Rare Book Monthly Articles - June - 2017 Issue

Print on Cloth

Ephemera is a very large category.  By some estimates it’s at least a hundred times larger than old books.  More likely, it’s five hundred to a thousand times larger.  And it is a broad category that includes many sub-categories that are themselves significant.  Books require commitment and planning, ephemera a press and a few words to communicate.  For those who love books some ephemera is relevant.  Announcements of events and publications, letters by or to an author, as well as sundry related images are often appealing.  Such ephemera however, taken together, probably represents .001 of ...

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California Bookseller Goes to Court to Overturn Hated Autograph Law

A California bookseller has gone to court to overturn a law detested by many sellers of autographed books in the state. On January 1, a new law went into effect that places what many consider onero...

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“Codex Conquest” teaches Western Book History as a Board Game

Codex Conquest is a board game using cards designed to teach European book history to audiences ranging from high school to graduate level players. It is being developed by Amy Chen, 32, special co...

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Collections Evolve: Ulster County in New York State

Many years ago, I began to collect books of the mid-Hudson Valley of New York State.  The focus was the printed word both because it was around and somewhere between “un” and “underappreciated.”  D...

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IOBA Offering $750 Scholarship for Book Collectors to a Rare Book Seminar. Deadline to Apply is June 4.

The Independent Online Booksellers Association (IOBA) is offering, for the first time, a $750 scholarship for collectors to attend any one of five notable rare and antiquarian book seminars and sch...

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Massive Rare Book Theft Uncovered in Brazil

In October 2016, Laéssio Rodrigues de Oliveira and another man were arrested in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on suspicion of theft of and receiving rare books. They were suspected of taking a few books from ...

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First Printings at Christie's on June 15th

Eric Caren, the remarkable collector of first and important printings, after two sales at Swann and two more at Bonhams has given his sale of very important material to Christie’s to be sold on Jun...

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"Despicable" Book Thief Sentenced to Two Years in Jail, But the Book is Still Missing

The judge described the book theft as a "despicable offense" in sentencing the thief to two years in prison earlier this year. Stealing the personal memento of her war-hero husband from a 93-year-o...

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June 7 thru 14: Evolution of a Nation: The David J. Morgan Collection at Old World Auctions

The following article is a feature from guest writer, Eliane Dotson of Old World Auctions.   The evolution of the United States could be described as a series of discoveries, settlements, wars, t...

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London International Antiquarian Book Fair: June 1st to 3rd

If you are interested, consumed, or obsessed with rare books and have a yen to visit London you are in luck because Rare Book Week which features book fairs, lectures and discussions, tours, and au...

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June 28th: Third sale of La Bibliothèque de Pierre Bergé - Musique et Poésie

In our December 2015 issue of Rare Book Monthly, I wrote about the first of a series of important sales being held in association with Sotheby’s comprising La bibliothèque de Pierre Bergé, the 1600...

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The Wreck of The Medusa, a Political Parable.

It is a gigantic painting, displayed in the Louvre Museum, Paris. It has darkened over the years, which makes the scene it depicts even more dreadful: this is Géricault’s The Raft of the Medusa. A ...

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June 7: Fine Books & Manuscripts at Bonhams

Less than a week from the time of Rare Book Monthly’s June 2017 release, a Bonhams’ sale on June 7th will be taking place in New York. With 359 lots, Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including Illustrat...

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Two Sales of Books and Ephemera Coming Up Soon at Cowan's

Cowan's Auctions of Cincinnati has two auctions coming this month of great interest to those who collect in the books and works on paper field. The first, a live auction scheduled for Friday, June ...

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Three Stolen Ancient Books and Manuscripts Returned to Italy by Boston Library

Three antiquarian books and manuscripts, stolen from Italian collections years ago, have been returned to their homeland by the Boston Public Library. They had been "acquired in good faith via repu...

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An Audio Interview with an Exhibitor of Pop-Up Books

Here is a link to a podcast for those with an interest in a very specific type of book – pop-up books. These are three-dimensional books, the ones where you open them up and some elements "pop up" ...

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Nine New Catalogue Reviewed This Month

For June there are 9 new bookseller catalogues under review. Phillip J. Pirages Fine Books Manuscripts offers a selection of fine books in magnificent bindings. John Windle Bookseller has a select...

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Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD
  • Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    Starting 10AM CST
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    Starting 10AM CST
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    Starting 10AM CST
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    Starting 10AM CST
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.

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