Rare Book Monthly Articles - April - 2014 Issue

The Annual Antiquarian Book Fair Returns to New York

In a few days the gates will swing open and advocates and adherents of the rare book trade will hurry up the steps of the Park Avenue Armory at 67th and Park in New York.  Their pace will quicken as they enter, those with coats and briefcases turning to the right to swap their possessions for a claim check.  Those prepared to enter the great hall will sweep to the left to join the queue of mostly men, well dressed, most on their phones, a few exchanging notes, the majority hoping to buy, a few hoping to sell.  The fair will open shortly.   Inside the hall more than 200 book dealers are pr...

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New York: Antiquarian Book Fairs April 3-6

As you read this story many have already boarded planes or are driving to New York City.  48.8 million visitors will do so this year, some number measured in thousands will be heading for the Ameri...

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Stephan Loewentheil founder of the 19th Century Shop: a 3-decade perspective and an exceptional catalog to Celebrate 30 Years in the Trade

Catalog No. 150:  Icons of Western Civilization   Catalogues tell stories, some complex and others simple.  Book catalogues, not so long ago, were all or mostly books.  Today, while books remain ...

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How History Unfolds on Paper: An April Sale at Bonhams

On April 7th at Bonhams in New York the next disposition of important material from The Caren Archive will be sold.  This is the third and highest-valued auction in the series and the first one at ...

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A Library Theft, and a Seemingly Light Sentence

In one of those library theft cases that is something of a head-scratcher, a Leicester, Massachusetts, man has been ordered to pay restitution. Joseph G. Heath, 53, was charged with receiving stole...

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How to Get Current Price Estimates from Older Auction Records

Here is a feature that will help subscribers to the AE Bibliographic Database (or future subscribers) get a better handle on values. The AE Database is a compilation of records, mostly priced aucti...

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Cartouche: Myths and Mr. Maurice

History is a wild battlefield where myths and truth fight an everlasting battle, embracing each other in a raging waltz of love and hate. Of course, books stand predominant on this battlefield. The...

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UNC Library Reaches 7 Million Books

Perhaps institutional book collections are not growing at the rate they once did. Tight budgets, increased access to content through digital copies, space limitations and such have been a hindrance...

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Happy Birthday William Morris - Still popular and influential at 180

William Morris perhaps one of the most influential figures in western decorative arts and architecture, not to mention a book designer and typographer of considerable note, celebrated his 180 birth...

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At Swann: Important and Eclectic Americana on the 8th

As has become usual, spring is a great time for buying rare books and printed material at auction. If you’re a collector of Americana, look no further than April 8th at Swann Auction Galleries. The...

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Apple Appeals Judgment It Engaged in E-Book Price-Fixing Scheme

As promised, Apple has filed a blistering appeal against a federal court decision that held it had participated in a conspiracy with book publishers to fix the prices of electronic books at artific...

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Auctions in April

For the month of April 107 auctions are scheduled in the books, manuscripts, maps and ephemera categories.  About half of these sales are scheduled in New York during the first 10 days to coincide ...

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A1 Books – Down for the Final Count

Usually, we react to the passing of an old friend with shock and sorrow. Once in awhile, however, it is with astonishment, as in “I didn't know he was still alive.” Such is the inevitable reaction ...

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Seven New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

This month we received seven new catalogues from booksellers to review. Donald Heald Rare Books has created a selection of fine books and manuscripts, including Americana and Canadiana, travel, col...

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Rare Book Monthly

  • Fonsie Mealy’s
    Summer Rare Book
    & Collectors’ Sale
    July 30-31, 2024
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: U.S. / European Shipping Archive 1800-1814. The Widow Bermingham & Sons Collection. €7,000 to €10,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Bunreacht na hÉireann. Constitution of Ireland. An important copy of the First Printing of De Valera’s new Constitution, approved in 1938. Signed by the Constitution Cabinet. €7,000 to €9,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: A Rare Complete Run of the Cuala Press Broadsides. €7,000 to €9,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s
    Summer Rare Book
    & Collectors’ Sale
    July 30-31, 2024
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Grose (Francis). The Antiquities of Ireland, 2vols. folio London (for S. Hooper) 1791. Magnificent Hand-Coloured Copy - Only 25 Copies. €3,000 to €5,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Cantillon (Richard). Essai sur la Nature du Commerce en General, Traduit de l'Anglois, Sm. 8vo London (Fletcher Gyles) 1756. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Gregory, (Lady Augusta). Spreading the News: The Rising of the Moon: The Poorhouse (with Douglas Hyde). Being Vol. IX of the Abbey Theatre Series. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s
    Summer Rare Book
    & Collectors’ Sale
    July 30-31, 2024
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Lavery (Lady Hazel). A moving series of three A.L.S. and a Telegram to Gen. Eoin O'Duffy, July-August 1927, expressing her grief at the death of Kevin O'Higgins. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Dampier (Wm.) Nouveau Voyage Autour du Monde, ou l'on descrit en particulier l'Isthme de l'Amerique…, 2 vols. in one, Amsterdam, 1698. €800 to €1,200.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Howell (James). Instructions for Forreine Travel Shewing by what Cours, and in what Compasse of Time…, London, 1642. €800 to €1,200.
    Fonsie Mealy’s
    Summer Rare Book
    & Collectors’ Sale
    July 30-31, 2024
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Rowling (J.K.) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 8vo, L. (Bloomsbury) 1999, First Edn., First Printing of Deluxe Collectors Edn. Signed. €800 to €1,200.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: James (Wm.) A Full and Correct Account of the Military Occurrences of The Late War Between Great Britain and The United States of America. 2 vols. Lond. 1818. €650 to €900.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: The Laws of the United States, Published by Authority, 3 vols. Philadelphia (Richard Folwell) 1796. €600 to €800.

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