A stolen Columbus Letter, taken from an Italian Library, and eventually coming to reside at the U. S. Library of Congress, has made its way back home. At a ceremony in Rome, Italian Culture Minister Dario Franceschini couldn't help but note the irony – Like Columbus himself, "it is interesting how 500 years after the letter was written it has made the same trip back and forth from America." Presumably, improved security at the Riccardiana Library in Florence will prevent the letter from making a couple more round trips to America as Columbus did.
The Columbus Letter can justly be consid...
I am often tasked with covering auctions on material I'm no expert on. I do my best to highlight material I think many would find interesting and provocative. Usually I can go off the estimates to ...
In 2013 Stephan Ludwig sold Bloomsbury Auctions, together with his Dreweatts business, to the Stanley Gibbons Group PLC for about PS 15,000,000. In 2015 he retired and is now preparing to return t...
Rumors spread across the wires a few weeks ago that the ship that led one of the most important explorations in history, one whose account graces all of the major collections of voyages and travels...
This year marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death. Dubbed "the first universal author" by American literary critic and Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University Harold Bloom, a...
The largest publicly traded rare book seller has reported improving results over the past year. Sales are up for Scholium Group, parent of London based bookseller Shapero Rare Books. Using a fiscal...
This month, Old World Auctions, the online-only auction house specializing in cartography, is hosting a special sale involving three dealers who combine for over 100 years in the map business. Luke...
A recent discussion with a few book lovers on social media ended up with the listing of the last known copy of an alleged extinct ‘edition’ on French soil: the rarest translation of Matthew G. Lewi...
The two key players in the crime that led to the killing of a comic book collector have been sentenced to prison terms of 20 years for their role in the case. Mastermind Rico Vendetti, 45, of Roche...
On June 8th, Bonhams will bring a sale of Fine Books and Manuscripts to its New York showroom. Featuring what they call, "one of the finest printed books to have appeared in these rooms," as well a...
More than a year ago we changed the name of Americana Exchange to Rare Book Hub [www.rarebookhub.com]. We did so because, while we have long enjoyed significant support in the United States, we ha...
Book thieves are often clever, though not ethical, but even the smartest of thieves eventually makes a mistake. Frequently, it will come in attempts to sell the material, such as an eBay listing fo...
One of those anecdotal signs of an improving book market is the number of dealers issuing printed catalogues. This month we received 20 new ones, the most we have seen in a long time. The William R...
Sotheby’s, July 14: Henry De La Beche. "Awful Changes," 1830. $6,000 to $9,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: [Apollo 11]. Flight Plan, Complete Original Printing Signed by Buzz Aldrin. $5,000 to $8,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: Thomas Alva Edison. Documents Establishing and Ending the Edison Electric Railway Company. $20,000 to $30,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: Richard P. Feynman. Feynman's Lectures on Gravitation 1-16, Including the Original Transcriptions of Lectures 12-16 by Morinigo and Wagner, With Richard Feynman's Manuscript Notations, 1971. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: [Apollo 9]. A Group of Manuals and Mission Documents used by Stuart Roosa as a member of the Astronaut Support Crew. $5,000 to $8,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: [BYTE: The Small Systems Journal]. A collection of early foundational issues of Byte: The Small Systems Journal, with rare hardcover editions. $5,000 to $8,000.
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Inundation papyrus. P.Michael 4, the ‘Inundation papyrus’, a geographical account of the Nile near Canopus, in Greek, remains of two columns from a manuscript scroll on papyrus, Egypt, second century CE. £12,000-18,000
Forum, July 16: Book of Hours, use of Sarum, manuscript on vellum, 6 full-page miniatures, with famous Middle English inscriptions, Southern Netherlands for the English market, [c.1430]. £30,000-50,000
Forum, July 16: Qu'ran, Arabic manuscript on burnished, stencilled, and gold-flecked paper, 447ff., Sultanate Gujarat, Ahmadabad, [after 1411 but no later than 1442]. £15,000-20,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Turner (William). A New boke of the natures and properties of all wines that are commonly vsed here in England, rare first edition of the first English book on wine, By William Seres, 1568. £20,000-£30,000
Forum, July 16: Spenser (Edmund). The Faerie Queene. first edition, Printed [by John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, 1590. £30,000-40,000
Forum, July 16: Shakespeare (William). The Comedie of Errors, extracted from the first folio, Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount, 1623. £15,000-20,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Fleming (Ian). Casino Royale, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1953. £40,000-60,000
Forum, July 16: d'Agoty (Jacques-Fabien Gautier). Anatomie de la Tête, first edition, Paris, chez le Sieur Gautier, 1748. £10,000-15,000
Forum, July 16: Martial Arts.- Lee (Bruce). 'Praying Mantis style' Kung Fu book, containing numerous annotations, diagrams and graphs in Bruce Lee's hand, c. 1960. £50,000-70,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Warre (Capt. Henry James). Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory, first edition, rare hand-coloured issue, 1848. £30,000-40,000
Forum, July 16: Norie (John William). The Marine Atlas, or Seaman's Complete Pilot for all the principal places in the known world..., 1826. £30,000-50,000
Forum, July 16: Mao Tse-tung.- Kim Il-sung.-[Note book for visitors from China to Korea], signed by Mao and Kim, [Beijing, 1954]. £10,000-15,000
