young on 14 double-page sheets, Philadelphia, 1826.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 263: John Bachmann, Panorama of the Seat of War, portfolio of 4 double-page chromolithographed panoramic maps, New York, 1861.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 265: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1558.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 271: Abraham Ortelius, Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Antwerp: Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 283: Joris van Spilbergen, Speculum Orientalis Occidentalisque Indiae, Leiden: Nicolaus van Geelkercken for Jodocus Hondius, 1619.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 285: Levinus Hulsius, Achtzehender Theil der Newen Welt, 14 engraved folding maps, Frankfurt: Johann Frederick Weiss, 1623.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 341: John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, Plate 26, London, 1827.
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/00d5fd41-2542-4a80-b119-4886d4b9925f.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.")
