To the extent that texts of talks become available, with the permission of the speaker, we'll provide electronic access and links to the speaker and or club as they wish. Thirty people may hear a talk in San Francisco and in time another 150 read it on line. As collecting becomes more specialized such talks will become important tools for the new collector and an enduring accomplishment for the person giving the talk.
And while this approach to open access is forward looking it also envisions that past discussions that are available in text will also be linked as the opportunity arises. Each year there are almost three hundred such talks across North America, almost all of which represent significant preparation in concert with decades of experience that too often is heard by only a few. In this way we hope to capture these efforts and to make them accessible to the interested as they become aware of their availability. The internet may be strengthening individual collecting. The clubs can turn it into their advantage. In truth most such lectures and discussions are unique, even timeless. They should not be lost.
For those clubs and organizations that have or someday will have the capability to film presentations we will provide video links.
Here is a list of some, certainly not all, of the clubs whose focus is the book as object. These are the book Collecting Societies that are members of or affiliated with FABS, the Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies:
The Baltimore Bibliophiles
Binnie Syril Braunstein
410 486-6178 bsbgc@aol.com
The John Russell Bartlett Society
Pamela A. Rakowski
64 Cathedral Avenue
Providence, RI 02908
401 751-5581 prakowski@provlib.org
The Bixby Club
John Neal Hoover
University of Missouri
Jefferson Memorial Library
St. Louis Mercantile Library
Room 265
8001 Natural Bridge Road
St. Louis, MO 63121
314 516-7245 jhoover@umsl.edu The Manuscript Society
An international organization of persons & institutions
Anthony J. Mourek mourek_manuscript@msn.com
Miniature Book Society
Mark Palkovic, President
Editor, Music Library Association Index and Bibliography Series
417 Blegen Library, P.O. Box 210152
2602 McMicken Circle
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH 45221-0152
513 556-1964 palkovma@ucmail.uc.edu
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
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.
Heritage Auctions Rare Books Signature Auction December 15, 2025
Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
Heritage, Dec. 15: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tender is the Night. A Romance.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
