Rare Book Monthly Articles - June - 2011 Issue

eBay:  Progress for Books from the Bottom-up

eBay:  Progress for Books from the Bottom-up

The book buying experience on eBay continues to improve.  eBay of course sells almost everything and the revisions and additions on the eBay mother-ship are not for books alone but for the site overall.  Nevertheless, the recent changes add efficiencies that improve the eBay book-buying experience.   If history is any guide however these changes will primarily stimulate ‘listers’ to list rather than browsers to buy.  That will be a shame.  Unfortunately many would-be buyers feel the site is too complex and the rewards too small and infrequent to merit the time the site requires.  I respectf...

Electronic Books at Amazon Now Outselling All Printed Books

Electronic Books at Amazon Now Outselling All Printed Books

Another milestone has been reached in the onrushing movement from printed books to electronic ones. Amazon.com, the world's largest online bookseller, announced that electronic books are now outsel...

Sotheran's - An Exceptional Story

Sotheran's - An Exceptional Story

A book about Sotheran’s, the London booksellers has recently been published to celebrate its history.  Its title, taken from the company’s telegram address is Bookman:  London  - 250 years of Sothe...

Booking It in Europe

Booking It in Europe

Gracious sakes, where do I start?  We have two grandkids in Holland -- Amsterdam to be exact -- and they keep asking us to come over there and visit.  It’s a long way and a very expensive propositi...

Bernie Madoff's Books up for Auction

Bernie Madoff's Books up for Auction

A large auction will be taking place at the Miami Beach Convention Center June 3 and 4, and while not primarily a book auction, there are six lots each consisting of numerous books from their once ...

Print on Demand for Antique Paper: Giclee printing brings rare Hawaii maps to a wider audience

Print on Demand for Antique Paper: Giclee printing brings rare Hawaii maps to a wider audience

Two Maui entrepreneurs, both with a background in antique maps, are excited about the use of giclee printing for reproducing rare and fragile maps of Hawaii. Bryant Neal and Richard "Buck” Mickelse...

The WOW Factor - Back of Beyond Books uses Giclee Process to Create Gigantic Grand Canyon Panorama

The WOW Factor - Back of Beyond Books uses Giclee Process to Create Gigantic Grand Canyon Panorama

Andy Nettell, proprietor of Back of Beyond Books (ABAA) was first introduced to giclee technology about five years ago by a local artist who was using it to make fine art prints. When a 40” Epson d...

Experiments in the New Bookselling

Experiments in the New Bookselling

Traditional book catalogues have been with us for three hundred years and for good reason.  They are effective.  But the economics of bookselling have changed in ways that are raising costs and dim...

Barnes & Noble Receives a Takeover Offer, and the Reason May Surprise You

Barnes & Noble Receives a Takeover Offer, and the Reason May Surprise You

America's largest chain of bookstores received a major, and perhaps surprisingly strong purchase offer recently. Liberty Media, owner of large shares of Sirius Satellite Radio and QVC Shopping Netw...

Robespierre's Notes Sold, Then "Preempted" by France at Sotheby's Auction

Robespierre's Notes Sold, Then "Preempted" by France at Sotheby's Auction

Some interesting maneuvering at the last minute at Sotheby's in Paris has saved a priceless, but nonetheless very expensive, French manuscript for the French people. Offered for sale on May 18 was ...

ALA Survey:  Libraries Popular, but Funding Slips Anyway

ALA Survey:  Libraries Popular, but Funding Slips Anyway

The American Library Association recently released its annual report on The State of American Libraries. Americans today have something of a schizophrenic relationship with our libraries. We love t...

Amazon in Pitched Battle Over Sales Taxes

Amazon in Pitched Battle Over Sales Taxes

Perhaps the biggest battle over sales taxes is taking place right now between online bookselling pioneer Amazon.com and numerous states. It does not look to be reaching booksellers who list on Amaz...

Arader Galleries Charity Auction in New Orleans June 25-26

Arader Galleries Charity Auction in New Orleans June 25-26

The Arader Galleries will be conducting their third annual charity auction June 25 and 26 at Neal Auction in New Orleans. These auctions are designed to appeal both to your self-interest and public...

In The News:  Bail Revoked for Book Thief Charged with Murder, & More

In The News:  Bail Revoked for Book Thief Charged with Murder, & More

Bail has been revoked for the alleged mastermind in a case of a book theft that turned into a murder charge. In the summer of 2010, the U.S. attorney in Buffalo, New York, alleged Rico Vendetti hir...

13 New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

13 New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

This month we review 13 new bookseller catalogues in Section Two of AE Monthly. Natural History is the topic for Raymond M. Sutton, Jr. American Presidents are featured by the William Reese Co. Hor...

Rare Book Monthly

  • Gros & Delettrez
    Travel: Books & Cartography
    6 February 2025
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 6: MUNSTER (Sebastian). Cosmographiae universalis lib. VI. Basilea
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 6: ORTELIUS (Abraham). Typus Orbis Terrarum. [Antwerp, 1587]
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 6: BRION DE LA TOUR (Louis). Atlas Monde. Paris, Desnos ou Jaillot, [1783 - An XIII-1799].
    Gros & Delettrez
    Travel: Books & Cartography
    6 February 2025
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 6: ORTELIUS (Abraham). Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. Anvers, Christophe Plantin, 1579.
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 6: VISSCHER (Nicolas Joannes). Theatrum praecipuarum urbium [...]
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 6: DE BRUYN (Cornelis). Voyage au Levant.
    Gros & Delettrez
    Travel: Books & Cartography
    6 February 2025
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 6: AZARA (Félix de). Voyages dans l'Amérique Méridionale.
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 6: JOUTEL (Henri). Journal historique du dernier voyage que feu M. de la Sale […]
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 6: LA SALLE (René Robert Cavelier de) ; TONTI (Henri de). Dernières découvertes dans l’Amérique Septentrionale
    Gros & Delettrez
    Travel: Books & Cartography
    6 February 2025
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 6: NOLIN (Jean-Baptiste) ; CORONELLI (Vincenzo). L'Amérique septentrionale, ou, la partie septentrionale des Indes Occidentales […]
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 6: [Caroline du Sud]. A large draft of South Carolina from Cape Roman to Port Royal.
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 6: PÉRON (François) ; FREYCINET (Louis de). Voyage de découverte aux terres australes.
  • Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 746. Speed's Dual Atlas of Britain & the World with 96 Maps (1676). Est. $70,000 - $85,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 9. Visscher's Superb Double-Hemisphere World Map with Representations of the Elements (1658). Est. $4,750 - $6,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 58. One of the Most Important 16th Century Maps of the New World (1554). Est. $5,000 - $6,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 745. A Complete Example of Ortelius' Atlas of Ancient Geography (1624). Est. $12,000 - $15,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 73. First English Map to Show California as an Island (1625). Est. $16,000 - $19,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 156. Bachmann's Dramatic View of the Mid-Atlantic Region (1861). Est. $1,800 - $2,200
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 741. Early Announcement of Continental Congress' Declaration of Independence (1776). Est. $9,000 - $11,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 695. The First Printed Map Devoted to the Pacific (1589). Est. $8,000 - $9,500
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 733. Superb Image of the Presentation of Jesus in Hand Color (1502). Est. $700 - $850
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 52. Produced by the Psychological Warfare Branch to Encourage Surrender (1945). Est. $200 - $230
  • Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: ALDROVANDI, Ulisse (1522-1605) - [Opera omnia]. Bologna: Bellagamba, Benacci, Bonomi, Tebaldini, Ferroni, 1599-1668. €22.000-€28.000
    Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: [CANALETTO] - VISENTINI, Antonio (1688-1782) da Giovanni Antonio CANAL (1697-1768, detto 'Il Canaletto') - Urbis Venetiarum prospectus celebriores. Venezia: Giovanni Battista Pasquale, 1742-51. €7.000-€10.000
    Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: LA FONTAINE, Jean de (1621-1695) - Fables Choisies. Parigi: Claude Barbin, 1668. €7.000-€10.000
    Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: MERCATOR, Rumold (1545-1599) - [I continenti] - Europa; Africa; America Sive India Nova; Asia. Amsterdam: S.d. [ca. 1633]. €2.000-€3.000
  • Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR

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