The New York Antiquarian Book Fair, at the Park Avenue Armory, has come and gone and left a scent of lingering enthusiasm among buyers and satisfaction among sellers. The fair, a well-groomed event organized by Sanford Smith, saw more than 6,000 tickets collected. On opening afternoon, Thursday the third, 152 individuals, mostly men, lined up in the anteroom for the chance to be early if not first into the convention hall. The crowds come on Friday, the cognoscenti Thursday night. The buzz was noticeable.
Inside, the fates of the 204 participating dealers were pretty much already de...
New offerings in the stock market, IPO's (initial public offering), are common these days, particularly in the high tech field. Those from well-known brands like Facebook and Twitter received enorm...
It would certainly be the literary find of the century if true. It would also be the greatest piece of advertising imaginable for eBay. A pair of New York booksellers see a 16th century annotated E...
Most horse racing enthusiasts are familiar with Keeneland, one of America’s top ranked tracks in Lexington, Kentucky. Each year the venue hosts a variety of racing meets and major sales. Less well ...
A copy of the most expensive, reasonably obtainable printed book was sold at auction at the beginning of April. The double-elephant folio first edition of John James Audubon's Birds of America was ...
Two book thefts from Asia recently made the newswires. The outcome of both is surprising to western ears. However, this really isn’t a story about the difference in treatment of book theft between ...
A question was recently raised in a rare books group on a social network: are fables featuring animals for kids? Yes, they are—but of course, not only. I’m French and, as such, a kid of Jean de La ...
On eBay recently I bought a painting of the Shawangunk Mountains in Ulster County, New York. The distant scene is the Gardiner cliffs, the collision of an ancient fault of granite that formed the ...
Christie’s has a long and storied history of formidable auctions, and the material they offer meets a very high standard. This month, Christie’s London’s Valuable Manuscripts and Printed Books cont...
As is common these days, the Upcoming Auctions calendar on AE is chock-full for May. The amount of material to browse can be overwhelming, and month to month, we try to write about several auctions...
Residents of the Pacific Northwest, both sides of the border, have a couple of book fairs to which they can look forward. The eighth annual Rose City Used Book Fair is scheduled for Friday and Satu...
For the month of May 105 auctions are scheduled. A few more will be announced as the month progresses. The flow of auctions has become so insistent that the continuum of auctions is now self-sust...
This month, we have 15 new bookseller catalogues to review. There are several that cover an undefined variety of material, while others target very specific niches. Bauman Rare Books features new a...
ALDE, Apr. 8: GUEVARA (ANTONIO DE). Histoire de Marc-Aurèle, Empereur Romain, vray miroir et horloge des Princes. Paris, Pierre et Galliot du Pré, frères, 1565. €3,000 to €4,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: HEURES DE LA VIERGE. Horæ in laudem beatissimæ virginis Mariæ ad usum Romanum. Paris, Charles L'Angelier, 1556. €4,000 to €5,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: MONTAIGNE (MICHEL DE). Les Essais. Édition nouvelle, trouvée après le deceds de l'autheur… Paris, Abel L'Angelier, 1595. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [ROJAS (FERNANDO DE)]. Celestina, tragicomedia di Calisto et Melibea, tradotta de lingua castigliana in italiano idioma… Venise, 1531. €2,000 to €3,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CAMÕES (LUÍS DE). Os Lusiadas. Lisbonne, Pedro Crasbeeck, 1613. €2,000 to €3,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CERVANTES (MIGUEL DE). El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Bruxelles, Roger Velpius & Huberto Antonio, 1611. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: LA FONTAINE (JEAN DE). Fables choisies, mises en vers. Paris, Denys Thierry et Claude Barbin, 1678-1694. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CERVANTES (MIGUEL DE). El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Madrid, Joaquin Ibarra, 1780. €3,000 to €4,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: DIDEROT (DENIS) ET JEAN LE ROND D'ALEMBERT. Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. Paris, 1751-1765. €15,000 to €20,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [LIVRE TISSÉ]. LAMARTINE (Alphonse de). Les Laboureurs. Poème tiré de Jocelyn… Lyon, J. A. Henry, 1883. €8,000 to €10,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [LIVRE TISSÉ]. Livre de prières tissé d'après les enluminures des manuscrits du XIVe au XVIe siècle. Lyon, [A. Roux], 1886. €5,000 to €6,000.
Sotheby’s Books, Manuscripts & Objects from Three Important Collections Open for Bidding 2-17 April
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: [Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun]. Le Roman de la Rose, [Geneva or Lyons, c.1481], first printed edition of the most important medieval French vernacular poem. £200,000 to £300,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Castiglione. Il libro del cortegiano. [Venice], April 1528, first edition, in a magnificent binding by Jean Picard for Jean Grolier. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Jacobus de Cessolis. Schachzabelbuch, Strasbourg, 1483, von der Lasa copy. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: World Championship, 1972. A collection of 84 press photographs of the famed match between Spassky and Fischer. £2,000 to £3,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Ben Franklin. Autograph letter signed, to Lord Shelburne, British Prime Minister, during peace negotiations, November 1782. £15,000 to £20,000.
