Rare Book Monthly Articles - October - 2011 Issue

Congratulations are in order

Congratulations are in order

The sale of the Eric C. Caren collection:  How history unfolds on paper, Part I was held on September 15th at Swann Galleries in New York and the well conceived sale succeeded.  Eighty-seven percent of the lots sold and the sale over-all raised $657,108 against its aggregate high estimate of $791,750.  In its aftermath Mr. Caren pronounced himself well pleased.  An independent and original thinker, he years ago developed a fresh approach to collecting, seeking early and important materials, often ephemeral, that provided first evidence of new ideas.  He has done this for more than thirty ye...

Ephemera: Values and Interest on the Rise

Ephemera: Values and Interest on the Rise

One of the exceptions to the decline in antiquarian values is the increase in interest, sales and prices for ephemera. Though no two people seem to have exactly the same definition of what exactly ...

Amazon and California Reach Surprising Compromise on Sales Tax

Amazon and California Reach Surprising Compromise on Sales Tax

A long-running contentious and caustic battle over sales taxes between online retailer Amazon.com and the state of California came to a quick and unexpected resolution last month. Among those lined...

The Robert Jackson Auction October 18th

The Robert Jackson Auction October 18th

On Tuesday October 18th at Bohhams in New York and simulcast to Los Angeles The Robert H. and Donna L. Jackson Collection of 19th Century Literature [Part I] will be held.  For the Jacksons who hav...

BookFinder Lists The Top 100 Most Sought After Out-of-Print Books

BookFinder Lists The Top 100 Most Sought After Out-of-Print Books

BookFinder.com has released its annual report of the top 100 most sought after books on its book metasearch site. As a metasearch site, BookFinder searches multiple listing sites, such as AbeBooks,...

Book Fairs Upcoming

Book Fairs Upcoming

The recent announcement of the upcoming 21st Chelsea Antiquarian Book Fair in the Chelsea section of London, UK is a refreshing reminder that while the wheels on the rare book bus sometimes grind t...

Auctions in October

Auctions in October

Auction Sales will continue to be posted but most are now identified in the October Auction calendar.  Forty-six events are scheduled Here is the full list.  Link to the October Auctions page. Oct...

Making "Orphan Books" Available Digitally - the HathiTrust Inches Forward

Making "Orphan Books" Available Digitally - the HathiTrust Inches Forward

Copies of so-called "orphan books" will slowly begin to make their way to digital access beginning this month, albeit in a most limited way. "Orphan books" are those that are still under copyright ...

Judge Postpones Google Books Trial to July 2012 – But Settlement Could Come Sooner

Judge Postpones Google Books Trial to July 2012 – But Settlement Could Come Sooner

The oft delayed Google Books trial has been put off again – this time until July of 2012. However, parties to the suit are hopeful a settlement can be reached sooner. Then again, a settlement was r...

A Fish Story:  1906

A Fish Story:  1906

Diminutive size has its advantages or had its advantages, when the smaller than small town of Eddyville in Ulster County, New York in the shadow of Rondout [now deceased] decided to conceal from pu...

Major Outdoor Sports and Angling Collection Donated to Washington State University Library

Major Outdoor Sports and Angling Collection Donated to Washington State University Library

A major gift of sporting books was recently made to the department of Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections at the library of Washington State University. The collection was donated by Joan...

Blind Justice Was Not Always Just – An Exhibition at the Yale Law Library

Blind Justice Was Not Always Just – An Exhibition at the Yale Law Library

Blind justice is the focus of an exhibition taking place at the Yale University Law Library from now through December 16, 2011. The exhibition is entitled, The Remarkable Run of a Political Icon: J...

Eleven New Catalogues Reviewed

Eleven New Catalogues Reviewed

This month we review eleven new catalogues in Section II. Bestebreurtje Rare Books and the Antiquariaat Forum are focused on travel books. The Raab Collection and Joe Rubinfine offer signed histori...

Rare Book Monthly

  • Dominic Winter
    Books, Maps, Documents & Autographs
    Ornithology, Music, Bookplates
    28th January 2026
    Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 26. Company School. An album of 85 Indian mica paintings, Madras, c. 1852. £700-1,000
    Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 28. Ross & Hooker. Notes on the Botany of the Antarctic Voyage, 1st edition, 1843. £4,000-6,000
    Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 44. Gould (John). The Birds of Great Britain, 5 volumes, 1st edition, 1862-73. £30,000-40,000
    Dominic Winter
    Books, Maps, Documents & Autographs
    Ornithology, Music, Bookplates
    28th January 2026
    Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 72. Edwards (George). A Natural History of Uncommon Birds… [and] Gleanings of Natural History, 7 volumes, 1st edition, 1743-64. £7,000-10,000
    Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 87. Walcott (Charles D. et al.). Geologic Atlas of the United States, 227-volume set, U.S. Geological Survey, 1894-1945. £500-800
    Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 236. A New Dictionary of the Terms Ancient and Modern of the Canting Crew…, By B. E. Gent., 1st edition, [1699]. £3,000-4,000
    Dominic Winter
    Books, Maps, Documents & Autographs
    Ornithology, Music, Bookplates
    28th January 2026
    Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 245. Frost Fair Broadside. Upon the Frost in the Year 1739-40, Printed on the Ice upon the Thames at Queen-Hithe, 1739/40. £1,500-2,000
    Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 270. Micheli (Antonino di). La Nuova Chitarra di Regole…, 1st edition, Palermo, 1680. £10,000-15,000
    Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 280. Elgar (Edward). Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, [1910], signed presentation copy. £500-800
    Dominic Winter
    Books, Maps, Documents & Autographs
    Ornithology, Music, Bookplates
    28th January 2026
    Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 286 - Walton (William, 1902-1983). Autograph manuscript full score for Belshazzar’s Feast, [1930-31]. £20,000-30,000
    Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 304. Churchill (Winston). A terracotta maquette of Churchill by Oscar Nemon, c. 1955. £1,500-2,000
    Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 364 - Russian Imperial Archaeological Commission. Mecheti Samarkanda..., Fascicule I Gour-Emir, St. Petersburg, 1905. £2,000-3,000
  • 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.
  • Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    29th January 2026
    Forum, Jan. 29: Plato. [Apanta ta tou Platonos. Omnia Platonis opera], 2 parts in 2 vol., editio princeps of Plato's works in the original Greek, Venice, House of Aldus, 1513. £8,000-12,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Book of Hours, Use of Rome, In Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum, [Southern Netherlands (probably Bruges), c.1460]. £6,000-8,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Correspondence and documents by or addressed to the first four Viscounts Molesworth and members of their families, letters and manuscripts, 1690-1783. £10,000-15,000
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    29th January 2026
    Forum, Jan. 29: Shakespeare (William). The Dramatic Works, 9 vol., John and Josiah Boydell, 1802. £5,000-7,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Joyce (James). Ulysses, first edition, one of 750 copies on handmade paper, Paris, Shakespeare and Company, 1922 £8,000-12,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Powell (Anthony). [A Dance to the Music of Time], 12 vol., first editions, each with a signed presentation inscription from the author to Osbert Lancaster, 1951-75. £6,000-8,000
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    29th January 2026
    Forum, Jan. 29: Chaucer (Geoffrey). Troilus and Criseyde, one of 225 copies on handmade paper, wood-engravings by Eric Gill, Waltham St.Lawrence, 1927. £3,000-4,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Borges (Jorge Luis). Luna de Enfrente, first edition, one of 300 copies, presentation copy signed by the author to Leopoldo Marechal, Buenos Aires, Editorial Proa, 1925. £3,000-4,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Nolli (Giovanni Battista). Nuova Pianta di Roma, Rome, 1748. £6,000-8,000
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    29th January 2026
    Forum, Jan. 29: Roberts (David). The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, & Nubia, 3 vol., first edition, 1842-49. £15,000-20,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Blacker (William). Catechism of Fly Making, Angling and Dyeing, Published by the author, 1843. £3,000-4,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Herschel (Sir John F. W.) Collection of 69 offprints, extracts and separate publications by Herschel, bound for his son, William James Herschel, 3 vol., [1813-50]. £15,000-20,000

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