Rare Book Monthly

Articles - March - 2010 Issue

iPad: Avenue to the Attention Age?

The iPad with the external keyboard & dock (photo via Apple)

The iPad with the external keyboard & dock (photo via Apple)


The lack of a physical keyboard means that, away from home, typing on the touch-screen is a practiced and developed skill, and you'll probably never get to the point where you want to write chapters for a book on it. There is, however, an external keyboard that docks with the iPad and charges it. It also props it up at an angle similar to a laptop or desktop, so it essentially gives you the functionality of a laptop on a desk. I'm honestly considering getting one to replace my laptop, and that keyboard dock is key in my eyes.

I don't propose that this replace your Windows-based PC machine at work. I see the iPad as a great way for people to interact with the Internet in the new modes that are defining the experience in the Web 2.0 era. And I see it as a particularly forgiving platform, with almost no possibility for malware, very few physical buttons and a large display. Things like Facebook (for sharing pictures with relatives, maybe?), Twitter, RSS feed reading rather than manually going to various sites, all of these can be done on the iPad, and I dare say they're meant for each other. I have my ideas about how user-generated content in 2.0 could work with the rare book field, but that'll be for next month's issue of AE Monthly!

If you’d like more information on the iPad, I suggest watching a video Apple has uploaded to their website which details virtually all of its features. You can find it by clicking here.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 11. Blaeu's Superb World Map on a Polar Projection (1695) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 36. Schedel's Ancient World Map with Humanoid Creatures (1493) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 49. One of the First Lunar Globes to Show the Far Side of the Moon (1963) Est. $1,000 - $1,300
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 5. The First World Map with Lavish Allegorical Vignettes of the Continents (1594) Est. $15,000 - $17,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 55. Anti-British Propaganda Map with Churchill as an Octopus (1942) Est. $2,000 - $2,300
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 197. One of the Most Influential Maps of Westward Expansion (1846) Est. $9,500 - $12,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 10. Scarce Pitt Edition of Carte-a-Figures Map of the World (1680) Est. $9,500 - $11,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 220. A Fine, Early Rendering of San Francisco (1874) Est. $2,200 - $2,500
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 707. Hand-Colored Image of the Presentation of Jesus with Gilt Highlights (1450) Est. $1,600 - $1,900
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 80. One of the Most Important Maps Perpetuating the Myth of the Island of California (1680) Est. $3,250 - $4,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 725. Homann's Atlas Featuring 26 Folio-Sized Maps in Original Color (1715) Est. $4,500 - $5,500
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 169. One of the Earliest Maps to Show Philadelphia (1695) Est. $4,750 - $6,000
  • Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: DALVIMART, Octavien ou d’ALVIMAR(T). The Costume of Turkey
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: DALVIMART, Octavien ou d’ALVIMAR(T)]. CLARK. The Military Costume of Turkey
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: HOMMAIRE DE HELL, Ignace-Xavier. LAURENS, Jules. Voyage en Turquie et en Perse
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: POSTEL, Guillaume. De la République des Turc
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: PREZIOSI, Amadeo. Stamboul. Souvenir d’Orient.
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: COSTUMES. EMPIRE OTTOMAN.
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: PRISSE D'AVENNES, Achille Constant T. Emile. L'Art Arabe
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: PRISSE D'AVENNES. Histoire de l'art Egyptie
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: BESANCENOT, Jean. Costumes et types du Maroc.
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: COSTUMES OTTOMANS. Suite de figures ottomanes à l’aquarelle
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: LES MILLE ET UNE NUIT, contes arabes
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: SCHLEGEL, Hermann et A. H. VERSTER van WULVERHORST. Traité de Fauconnerie - Planches
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: THEVENOT, Melchisédec. Relation de divers voyages curieux
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11:
  • Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: HAMILTON, Sir William (1730-1803) - Campi Phlegraei. Napoli: [Pietro Fabris], 1776, 1779. € 30.000 - 50.000
    Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: [MORTIER] - BLAEU, Joannes (1596-1673) - Het Nieuw Stede Boek van Italie. Amsterdam: Pieter Mortier, 1704-1705. € 15.000 - 25.000
    Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: TULLIO D'ALBISOLA (1899-1971) - Bruno MUNARI (1907-1998) - L'Anguria lirica (lungo poema passionale). Roma e Savona: Edizioni Futuriste di Poesia, senza data [ma 1933?]. € 20.000 - 30.000
    Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: IL MANOSCRITTO RITROVATO DI IPPOLITA MARIA SFORZA. TITO LIVIO - Ab Urbe Condita. Prima Decade. Manoscritto miniato su pergamena, metà XV secolo. € 280.000 - 350.000
  • Sotheby's Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s: Balthus, Emily Brontë. Wuthering Heights, New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1993. 6,600 USD.
    Sotheby’s: Charles Dickens. Complete Works, Philadelphia & London: J.B. Lippincott Company & Chapman & Hall, LD, 1850. Limited Edition set of 30 volumes. 7,500 USD.
    Sotheby’s: John Lennon, Yoko Ono. Handwritten Letter from John Lennon and Yoko Ono to their Chauffer. 1971. 32,500 USD.
    Sotheby’s: Winston Churchill. First edition of War Speeches, Cassell and Company, Ltd., 1941. Set of 7 volumes. 5,500 USD.
    Sotheby’s: Andy Warhol, Julia Warhola. Holy Cats First Edition, Signed by Andy Warhol. 1954. 30,000 USD.

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