As any regular reader of Rare Book Monthly is probably aware, my collecting focus is the Hudson River Valley of the State of New York. My collection spans the gamut of material—books, of course, but ephemera, manuscripts, maps, paintings, prints, and furniture as well. I would guess that within the collection, possibly a thousand books have come into my possession. Two of these are copies of a book by Abraham Tomlinson of Beekman, New York in Dutchess County. Published in 1855, Tomlinson’s The Military Journals of two Private Soldiers, 1758-1775, with Numerous Illustrative Notes to which is...
A collection of old books, untouched for 200 years, was found in Bouillon, Belgium, last month. The reading room where they had remained silent for so long was haunted by the spirit of a “honnête h...
How one estimates the value of rare, even unique works is always a challenge. The correct formula is to determine the market price agreed upon by a willing buyer and willing seller, but the rarer t...
“By the shore of Gitche Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water,
At the doorway of his wigwam,
In the pleasant Summer morning,
Hiawatha stood and waited…..”
When my father was a child in the ea...
Potter Potter Auctions, a Chicago-based house started in 2007, has historically focused on magicana—antiques and collectibles focused on magic and magicians—but they also conduct sales including p...
It isn't a medical museum, but a museum has just opened in Springfield, Massachusetts to celebrate the life of America's foremost "doctor." Rather than a physician, Theodor Geisel was an author, an...
I am not known to mince words. I give 100 percent and I expect 100 percent back. On June 15th in New York, some of my best material came up for sale at Christie’s and my expectations were exceede...
Historically a quieter time of year in the book business, London-headquartered auction house Forum Auctions is bucking the trend by keeping the summer packed with sales: four in July, and two more ...
For many, POD's have become the scourge of book listing sites. No, we aren't talking about podcasts, though some of those can be annoying too. Rather, we mean the Print on Demand books that now inf...
Cowan’s Auctions, based in Cincinnati and in business since 1995, has been an auction house always at the forefront of technological advances. One of the first houses to boast a website and to cond...
Bonhams is pleased to announce that longtime Christie’s rare book specialist Ian Ehling will join the New York office as Director of Fine Books Manuscripts, beginning June 1. Ian has more than 34...
A most unusual theft took place at the McKinley Library in Sacramento on May 24. Usually, it's books that are stolen from a library. Not this time. Instead, it was a statue, a 110-pound bronze stat...
This month we review 14 new booksellers' catalogues. Shapero Rare Books takes us "back to the cradle," a collection of works about African discovery. From Hordern House, we find a selection of Aust...
