Rare Book Monthly Articles - April - 2015 Issue

Collecting:  a changing perspective

Collecting: a changing perspective

It was, not so long ago, established thinking that book collections, with some exceptions, would be a collection of books. This is the way it was for generations. The basic unit of book collections was of course the book, and over the past 150 years impressive, increasingly complete bibliographies were created and revised to reflect ever-broadening perspective. The book field and all its component parts became knowable.   Books however were never the exclusive component of book collections, only their most common part. Manuscripts also found a place, as did maps, objects, and ephemera. Bu...

Serendipity and Chance meet at SFPL

Serendipity and Chance meet at SFPL

Years ago, the exact number in dispute, but probably around the time of the 1989 earthquake, the San Francisco Public Library disposed of some old and seemingly unwanted accounting books, they over...

Operator of Massive Manuscript Business, Claimed Ponzi Scheme, Arrested

Operator of Massive Manuscript Business, Claimed Ponzi Scheme, Arrested

The owner of an incredible manuscript business has been arrested in France, following the shuttering of his business earlier amid claims that it was a Pyramid (Ponzi) Scheme. The name “Madoff” has ...

Meet me in New York

Meet me in New York

The shows and auctions in New York look exciting.  There are three fairs and handfuls of auctions.   I’ll be staying at the Hotel Plaza Athenee from Thursday the 9th through Wednesday the 15th.  ...

College Controversy – Library Wants to Sell Some Valuable Rare Books but Should/Can They?

College Controversy – Library Wants to Sell Some Valuable Rare Books but Should/Can They?

This story may be becoming old hat, but it is one that will repeat itself with likely increasing frequency in the years ahead. It represents the greatest controversy facing libraries today. Those i...

The Lawbook Exchange:  Greg Talbot

The Lawbook Exchange: Greg Talbot

The distance between New Jersey and Manhattan isn't far when measured in miles, but it's long when measured in career steps. Born and raised in the New Jersey suburbs, Greg Talbot was planning to e...

Three Stolen Books Returned to Italy from American Collector, University Library

Three Stolen Books Returned to Italy from American Collector, University Library

Three stolen antiquarian books have been returned from America to their rightful owner, an Italian library. They was part of a cache of 19 cultural artifacts returned to Italy under a bilateral agr...

Do you believe in magic - in New York?

Do you believe in magic - in New York?

There is nothing quite so interesting as a book fair of the best dealers with their best material.  And each year that ‘best’ event is in New York in April, this year April 9 to 12, the New York An...

April's Auction Bonanza

April's Auction Bonanza

With spring officially here, auctions of rare printed material are back in full swing with a very full docket for the month of April. Collectors of all subjects will find interesting items availabl...

Cayenne, The Dry Guillotine

Cayenne, The Dry Guillotine

One of the most fearful periods in French history was probably the aftermath of the Revolution of 1789. Men had become political wolves, cutting each other’s throats over ideas or interests—enemy o...

A “Bookjacker's” Website

A “Bookjacker's” Website

We are grateful to Montreal bookseller Michel Lanteigne for bringing this website to our attention. While reluctant to call it an outright scam, it is certainly very misleading to its customers. Mr...

Shakespeare's First Folio to Tour America

Shakespeare's First Folio to Tour America

Shakespeare's First Folio has been scheduled for a national tour of the U.S. for 2016. Perhaps the most important book in the English language will be visiting all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and ...

109 Auctions in April [so far]

109 Auctions in April [so far]

April has become an important month for the world of collectible paper, be they books, manuscripts, maps or ephemera.  The catalyst is the Antiquarian Book Fair in New York but everywhere April is ...

Five New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

Five New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

This month we received five new catalogues to review. Shapero Rare Books is offering a selection of “50 Fine Books,” that certainly live up to their reputation. The George S. MacManus Company has a...

Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby’s
    Year in Review
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: A Rare Hebrew Bible with Micrographic Masorah. Sold: 1,514,000 USD
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: "The Freedman's Primer.” Sold: 241,300 USD
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: Smith, William. "The Map that Changed the World." Sold: 139,700 USD
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: Psalter, C13th. Illuminated Psalter. Sold: 330,200 GBP
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: Lincoln, Abraham. The abolition of slavery. Sold: 13,697,500 USD
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: Vergilius. Opera, Venice, Aldo Manuzio, 1501. Sold: 1,041,400 USD
  • Case Antiques
    2026 Winter Fine Art & Antiques
    January 31 and February 1, 2026
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: 1775 Map of Virginia, Fry and Jefferson, ex-John Tyler. $6,000 to $8,000.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: Albrecht Durer Engraving, The Peasant Couple at Market. $3,400 to $3,800.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: 1777 Map: Wm. Faden, British Colonies in N. America, ex. John Tyler. $2,000 to $2,400.
    Case Antiques
    2026 Winter Fine Art & Antiques
    January 31 and February 1, 2026
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: 30 Vols. George Eliot 1st Editions; Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Deronda, etc. $1,400 to $1,800.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: Celestial Floor Globe c. 1800. $1,400 to $1,800.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: Lewis Carroll: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, 1866 London MacMillan. $900 to $1,200.
    Case Antiques
    2026 Winter Fine Art & Antiques
    January 31 and February 1, 2026
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: President Andrew Jackson Signed Patent, 1831. $1,000 to $1,200.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: Civil War Tintype of Calvin “Old Ballie” Walker, CSA 3rd TN Infantry, KIA, plus 3 Union Images. $800 to $1,000.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: 1855 Georgia Pocket Map, W. G. Bonner. $800 to $1,000.
    Case Antiques
    2026 Winter Fine Art & Antiques
    January 31 and February 1, 2026
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: Audubon c. 1835 Birds of America Common Cormorant, Havell Edition. $800 to $900.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: George Eliot, Middlemarch, 1st Edition in 8 Volumes. $600 to $800.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: Four NASA Moon Survey Photos; 144M, 148M, 149M, 149H1. $400 to $600.

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