By Megan BentonA talk delivered to the Roxburghe Club, 16 September 2003
Copyright 2003
Near the end of the nineteenth century, American essayist and avid book collector Eugene Field
published a book entitled The Love Affairs of a Bibliomaniac. In it he tells one tale after another, all with the same theme—that if forced to choose between a woman and a beloved book, a sensible man would be better off with the book. He even wryly speculates that if a woman works hard and behaves well, she just might be lucky enough to come back in another life as a book, “to be petted, fondled, belove...
By Mike Stillman
One of the assumptions of the new collector, or the non-collector who discovers a trove of old books in the attic, is that if a book is old it must be valuable. Certainly anything...
By Mike Stillman
This month we review three catalogues of Americana, from David Lesser, Flo Silver, and Harold Nestler. They cover the United States, South and Central America, and New York Stat...
A review and commentary by Bruce McKinney
Table of Contents
A review of The Dutch Dominie of the Catskills, a work of historical fiction written by the Rev. Doctor David Murdoch and pub...
The following is from Mr. Robinson: -
Elmira, May 5, 1851
Rev. and Dear Sir:
I learned, Saturday evening, from a source considered reliable, that a minority of our Committee had written...
Died
On the morning of Thursday, June 13, at the Parsonage on William-street, Elmira, Rev. David Murdoch, D.D., aged 60 years.
In the death of Dr. Murdoch not only his family and his church ...
Affectionate ones had not been neglectful of those graceful offices, which while being the last tokens of love and respect, we may pay to the dead, are at the same time symbols of the life which is...
Elmira, New York
160th Anniversary
1795-1955
“1831 to 1843 was a season of revival in these parts and we had many accessions. In 1846, all resolutions denouncing slavery having been tabled...
David Murdoch, D. D.
Was born at
Bonhill in Scotland
Oct. 4th, 1800
At the age of 29 he was graduated at
The University of
Glasgow.
He studied theology in that city with
The late
Ralph Wa...
A Review and Perspective by Bruce McKinney
In 1995 Walt Crawford and Michael Gorman wrote this book about the future of libraries. They sought to make the case that the headlong dash into the ...
By Renee Roberts
October 17, 2003. Harwich Port, Cape Cod, MA. The Internet has been touted as opening up the global world of sales to individual retailers, and this is certainly true. What “nor...
The sell side of the market is clearly coming into view and there are going to be a variety of options sufficient to satisfy both immediate and long term sellers. It is important to note that the ...
His mission completed, King returned to the states and tried to regain his old seat in the senate. In a three-way contest, King was unsuccessful, the only loss of his electoral career. However, i...
By Mike Stillman
This month we review four new booksellers’ catalogues. They are an outstanding group. Helen Kahn gives us “Voyages and Travels,” William Reese the USA oriented “National Pride,...
By Bruce McKinney
For many the idea of buying at book auctions is a daunting enterprise. What many dealers regularly do all others will have to learn to handle. You can buy flowers at the ...
By Bruce McKinney
There is life in the book trade after all and it was in evidence over the weekend of October 10 and 11 in a beautifully staged show in Seattle on the grounds of the 1962 World’...
Tuesday afternoon’s second session begins with History Reference followed by Literary Reference. Many fields are covered under History Reference, such as bibles, religion, bibliophiles, the book tr...
Il Ponte, Sep. 24-25: HAMILTON, Sir William - Campi Phlegraei. Napoli: 1779. € 50,000 - 80,000
Il Ponte, Sep. 24-25: KIRCHER, Athanasius - Turris Babel. Amsterdam: 1679. € 3,000 - 5,000
Il Ponte, Sep. 24-25: EDWARDS, George.London - Gleanings of Natural History. Londra: 1758-1764. € 7,000 - 10,000
Il Ponte, Sep. 24-25: HEVELIUS, Johannes - Cometographia. Danzica: 1668. € 20,000 - 30,000
Il Ponte, Sep. 24-25: KUPKA, Frantisek - Quatre histoires de blanc et noir. Parigi: 1926. € 10,000 - 15,000
Sotheby’s 10 September 2024 The Shem Tov Bible
Koller Auctions Books & Autographs 18 September 2024
Koller, Sep. 18: Cowper, William. Anatomia corporum humanorum ab excellentissimis… Utrecht, 1750. CHF 25,000 to 40,000
Koller, Sep. 18: Bell, Thomas. A Monograph of the Testudinata. London [1836-1842]. CHF 20,000 to 30,000.
Koller, Sep. 18: Gould, John. A monograph of the Trochilidae, or family of humming-birds [and] Supplement completed after the authors death…, London [1849-]1861 and [1880-]1887. CHF 50,000 to 80,000.
Koller Auctions Books & Autographs 18 September 2024
Koller, Sep. 18: Gould, John. The birds of New Guinea and the adjacent Papuan Islands, including many new species recently discovered in Australia. CHF 50,000 to 80,000.
Koller, Sep. 18: Levaillant, François. Histoire naturelle des oiseaux de paradis et des rolliers, suivie de celle des toucans et des barbus. Paris [1801-]1806. CHF 40,000 to 60,000.
Koller, Sep. 18: Pfinzing, Melchior. Die geverlicheiten und einsteils der geschichten des loblichen streytparen…, Nürnberg, 1517. CHF 40,000 to 60,000.