Rare Book Monthly Articles - November - 2012 Issue

A Hard Sell:  The Alexander J. Jemal Collection of Joyce Carol Oates Material

A Hard Sell:  The Alexander J. Jemal Collection of Joyce Carol Oates Material

Earlier this year Alex Jemal, a Michigan lawyer now in his 80’s, approached me.  He had built a collection of the writings of and as homage to Joyce Carol Oates, the later 20th century prolific.  Over her career Ms. Oates has written more than fifty novels and innumerable other pieces.  She was busy and popular at a time when reading books as a hobby was peaking and has since continued to write as cable television, the internet, iPods and iPads have elbowed books aside as sources of casual entertainment.  She continues today even as books, not so long ago our stalwart companions on planes, ...

Forged Signatures from an eBay Seller Leads to Conviction

Forged Signatures from an eBay Seller Leads to Conviction

There is always a great temptation to go around dealers and other experts to buy significant works on paper. Prices are lower on eBay and from amateurs. Sometimes, cheaper doesn't always work out. ...

Graham Arader on the sell-side at Auction

Graham Arader on the sell-side at Auction

W. Graham Arader is a businessman with a communicable appreciation and love of maps, and watercolors.  He admits to have created the modern market for collectible maps and barely acknowledges that ...

Collecting the Counter Culture - Maggs’ Carl Williams pays a visit to Harvard’s Houghton Library

Collecting the Counter Culture - Maggs’ Carl Williams pays a visit to Harvard’s Houghton Library

Carl Williams is “stoked” to be speaking at Harvard. The London based Maggs Bros. specialist is making a visit to Houghton Library on Wed., November 14 to give a talk on collecting the counter cu...

What May Be the Largest Book Theft in Decades Unravels

What May Be the Largest Book Theft in Decades Unravels

It's the story that keeps getting worse. A massive book heist in Italy apparently has ensnared thousands of books, millions of dollars, and made some important people look very foolish, and others ...

Auctions in November

Auctions in November

Heading into November 115 auction events are scheduled.  This compares with 91 in November 2011.  Through August this year 179,000 lots have been archived, a 29.7% increase from the 138,000 offered...

Book Fairs in November and December

The numbers of book fairs have been declining but they are great fun and worth supporting.  The widespread closing of bookshops adds to their importance for they are now more than ever, the best an...

Hundreds of Thousand of Books Win a Reprieve... for Now

Hundreds of Thousand of Books Win a Reprieve... for Now

Hundreds of thousands of books headed for destruction by the Manchester (U.K.) libraries have won a reprieve, the result of a campaign by various English literary and academic figures. Their ultima...

Who Legally Owns This Signed Photograph?

Who Legally Owns This Signed Photograph?

The New York Times recently reported on an ownership dispute in the works on paper field, in this case a signed photograph. It pitted the family of the individual who was originally given the photo...

The Gutenberg of clear thinking traced to Poughkeepsie

The Gutenberg of clear thinking traced to Poughkeepsie

The engaging book L I A R S published by F. W. Wilson of Poughkeepsie in 1911 is a remarkable condemnation and defense of lying.  The author, whose name is not disclosed perhaps for reasons of pers...

Ian Fleming: The Bibliography

Ian Fleming: The Bibliography

He will never be confused with Shakespeare. “Serious” literature was not the calling card of Ian Fleming. Excitement and intrigue? That is another story. While a few other books emerged from his pe...

Oak Knoll at 300

Oak Knoll at 300

Bob Fleck, the founder of Oak Knoll Books in New Castle, Delaware recently passed by one of those milestones you cannot quickly reach, the issuance of his 300th catalogue.  Few houses get this far ...

Another Settlement in the Google Books Case... Probably No More Meaningful than the Others

Another Settlement in the Google Books Case... Probably No More Meaningful than the Others

A new settlement has been reached in the 7-year-old Google Books (now known as Google Library Project) controversy, albeit a vague and probably minor one. This battle and its related lawsuits could...

The Trinity College Library Obtains Some Classic Books on “Medicine”

The Trinity College Library Obtains Some Classic Books on “Medicine”

We recently received a copy of the first electronic bulletin from the Watkinson Library at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. It is necessary to spell out which Trinity College as there are ...

12 New Catalogues Reviewed

12 New Catalogues Reviewed

For November, we received 12 new bookseller catalogues. We review a spectacular catalogue of newspapers that shaped the world from Timothy Hughes Rare Early Newspapers. From England, we take a loo...

Rare Book Monthly

  • 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
  • Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 732. Early Announcement of Continental Congress' Declaration of Independence (1776) Est. $12,000 - $15,000
    Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 361. One of Ortelius' Most Decorative Maps in Full Contemporary Color (1585) Est. $9,500 - $12,000
    Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 55. Early Edition of One of the Most Important 16th Century Maps of the New World (1545) Est. $6,000 - $7,500
    Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 27. Fascinating Japanese Satirical Map of the World Published After WWI (1924) Est. $2,750 - $3,500
    Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 637. Complete Example of De Bry's Petits Voyages, Part VIII (1606) Est. $4,750 - $5,500
    Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 50. Extremely Rare Uncut Sheet from Sylvanus's 1511 Edition of Ptolemy's Geographia (1511) Est. $2,000 - $2,300
    Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 399. One of the Most Desired Maps of Ireland by John Speed (1610) Est. $2,750 - $3,500
    Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 689. Pictorial Map of Melbourne in the Style of MacDonald Gill (1934) Est. $900 - $1,100
    Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 652. Blaeu's Carte-a-Figures Map of Africa in Full Contemporary Color (1663) Est. $3,000 - $3,750
    Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 729. Hand-Colored Image of David Handing the Letter to Uriah (1518) Est. $1,000 - $1,300
    Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 533. Eight-Volume Set Recounting Travels of Anacharsis in Greece (1789) Est. $800 - $950
  • 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.

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