Walking Tour Of New York’s Antiquarian Book Sellers Part II: Manhattan’s Upper East Side
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Manhattan still boasts a vigorous community of used, rare, and antiquarian book dealers, some of whom conduct commerce mostly through the internet, some of whom work from home, and some of whom occupy storefront shops open to the public. And as you will see from this “Walking Tour” article, many of these firms operate from the neighborhood known generally as the Upper East Side of Manhattan, although other neighborhoods also certainly have their own treasured bookshops and dealers. (See the ÆMarchives for the first part of this article, Walking Tour Of New York’s Antiquarian Book Sellers/Part One: Midtown Manhattan; pending articles will deal with other diverse neighborhoods within the borough and the booksellers and firms that can be found there.)
A few notes: although we at ÆM usually have Americana as our central focus, for the purposes of this article we have chosen to broaden our horizons and have created a list of book dealers and firms who specialize in many areas including but also other than Americana, ranging from interior design and gardening to science, medicine, economics, Judaica, artists books, autographs, and many other fields or genres. Whenever possible, we have included additional details about the firms in question. Another editorial note: we have created this list by dedicatedly pruning through many guides and directories and by following leads passed on by others in the book world. If you are a used, rare, or antiquarian book dealer and find that your firm is not listed here, please tell us by writing a Letter to the Editor and including details about your firm and other contact information. Our list of Manhattan book dealers is an ongoing project and we would be more than happy to add your firm to our compilation. Happy book hunting to all of you this lazy summer.
Dealer Address & Contact Info.
Dealer Specialties and Additional Details
Applefeld Gallery
1372 York Avenue (73rd St.)
New York, NY 10021
Summer Hours: Mon.-Fri. 10-5 Or By Appointment
Telephone: (212) 988-7835
Fax: (212) 876-8915
Email: staff@applefeld.com
Name of proprietor(s): Michael Colon
Specialties: Fine Bindings, First Editions, Color Plate Books, Sets, Early Travel
Additional Details: “We are a very old firm. We’ve been here almost 40 years and we are an old-fashioned shop. We are very Dickensian, filled with nice old volumes. You can see some very nice books and hold them in your hands here. We give you the opportunity to browse.” (Michael Colon, Proprietor)
Polina Aronov
1175 York Avenue, Ste. 11K
New York, NY 10021
Summer Hours: By Appointment
Telephone: (212) 688-4243
Fax: (212) 838-9391 Email: svetarv@aol.com
Name of proprietor(s): Polina Aronov
Specialties: Russian Avante-Garde, Children’s Books, Ephemera, Illustrated Books, Russia
Additional Details: “Our business is very much in a state of transition now, but we are very much open to customers,” says Polina Aronov, Proprietor.
ALDE, Apr. 8: GUEVARA (ANTONIO DE). Histoire de Marc-Aurèle, Empereur Romain, vray miroir et horloge des Princes. Paris, Pierre et Galliot du Pré, frères, 1565. €3,000 to €4,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: HEURES DE LA VIERGE. Horæ in laudem beatissimæ virginis Mariæ ad usum Romanum. Paris, Charles L'Angelier, 1556. €4,000 to €5,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: MONTAIGNE (MICHEL DE). Les Essais. Édition nouvelle, trouvée après le deceds de l'autheur… Paris, Abel L'Angelier, 1595. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [ROJAS (FERNANDO DE)]. Celestina, tragicomedia di Calisto et Melibea, tradotta de lingua castigliana in italiano idioma… Venise, 1531. €2,000 to €3,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CAMÕES (LUÍS DE). Os Lusiadas. Lisbonne, Pedro Crasbeeck, 1613. €2,000 to €3,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CERVANTES (MIGUEL DE). El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Bruxelles, Roger Velpius & Huberto Antonio, 1611. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: LA FONTAINE (JEAN DE). Fables choisies, mises en vers. Paris, Denys Thierry et Claude Barbin, 1678-1694. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CERVANTES (MIGUEL DE). El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Madrid, Joaquin Ibarra, 1780. €3,000 to €4,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: DIDEROT (DENIS) ET JEAN LE ROND D'ALEMBERT. Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. Paris, 1751-1765. €15,000 to €20,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [LIVRE TISSÉ]. LAMARTINE (Alphonse de). Les Laboureurs. Poème tiré de Jocelyn… Lyon, J. A. Henry, 1883. €8,000 to €10,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [LIVRE TISSÉ]. Livre de prières tissé d'après les enluminures des manuscrits du XIVe au XVIe siècle. Lyon, [A. Roux], 1886. €5,000 to €6,000.
Sotheby’s Books, Manuscripts & Objects from Three Important Collections Open for Bidding 2-17 April
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: [Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun]. Le Roman de la Rose, [Geneva or Lyons, c.1481], first printed edition of the most important medieval French vernacular poem. £200,000 to £300,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Castiglione. Il libro del cortegiano. [Venice], April 1528, first edition, in a magnificent binding by Jean Picard for Jean Grolier. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Jacobus de Cessolis. Schachzabelbuch, Strasbourg, 1483, von der Lasa copy. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: World Championship, 1972. A collection of 84 press photographs of the famed match between Spassky and Fischer. £2,000 to £3,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Ben Franklin. Autograph letter signed, to Lord Shelburne, British Prime Minister, during peace negotiations, November 1782. £15,000 to £20,000.
