Information, its processing, distribution, search and retrieval is passing through the eye of the needle, to paraphrase the New Testament, the old structures of information giving way to the new: books into databases into full text searches - accessible online by computer and phone.
It turns out society's commitment is to information, not to form, and this is tough news for all things printed. The group, that prefers books to electronic data, is shrinking, the old forms ever less supported, the new forms gathering adherents, support, new applications and momentum, the implications for...
By Michael Stillman
With time running out to file legal objections to the agreement between Google and publishers for the former to sell digitized copies of in-copyright books, the opposition ha...
No good deed will go unpunished
Seven years ago AE walked out onto the open sun lit field that is books. The day was 3 September 2002. I was a book collector beginning what I expected to be my...
By Michael Stillman
What is the Americana Exchange? Most people really don't know a lot about this site, but it has many useful features, some of which you may be missing out on. It is intended ...
By Bruce McKinney
Everyone collects something. It's a strong human instinct. Most such collections are random and casual, often the initially inadvertent accumulation of seashells or whatever....
By Michael Stillman
Raymond Scott is no common thief. Whether he is a most uncommon one, time will tell, but the man accused of stealing a Shakespeare First Folio valued at several million dolla...
By Bruce McKinney
The IFPDA, the International Fine Print Dealers Association, a New York based international association of print dealers, issued a letter requesting its 165 members be vigilant...
By Michael Stillman
Beloit College has issued its annual "Mindset List" of what freshmen entering college this year don't know or have not experienced, and it is both hilarious and frightening. ...
By Bruce McKinney
For those with a love of reading the value of a book is in its content. It's condition often hardly matters. In fact a well-worn copy passed down and around in some families ...
By Michael Stillman
USA Today recently provided some advice for booksellers. USA Today is probably not where most booksellers look for business advice, and "Ask an Expert's" Steve Strauss may no...
By Bruce McKinney
Let the Silent Majority be Heard
I have watched with fascination and regret as the America, to which I owe allegiance, has been exposed again as the captive of special inter...
Five new booksellers' catalogues have come across our desk in the waning days of summer. Jordan Antiquarian Books has produced a catalogue of Americana, including many items pertaining to recreatio...
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 26th September 2024
Forum, 26 Sep: Bible, Arabic & Latin. Biblia Sacra Arabica, 3 vol., Rome, Tipografia della Congregazione di Propaganda Fide, 1671. £15,000 to £20,000.
Forum, 26 Sep: Shepard (Ernest). "Wind in the Willows" Toad Escapes from Prison, original pencil drawing with watercolour, 1931. £15,000 to £20,000.
Forum, 26 Sep: Economics.- Smith (Adam). An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, 2 vol., second edition, Printed for W. Strahan; and T. Cadell, 1778. £12,000 to £18,000.
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 26th September 2024
Forum, 26 Sep: Burma.- Burmese School (1870s). Folding manuscript, or parabaik, of festivities and processions, probably from the Court Workshop at the Royal Court at Manadaly, Burma, [c. 1870]. £10,000 to £15,000.
Forum, 26 Sep: More (Sir Thomas). La Description de l'Isle d'Utopie ou est comprins le Miroer des republiques du monde, first French edition, Paris, Charles l'Angelier, 1550. £8,000 to £12,000.
Forum, 26 Sep: Botany.- Dioscorides (Pedanius). De medicinali materia libri sex, hand-coloured throughout, Frankfurt-am-Main, Chr. Egenolff, 1543. £8,000 to £12,000.
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 26th September 2024
Forum, 26 Sep: World.- Blaeu (Johannes). Nova et Accuratissima Totius Terrarum Orbis Tabula Auctore Joanne Blaeu, engraved map, [c.1662]. £8,000 to £12,000.
Forum, 26 Sep: Shelley (Mary). Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus, 2 vol., [second edition], Printed for G. and W.B. Whittaker, 1823. £7,000 to £10,000.
Forum, 26 Sep: [Evans (Marian)] 'George Eliot'. A complete set of first editions of her works, uniformly bound in red morocco, 1858-1885 (30). £6,000 to £8,000.
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 26th September 2024
Forum, 26 Sep: Lewis (C.S.) [The Chronicles of Narnia], 7 vol., first editions, 1950-56. £6,000 to £8,000.
Forum, 26 Sep: Albertolli (Ferdinando). Porte di Città e Fortezze...di Michele Sammicheli, Milan, 1815. £4,000 to £6,000.
Forum, 26 Sep: Gregynog Press.- Euripides. The Plays, one of 25 specially-bound copies, this by George Fisher at the Gregynog Bindery, 1931. £4,000 to £6,000.
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.
![<b>Forum, 26 Sep:</b> Burma.- Burmese School (1870s). Folding manuscript, or parabaik, of festivities and processions, probably from the Court Workshop at the Royal Court at Manadaly, Burma, [c. 1870]. £10,000 to £15,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/e0a5c41f-2fd1-4645-8816-32d89dc4e5fb.png "<b>Forum, 26 Sep:</b> Burma.- Burmese School (1870s). Folding manuscript, or parabaik, of festivities and processions, probably from the Court Workshop at the Royal Court at Manadaly, Burma, [c. 1870]. £10,000 to £15,000.")
![<b>Forum, 26 Sep:</b> World.- Blaeu (Johannes). <i>Nova et Accuratissima Totius Terrarum Orbis Tabula Auctore Joanne Blaeu,</i> engraved map, [c.1662]. £8,000 to £12,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/58851f55-ad3a-4d3a-8a53-a311900b6f84.png "<b>Forum, 26 Sep:</b> World.- Blaeu (Johannes). <i>Nova et Accuratissima Totius Terrarum Orbis Tabula Auctore Joanne Blaeu,</i> engraved map, [c.1662]. £8,000 to £12,000.")
![<b>Forum, 26 Sep:</b> Shelley (Mary). <i>Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus,</i> 2 vol., [second edition], Printed for G. and W.B. Whittaker, 1823. £7,000 to £10,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/18c42c85-f730-43c0-bc2e-c8d799ae4308.png "<b>Forum, 26 Sep:</b> Shelley (Mary). <i>Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus,</i> 2 vol., [second edition], Printed for G. and W.B. Whittaker, 1823. £7,000 to £10,000.")
![<b>Forum, 26 Sep:</b> [Evans (Marian)] 'George Eliot'. A complete set of first editions of her works, uniformly bound in red morocco, 1858-1885 (30). £6,000 to £8,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/ac8ca527-c37b-44d5-b1d8-d369d712b17d.png "<b>Forum, 26 Sep:</b> [Evans (Marian)] 'George Eliot'. A complete set of first editions of her works, uniformly bound in red morocco, 1858-1885 (30). £6,000 to £8,000.")
![<b>Forum, 26 Sep:</b> Lewis (C.S.) <i>[The Chronicles of Narnia],</i> 7 vol., first editions, 1950-56. £6,000 to £8,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/05e185d5-1ef2-48ba-943f-e6541c123bfe.png "<b>Forum, 26 Sep:</b> Lewis (C.S.) <i>[The Chronicles of Narnia],</i> 7 vol., first editions, 1950-56. £6,000 to £8,000.")
![<b>Koller, Sep. 18:</b> Bell, Thomas. A Monograph of the Testudinata. London [1836-1842]. CHF 20,000 to 30,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/29dc9a36-584c-476d-bc08-834bc3d3902d.png "<b>Koller, Sep. 18:</b> Bell, Thomas. A Monograph of the Testudinata. London [1836-1842]. CHF 20,000 to 30,000.")
![<b>Koller, Sep. 18:</b> 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.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/d1c7f9bc-1bd9-43a2-9cd9-fa2e0a89d50f.png "<b>Koller, Sep. 18:</b> 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.")
![<b>Koller, Sep. 18:</b> 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.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/dcac6725-5a79-4a9a-8172-9a5e10ccb75b.png "<b>Koller, Sep. 18:</b> 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.")
