Rare Book Monthly Articles - May - 2007 Issue

Business as Unusual:  the Frank Streeter Sale

Business as Unusual: the Frank Streeter Sale

By Bruce McKinney Commencing Monday evening, April 16th, and continuing Tuesday, the 17th, Christies, in New York, orchestrated an immensely successful sale of the Frank S. Streeter Library including important navigation, Pacific voyages, cartography and science. The sale yielded $16,421,820 and dozens of broken hearts. Neither the auction house nor the consignors were among the unhappy. The aggregate low estimate gave hope to all though it turned out three times that number would be the average result: almost $30,000 a lot. As happens from time to time, exceptio...

The Barnes & Noble Bookseller Beta Program

The Barnes & Noble Bookseller Beta Program

By Carl Burnham The new Barnes Noble beta program for booksellers holds great promise. Since its introduction last year, there have been a few dozen booksellers invited to participate in the ...

Where Did Froogle Go?

Where Did Froogle Go?

By Michael Stillman If you have been searching for Froogle, Google's product search engine, recently you may have noticed something different. It isn't there. Gone. Vanished from the face of th...

Goin' Farther South

Goin' Farther South

By Karen Wright To continue my tale from last month, we arrived in Natchez, Mississippi, to visit an old girlfriend who lives in a delightfully restored townhouse built in about 1840-something....

Susan Heller:  Book Dealer at the Crossroads

Susan Heller: Book Dealer at the Crossroads

By Bruce McKinney Three years ago I started a conversation and friendship with Susan Heller of Cleveland, Ohio. She was one of the early members of AE and bit by bit, in telephone conversation...

What are the Top 10 Most Common Books in Libraries?

What are the Top 10 Most Common Books in Libraries?

By Michael Stillman We have presented several Top 10 (and more) lists over the past few months -- Abebooks' bestsellers, BookFinder's most popular searches, even our own AE Top 500 sales at au...

The United States Post Office and Politics

The United States Post Office and Politics

by Renée Magriel Roberts I hope you've already heard about this, but if you have not, as of May 15, 2007, the Post Office is enacting rate and service changes that will radically alter the way in...

Librarian Headed to Jail for Book Theft

Librarian Headed to Jail for Book Theft

By Michael Stillman Several cases over the past few years have brought the issue of library theft to the forefront of public attention. However, these cases have involved outsiders sneaking of...

Evidence of Life in the White Mountains

Evidence of Life in the White Mountains

By Bruce McKinney The White Mountains, as a collecting focus, received a boost this past month as a group of White Mountains, Vermont and New Hampshire items came up at New England Book Auctio...

Bloomsday to be Celebrated at the Rosenbach

Bloomsday to be Celebrated at the Rosenbach

By Michael Stillman The Rosenbach Museum and Library of Philadelphia will be hosting its 16th annual Bloomsday celebration on June 16. Bloomsday is the commemoration of James Joyce's novel Ulys...

18 Book Catalogues Reviewed in Section Two

18 Book Catalogues Reviewed in Section Two

May is a busy month for catalogues, with eighteen new ones up for review. William Reese is offering literature, while Ken Lopez is targeted on just modern literature. Nothing modern about I...

Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby’s
    Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana
    27 January 2026
    Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: An extraordinary pair of books from George Washington’s field library, marking the conjunction of Robert Rogers, George Washington, and Henry Knox. $1,200,000 to $1,800,000.
    Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: An extraordinary letter marking the conjunction of George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette, and Benjamin Franklin. $1,000,000 to $1,500,000.
    Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: Virginia House of Delegates. The genesis of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. $350,000 to $500,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana
    27 January 2026
    Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: (Gettysburg). “Genl. Doubleday has taken charge of the battle”: Autograph witness to the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, illustrated by fourteen maps and plans. $200,000 to $300,000.
    Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: President Lincoln thanks a schoolboy on behalf of "all the children of the nation for his efforts to ensure "that this war shall be successful, and the Union be maintained and perpetuated." $200,000 to $300,000.
    Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: [World War II]. An archive of maps and files documenting the allied campaign in Europe, from the early stages of planning for D-Day and Operation Overlord, to Germany’s surrender. $200,000 to $300,000.

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