They are busy and will be the entire time. Selling is a series of trapeze leaps ["I'm interested, I'll come back later;" "Do you have a card?", "Wow Jimmy, this looks good."] Some orders will be written, some will close the following week. Many leads will evaporate. It will take a week or more to measure the outcome.
On Friday night Jenny and I walk the ABAA show. Many exhibitors are AE members and we stop to say hello. I see an item in the Bartleby booth that one of our members will be interested in and make a note to contact them about it.
We then stop in at the Hanrahan's booth and am surprised at how small their inventory seems. Of course they couldn't bring too much: 1 or 2% of their stock by volume, a higher percentage by dollar value. This is some of their important material but nothing to compare with their complete inventory. I want to see a series of images on the back wall that convey what I already know they have, a substantial and appealing inventory back home. If people walking by see such images some will inevitably ask about visiting. Their lifelong commitment and dedication to old and rare books, evident in their manner and speech, is not reinforced to the casual passerby by what they see.
On Saturday morning we're up early for the satellite show. The wind is blowing and it's raining. Umbrellas invert instantly. The two block walk becomes a $5.00 taxi ride with a few "it'll be better [for whom?] if we turn here." Leigh, at 79, with some help set up his booth Friday afternoon. Lots of passes have been given out. It turns out these passes give you the right to buy a ticket. Thank you! Once here of course there is no turning back. The place is crowded. It feels like an emporium in Istanbul or the subway in Rome, only more crowded. I put my wallet in my front pocket.
The traffic is not greater than the ABAA fair but the isles are congested. Somebody saved money on signs and it's a bad idea. Identification is important. Who am I talking to? They are acting like I know them. By my squint I ask Jenny for help. If she knows them she'll say "hi Jim or Bob." This woman has been saving me for years.
The material is very mixed. Important maps are only a few feet from unimportant Abe Books debris.
It takes about three hours to get from the first room to the last. Toward the end we speak with Leigh who has brought thousands of items, 3,000 by his estimate, been visited by major players, made one substantial sale and a group of small ones. One person has come by, examined a book and expressed the opinion it may include a map in facsimile. Leigh removes it from sale. Everyone who buys or sells material has experienced this. As a serious dealer Leigh backs his material, and if sold, issues refunds. It rarely happens but provides insight into the man.
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.")
