Rare Book Monthly Articles - January - 2008 Issue

Magnasale

Announcing The AE Top 500 Prices at Auction for 2007

By Michael Stillman

With the close of another year, it is time to look back at the highest priced books and related ephemera at auction last year. We have scoured the results at all of the major auction houses and a great many smaller ones to come up with the AE 500 top prices at auction for 2007.

Five items made it into the million-dollar category in 2007, down from seven the previous year. However, at the top, number one exceeded last year's top price of just over $5 million by fourfold. Particularly interesting was the price at the bottom of the list -- number 500. That figure wa...

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Tnyt

Newspapers: Sublimate to Survive

By Bruce McKinney
I have for several months been thinking about the future of newspapers. My family owned weeklies in upstate New York for fifty years and regularly, at the dinner table while I ...

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Carta

<i>In The News</i>: Magna Carta Sells For $21.3 Million

By Michael Stillman

It was the sale of this century, a one-item auction at Sotheby's in New York. At sale was one of the earlier versions of the Magna Carta, written by hand in 1297. The Magna ...

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Poclaim

The Great Homosassa Hassle: or A Trip Through the Wonder World of USPS Insurance Claims Adjustment

By Frank Bequaert

My wife Lucia and I run an antiquarian book business in Fitzwilliam New Hampshire. Our shop is a quarter mile from the Post Office which makes it convenient for mailing pack...

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Unlikely.binding

An Update on Joel Munsell, 19th Century Albany Printer

By Bruce McKinney
For more than three years, I have been searching the internet for "re-appearances" of books, manuscripts and ephemera printed [and or written] by Joel Munsell, the 19th century ...

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7

AbeBooks Lists Its Top Sellers, Most Expensive Books for 2007

By Michael Stillman

AbeBooks has issued its lists of the bestselling books, most expensive books, and various other "top 10 and 25" lists, such as top authors, signed books, and used books. As...

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Runner

Sex, Knitting and Helicopters: The BookFinder Top 10 for 2007

By Michael Stillman

BookFinder.com has released its list of the top 10 most sought-after old books of 2007. Making the BookFinder list requires a combination of being both highly desired and ha...

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Avatar

Second Life: It's Not a Game

By Renée Magriel Roberts

It's 11 PM and I've finally finished stacking orders for tomorrow, dispensed with all today's correspondence, special-ordered books, finished and uploaded today's data ...

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Geo.w

A Celebration of Washington, Lincoln and the Presidents

By Bruce McKinney
The February issue of AE Monthly will include the second issue of The Bookseller's Comet. It will include printed

material and objects offered by members pertaining to "A C...

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Beedle

Rowling Book Sells For $4 Million

By Michael Stillman

We have come to expect that some books will sell at auction for well beyond their estimates. Sometimes an auction house may not appreciate the book's importance, at other ti...

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Wendell.w

The Presidential Primaries

By Bruce McKinney
A hundred and fifty years ago candidates stayed home. Today the voters do and who can blame them. The debates in

2007 confirm that the run for President is nothing more tha...

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Rarebook

Rare Book Review Awards for 2007 Announced


By Michael Stillman

Rare Book Review, the magazine of the rare and antiquarian book trade, recently announced the winners of their inaugural Rare Book Review Awards. Winners were selected by...

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19

Nineteen Book Catalogues Reviewed in Section Two

We begin the new year with 19 book catalogue reviews in Section Two. Dragon Books has issued their first catalogue. The Antiquariaat Forum offers books from Europe and the Far East, Libreria de Ant...

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Rare Book Monthly

  • C9698cf8-a233-47f2-8c89-3948db73681c Fabaae8b-d3e7-4952-b247-bd3d7193d5b7 95d3ad9e-8a5e-44fd-91f5-d871899c2692 10e15bb0-0924-4914-b454-3f13e3cfdbe7 6d0f718f-7c0c-4d33-997d-ccaa64b2364a 23da7f71-2c97-45f7-ac9c-2b6cd6057437 64106842-9e9e-45f2-bf33-9cc6a131f4b8 C26f83a9-250a-4794-b773-fc874d02c3d0 05529de1-a0e4-42e7-a816-02e0737ccdd3 24bc260c-3e7f-44bd-85f7-f53143d67fbb 31106854-a8a8-4b90-a3b8-75cec8f682a3 Dad08575-8ba1-4639-a8d7-38808ea01e0c Af2e4788-f05e-477d-8f07-ed63ae6052a1 4d1470ce-7c59-4ce7-ac12-6d38f35c361c 2a444ae5-9441-43eb-8627-55941943c1ee 8f63f55c-c0ce-46c6-b978-85e6481d341a
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries Mar 10:</b> Francis Scott Key, <i>Star Spangled Banner,</i> first printing, c. 1814-16. $8,000 to $12,000.
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries Mar 10:</b> William Sydney Porter, a.k.a. “O. Henry,” archive of drawings made to illustrate a lost mining memoir, c. 1883-84. $30,000 to $40,000.
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries Mar 10:</b> [Bay Psalm Book], printed for Hezekiah Usher of Boston, Cambridge, c. 1648-65. $50,000 to $75,000.
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries Mar 10:</b> Book of Mormon, first edition, Palmyra, 1830. $40,000 to $60,000.
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries Mar 10:</b> <i>Noticia estraordinario,</i> probable first announcement in Mexico City of the fall of the Alamo, 1836. $40,000 to $60,000.
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries Mar 10:</b> Patrick Gass, first edition of earliest first-hand account of the Lewis and Clarke expedition, Pittsburgh, 1807. $6,000 to $9,000.
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries Mar 10:</b> Diploma from the Princeton Class of 1783, commencement attended by Washington & Continental Congress. $10,000 to $15,000.
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries Mar 10:</b> <i>Sprague Light Cavalry!</i> color-printed broadside, NY, 1863. $5,000 to $7,500.
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries Mar 10:</b> <i>The Lincoln & Johnson Union Campaign Songster,</i> Philadelphia, 1864. $3,000 to $4,000.
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries Mar 10:</b> Lucy Parsons, labor organizer, albumen cabinet card, New York, 1886. $800 to $1,200.
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries Mar 10:</b> Daniel L.F. Swift, journal as third mate on a Pacific Whaling voyage, 1848-1850. $3,000 to $4,0000.
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries Mar 10:</b> Two photos of Thomas Moran, Grand Canyon, silver prints, 1901. $1,500 to $2,500.
  • Fea2d715-7099-4246-9d1d-0c05fb83e158 Ec7688b3-695e-4003-bd13-26565c79db91 9fec15b1-4080-4036-9a7d-a29ffd96038d 619a58da-55cf-44b7-bb6c-63be35e41333 097f3472-8e01-44ba-b678-55a361d5755d Ffed4933-b3ca-43f3-a0d9-3f7ef4bbba0e 87e903de-c7e8-4441-a480-b97c85a93d7c 82496c0b-178e-47bd-aff7-2fa638d29515 E1ac499e-6ffc-46d2-b726-a0485b856012 5c308b9f-1473-497b-a868-2dd66d8020e9 7e445e5e-3075-45df-9ee5-1be2c266214a Be49db24-c781-41a2-9dd0-de0de2bcbd3e 93ea4b2b-216a-4996-95e5-4cda5eeb1b39 3a4316d9-fda4-4656-b320-158478bc904f Bc930697-6220-43b4-adf7-33dd6aee7636 34020ff3-d3dd-4c8f-9f5c-0e3af7eacc82
    <b>Bonhams, Mar. 6:</b> Helvelius. Two Autograph Letters Signed to Francis Aston, Royal Society Secretary, noting his feud with Robert Hooke, 5 pp total, 1685. $70,000 to $100,000.
    <b>Bonhams, Mar. 6:</b> Newton, Isaac. Autograph manuscript on God, 4 pp, c.1710, "In the beginning was the Word...."?$100,000 to $150,000.
    <b>Bonhams, Mar. 6:</b> Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. First edition, first issue. Untrimmed copy in contemporary boards. $30,000 to $50,000.
    <b>Bonhams, Mar. 6:</b> Lincoln, Abraham. Signed photograph, beardless portrait with Civil War provenance. $80,000 to $120,000.
    <b>Bonhams, Mar. 6:</b> IMPEACHMENT. Original engrossed copy of the first Andrew Johnson impeachment resolution vote. $120,000 to $180,000.
    <b>Bonhams, Mar. 6:</b> Mucha, Alphonse. 11 original pencil drawings for?<i>Andelicek z Baroku,</i> "Litte Baroque Angel," Prague, 1929. $10,000 to $15,000.
    <b>Bonhams, Mar. 6:</b> Einstein, Albert. Annotated Galley Proofs for <i>The Meaning of Relativity.</i> 1921. $25,000 to $35,000.
    <b>Bonhams, Mar. 6:</b> Silverstein, Shel. Original maquette for <i>The Giving Tree,</i> 34 original drawings. $10,000 to $15,000.
    <b>Bonhams, Mar. 6:</b> Roth, Philip. Typed Manuscript with substantial autograph corrections for an unpublished sequel to <i>The Breast.</i> $10,000 to $15,000.
    <b>Bonhams, Mar. 6:</b> Taupin, Bernie. Autograph Manuscript, the original draft of lyrics for Elton John's "Candle in the Wind," 2 pp, 1973. $100,000 to $150,000.
    <b>Bonhams, Mar. 6:</b> HARVEY, WILLIAM. <i>De Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus Anatomica Exercitatio.</i> Padua: 1643. $12,000 to $18,000.
    <b>Bonhams, Mar. 6:</b> CESALPINO, ANDREA. <i>Peripateticarum Quaestionum Libri Quinque.</i> Venice: 1571. $30,000 to $40,000.
  • 247b124a-d3f2-42c5-bef8-c7c652c016a8 6e852d6c-fcfd-418a-acec-37adbf31f353 9d29c9e9-c860-496c-a70d-5704653cd688 D38d4d20-5147-4ecd-bd9b-c7d11a32def6 B6228337-d08e-4016-8804-740c91103414 7bc3a2fa-8d19-46c0-8650-cb313da40989 F87c3b06-ff37-4ce1-a871-98c84ab8cd0a 6790cf05-c087-4a8a-9ed9-9415e28b98e2 F884bcab-8809-4d4a-9363-c98e929560a8 58a25133-4848-4015-aa9a-43673c5e2e88 7cb35634-41e3-4f31-b5c8-490c5dab6825 Ca08455b-81b8-4051-9b67-7f3954538456 F8625978-526e-4816-9ac6-0d6b9d124deb
    <b>ALDE, Feb. 26:</b> Leon TOLSTOÏ. <i>Anna Karenina.</i> Moscou, 1878. First and full edition of the Russian novel, in the author’s language.<br>Est. 3 000 / 4 000 €
    <b>ALDE, Feb. 26:</b> Mark TWAIN. <i>Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom Sawyer's comrade).</i> New York, 1885. First American edition.<br>Est. 5 000 / 6 000 €
    <b>ALDE, Feb. 26:</b> Walt WHITMAN. <i>Leaves of Grass.</i> Brooklyn, New York, 1856. Second edition gathering 32 poems. Est. 3 000 / 4 000 €
    <b>ALDE, Feb. 26:</b> Karen BLIXEN. <i>Out of Africa.</i> Londres, 1937. First edition in the UK, before Danish translation and American release.<br>Est. 1 500 / 2 000 €
    <b>ALDE, Feb. 26:</b> Ernest HEMINGWAY. <i>A Farewell to Arms.</i> New York, 1929. First edition with $2.50 on the dust and A on the copyright page.<br>Est. 2 000 / 3 000 €
    <b>ALDE, Feb. 26:</b> James JOYCE. <i>Ulysses.</i> Paris, Shakespeare and Company, 1922. First edition published by Sylvia Beach. Est. 3 000 / 4 000 €
    <b>ALDE, Feb. 26:</b> James JOYCE. <i>Dubliners.</i> Londres, 1914. First edition. Nice copy in publisher’s cardboard. Est. 2 000 / 3 000 €
    <b>ALDE, Feb. 26:</b> Franz KAFKA. 8 novels in German first edition, published in München, Leipzig and Berlin 1916-1931. Est. from 300 / 400 to 2 000 / 3 000 €
    <b>ALDE, Feb. 26:</b> David Herbert LAWRENCE. <i>Lady Chatterley's Lover.</i> Florence, 1928. Privately printed first edition. Est. 4 000 / 5 000 €
    John STEINBECK. <i>The Grapes of Wrath.</i> New York, 1939. First edition. Nice copy with $2.75 on the cover. Est. 1 000 / 1 200 €

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