Rare Book Monthly Articles - June - 2012 Issue

The Last Book Sale – Larry McMurtry to Auction 300,000 Books

The Last Book Sale – Larry McMurtry to Auction 300,000 Books

Keep your eyes open for an enormous book auction in a very small town this summer. On August 10 and 11, Addison Sarova Auctioneers will be conducting an on-site sale of inventory from Larry McMurtry's Booked Up store in Archer City, Texas. Before anyone gets disheartened over Mr. McMurtry leaving the business, he isn't. As he explains, he is “just downsizing.” At the age of 75, he believes it's time to share the stock, although even after reducing it by two-thirds, he will still have one of the larger inventories in the book trade. Currently, the Booked Up inventory is housed in four larg...

Collecting Possibilities Beyond Books

Collecting Possibilities Beyond Books

Collecting in the works on paper category has over the years become both easier and more complex.  What was for many collectors once the collecting of rare books has become the collecting of rariti...

Sendak’s Death Spurs Interest in His Works

Sendak’s Death Spurs Interest in His Works

Not many creators of books for children get a front page obituary in the New York Times; but then there aren’t many who could match Maurice Sendak, the multi-talented illustrator and writer, who di...

Trends in Book Auction Prices Updated

Trends in Book Auction Prices Updated

AE has updated its “Trends in Book Auction Prices” providing evidence the muted recovery, as measured by median lot realizations, that took hold in March 2009 continues to find traction today.   Th...

For Sale – George Washington's Personal Copy of the Constitution and Bill of Rights

For Sale – George Washington's Personal Copy of the Constitution and Bill of Rights

On June 22, Christie's in New York will be auctioning one of those amazing pieces of Americana one would not ever expect to see up for sale. It is George Washington's personal copy of the United St...

A Deep Collection of English Church History to sell on June 3rd

A Deep Collection of English Church History to sell on June 3rd

An intense and very defined collection of English Church Architecture books, some of them folios with plates, will be sold without reserve at Carlsen Gallery in Freehold, New York on June 3rd.  Man...

Travel in Jamaica - Exploring the National Library in Downtown Kingston, in the year 2012

Travel in Jamaica - Exploring the National Library in Downtown Kingston, in the year 2012

PART I : meeting Thomas Gage, the villain in a religious suit. Jamaica, home of Bob Marley and Usain Bolt, is a dream for many American tourists. It is also a nightmare for some of its inhabitant...

Is this any way to run an airline?

Is this any way to run an airline?

Software and site development is incremental accompanied once every two or three years with a major remake/rewrite.  During the past month we’ve been made several incremental changes worth noting. ...

Newspapers Receive a Heady Endorsement – from Warren Buffet

Newspapers Receive a Heady Endorsement – from Warren Buffet

Newspapers, the long-suffering stepchild of the printing industry, received a surprising vote of confidence from one of the most successful investors ever – Warren Buffet. Buffet, generally believe...

The AED at 3.5 Million Records

The AED at 3.5 Million Records

The Americana Exchange Database of auction, bibliographic and dealer records of books, manuscripts, maps and ephemera crossed another threshold the other day:  3.5 million records.  Comparative sea...

Fine Books & Manuscripts at Bonhams June 19th

Fine Books & Manuscripts at Bonhams June 19th

Book auctions have been for some time on an unfamiliar trajectory, arcing toward the ever-evolving nexus of old material, new tastes and evolving methodology.  This is not a world our Grandfathers ...

The War of 1812 - Observing Its 200th Anniversary

The War of 1812 - Observing Its 200th Anniversary

We saw great celebrations around the land when America observed the 200th anniversary of the Revolution. Similar events have been featured at notable anniversaries of Civil War events. This month, ...

Sixteen New Catalogues Up for Review

Sixteen New Catalogues Up for Review

For June, we have 16 new catalogues up for review. M S Rare Books has a selection of early American works. The William Reese Company focuses on American manuscripts, while David Lesser Antiquarian...

AE Monthly:  Interesting eCatalogues in Section III

AE Monthly:  Interesting eCatalogues in Section III

This month Section III of AE Monthly includes 16 presentations from dealers in North and South America, Europe and Australia.  These catalogues neatly fit between the world that was, the printed ca...

Rare Book Monthly

  • Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Book Week
    December 9-17, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Francesco Colonna. Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Nausea. De principiis dialectices Gorgias, and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Billon. Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur, Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Book Week
    December 9-17, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.
  • Heritage Auctions
    Rare Books Signature Auction
    December 15, 2025
    Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tender is the Night. A Romance.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: Bram Stoker. Dracula. Westminster: Archibald Constable & Co., 1897.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!

Article Search

Archived Articles