Rare Book Monthly Articles - April - 2017 Issue

The New York Book Fairs:  opportunities for the committed

The New York Book Fairs: opportunities for the committed

The ABAA New York Book Fair has come and gone and left lingering feelings of excitement and satisfaction in its wake.  It was a very good fair both for exhibitors and guests.  There had been some suspense in the run-up that was reflected in lighter than usual dealer-to-dealer transactions before the show opened.  This year it was a bit quiet, reflecting the uncertainties of March [versus April] dates that were initially viewed as a negative.  But lo and behold the dates proved to be golden.  The institutional and collector audiences attended on opening night [Thursday] and set the tone for ...

Lasting Excitement at this Year’s Ephemera Society of America’s annual four-day Fair

Lasting Excitement at this Year’s Ephemera Society of America’s annual four-day Fair

This Year’s Ephemera Society of America’s annual four-day fair in Greenwich, Connecticut has come and gone and one expects that many on both sides of the aisle, those who attended to learn and thos...

District Attorney's Investigator Sentenced to Five Years in Prison in Theft of $200,000 Worth of Comic Books

District Attorney's Investigator Sentenced to Five Years in Prison in Theft of $200,000 Worth of Comic Books

An investigator for the Harris County (Houston), Texas, District Attorney was recently convicted of stealing around $200,000 worth of comic books. Dustin Deutsch was sentenced to five years in pris...

Converting the Rare and Valuable into Cash

Converting the Rare and Valuable into Cash

Three or four months ago we received an inquiry from the La Gatta Trust of Reno, Nevada about material they wanted to sell.  We receive such inquiries every week and have a straightforward response...

What Is the Fine for Returning an Overdue Book 100 Years Late?

What Is the Fine for Returning an Overdue Book 100 Years Late?

The San Francisco Public Library recently had one of their fine forgiveness events for overdue books. They don't have them often, nor on a particular schedule. They seem to come up about once every...

A Needle in the Hay Stack

A Needle in the Hay Stack

  What’s in this story?   Recently we were asked for help to find a record in the Rare Book Hub Transaction Database.  This record was for a piece of manuscript ephemera, a signed bill for the s...

The “Old” LIFE: Art, Politics & Humor - What a Difference a Century Makes

The “Old” LIFE: Art, Politics & Humor - What a Difference a Century Makes

Most dealers and collectors are well aware of the American magazine LIFE, founded by Henry Luce in 1936. Luce’s LIFE became a long running showcase for photo journalism. But few are familiar with t...

Linguet’s Memoirs - In the Belly of la Bastille...

Linguet’s Memoirs - In the Belly of la Bastille...

The prison of la Bastille, which once stood in the middle of Paris, is the ultimate symbol of the French Revolution. When an angry mob captured it on July 14th, 1789, it became a landmark in French...

American Textile History Museum, Closed Last Year, Will Transfer Its Vast Library to Cornell University

American Textile History Museum, Closed Last Year, Will Transfer Its Vast Library to Cornell University

It is an issue today and could be a greater one tomorrow. Libraries and museums, sometimes highly specialized, may no longer be able to raise the necessary funds to stay in operation. It can happen...

Raptis Rare Books Opens in Palm Beach

Raptis Rare Books Opens in Palm Beach

While Palm Beach, Florida has been in the news more recently as the new home of the “winter White House”, for serious readers and book collectors the most interesting news has been the opening of R...

April 27: Cortés, The Book of Mormon, and other Printed & Manuscript Americana at Swann Auction Galleries

April 27: Cortés, The Book of Mormon, and other Printed & Manuscript Americana at Swann Auction Galleries

The tail end of winter and beginning of Spring have been a busy time for the New York-based Swann Auction Galleries. Having concluded no less than five successful sales in the month of March, this ...

Dinner, Beer and Wine at a Bookstore? Welcome to Barnes & Noble's Latest Survival Plan

Dinner, Beer and Wine at a Bookstore? Welcome to Barnes & Noble's Latest Survival Plan

Would you like plancha-cooked salmon with whole grain tabbouleh salad basil dressing with your books? And some Billecart-Salmon Brut Reserve Champagne from Reims, France, seems like an appropriate...

April 26: A Unique Civil War Archive, Presidential Autographs, and more Rare Books, Autographs & Maps at Doyle New York

April 26: A Unique Civil War Archive, Presidential Autographs, and more Rare Books, Autographs & Maps at Doyle New York

On Wednesday, April 26, 2017 at 10am, Doyle New York will hold an auction of Rare Books, Autographs Maps. The auction showcases a diverse range of material from early illuminated manuscripts to mo...

74-Year-Old Man Arrested for Destroying Kim Kardashian Books

74-Year-Old Man Arrested for Destroying Kim Kardashian Books

Carl Puia is not a hero. Many have made him out to be. The 74-year-old Glastonbury, Connecticut, native is clearly frustrated by the direction of society. His frustrations are understandable. I sha...

A Study of Old Book Smell Is Being Conducted at the Morgan Library

A Study of Old Book Smell Is Being Conducted at the Morgan Library

An unusual study of old books and smells is taking place at the Morgan Library in New York, combining the library, students from the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservati...

Nineteen New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

Nineteen New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

This was a busy month for new catalogues as many booksellers prepared selections for the recent New York Antiquarian Book Fair. John Windle Antiquarian Bookseller offers an extensive collection of ...

Old Books Still Matter - Maureen E. Mulvihill, Guest Speaker in Sarasota, Florida

Old Books Still Matter - Maureen E. Mulvihill, Guest Speaker in Sarasota, Florida

Maureen Mulvihill, writer of the guest series on 17th century women writers that appeared last fall on this website, will speak in the Gelbert Auditorium of the Selby Public Library, 1331 First Str...

Rare Book Monthly

  • Books & Autographs
    Wednesday 25 March
    Koller, Mar. 25: KAFKA, FRANZ, SCHRIFTSTELLER. Eigenh. Brief mit Unterschrift. Prag, 20. Oktober [19]15. CHF 30,000-40,000.
    Koller, Mar. 25: EINSTEIN, ALBERT. Zwei eigenhändige Briefe an Ernst Gabor Straus, unterschrieben "A.E" bzw. "A. Einstein". [Princeton], [19]45. und [1950]. CHF 30,000-40,000.
    Koller, Mar. 25: HORTENSE DE BEAUHARNAIS, MUTTER VON NAPOLEON III. Album aus ihrem Besitz mit 69 Aquarellen und Pinselzeichnungen in Sepia oder Grau… CHF 14,000-18,000.
    Koller, Mar. 25: ZOOLOGIE - ORNITHOLOGIE - Seligmann, Johann Michael. Verzameling van uitlandsche en zeldzaame Vogelen. Teile 1-8 (von 9) in 2 Bänden. Mit 421 prächtig altkolorierten Kupfertafeln. CHF 14,000-20,000
    Koller, Mar. 25: BOTANIK - Berlèse, Lorenzo und Johann Jakob Jung. Iconographie du genre camellia... 3 Bände. Mit 300 Farbstichtafeln "a la poupée.” Paris, [1839-]1841-1843. CHF 12,000-18,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026
    25 March 2026
    Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- Andrews (H.C.) Coloured Engravings of Heaths, 4 vol. in 2, first edition, [1710,--94]-1802-1809-[1830]. £10,000 - £15,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Butterflies.- Cramer (Pierre) and Caspar Stoll. De Uitlandsche Kapellen voorkomende in de drie Waereld-Deelen…,, 5 vol., Amsterdam & Utrecht, 1779-91. £8,000 - £12,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Voyages.- Darwin (Charles) and others. Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle, 3 vol. in 4, including Appendix to vol.2, first edition, 1839. £8,000 - £12,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Butterflies.- de Graaf (Willem Diederik Vincent). [Inlandsche Kapellen in beeld], 170 fine original watercolours, [Enkhuizen], [1800-40]. £8,000 - £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026
    25 March 2026
    Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Dresser (Henry Eeles). A History of the Birds of Europe, 9 vol., including supplement, first edition, by the author, 1871-96. £6,000 - £8,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Zoology.- Felines.- Elliot (Daniel Giraud). A Monograph of the Felidæ or Family of the Cats, first edition, for the Subscribers, by the Author, [1878]-1883. £25,000 - £30,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Frisch (Johann Leonard). Vorstellung der Vögel Deutschlandes, 2 vol., first edition, Berlin, Friedr. Wilhelm Birnsteil, [1736]-1763. £40,000 - £60,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Gould (John). The Birds of Great Britain, 5 vol., first edition, by the author, 1862-1873. £30,000 - £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026
    25 March 2026
    Forum, Mar. 25: Pomology.- France.- Poiteau (A.) Pomologie Française. Recueil des Plus Beaux Fruits cultivés en France, 4 vol., Paris, 1846. £30,000 - £40,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- [Robin (Jean)]. Histoire des Plantes, nouvellement trouvées en l'Isle Virgine…,, 1620; with Geoffrey Linocier L'Histoire des plantes, second edition, 1619-20. £3,000 - £4,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Asia.- Japan.- Siebold (P.F. von). Nippon. Archiv zur Beschreibung von Japan, 7 parts in 6 vol., first edition, Leyden, [1832]-1852. £35,000 - £45,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Asia.- Valentijn (Francois). Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën..., 5 vol. in 8, first edition, Dordrecht [&] Amsterdam, 1724-26. £8,000 - £12,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- Australia.- Redouté (P.J.).- Ventenat (Étienne Pierre). Jardin de la Malmaison, 2 vol.,, Paris, 1803-04[-05]. £30,000 - £40,000.

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