Where is the new book collector? Maybe where the young congregate? Certainly, they can be found on social media, and even the older folks know Facebook, probably even have a page and participate. The young have not quite moved on from Facebook, but its role in their lives has diminished. Instead, other social media are taking up more of their time, and the greatest growth the last few years has come from Instagram. Not so many older people use Instagram, but the young do. In a relatively short time (it was created during this decade), it has grown to encompass a billion members. If I had ju...
Recently Grolier Club members received word that one of the brethren, Jay Kislak, had slipped away. Death can be delayed but not avoided and we know this because, were it possible to beat death, J...
Bill Helfand, [William H. Helfand], an exceptional collector and member of the Grolier Club since 1978, passed away recently at 92 and left us much to consider. He had a drug problem, that is, a l...
A preliminary hearing was held at the Allegheny County Common Pleas Court in the case of the $8 million theft of books and maps from Pittsburgh's Carnegie Library. Two individuals, library archivis...
If you are eligible to vote in the US elections on November 6th I hope you will, regardless of your personal perspective. Too often outcomes of elections are determined by who doesn’t vote. Pleas...
AbeBooks has released the list of their ten most expensive sales for the third quarter of 2018, July-September. It ranges from a couple of the great 17th century philosophers to some of the most po...
A few days ago we learned that Nick Aretakis, long a crucial part of the Reese team, after a four year absence while he established his own rare book business in California, will return to head the...
Robert Chevalier de Beauchêne was a bold and bloodthirsty buccaneer from New France (Canada). No wonder his memoirs were highly attractive in 1732, especially since they were put together by the po...
On the heels of its blockbuster Tolkien, the Bodleian Library in Oxford, England hosts another important exhibit titled WOMEN WHO DARED: FROM SAPPHO TO SUFFRAGE. The show runs through February 2019...
The importance of authentication reared its head again in a discovery by the Museum of the Bible concerning fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls in their collection. They aren't. Scientific research o...
Recently a flurry of messages on ExLibris [exlibris-l@list.indiana.edu] indicated that dealers in various countries would lose listing privileges on Abebooks.com at the end of November.
Here is...
Raptis Rare Books has become the first antiquarian bookseller to employ what is known as "synthetic DNA" to protect its clients from theft. Synthetic DNA is an invisible marker that is placed on bo...
By the time November’s issue of Rare Book Monthly goes out, Old World Auctions’ Auction 170 will have been live for half a day or so. As always, their sale is online only, and this freshest offerin...
Kedem Auction House of Jerusalem is hosting a major sale of Jewish and Israeli material on November 13. You don't have to be present in Jerusalem to participate. Collectors all over the world may b...
We have it on good authority, because the Guardian, Washington Post and NBC News have reported it, that a 45-year-old man recently decided to acquire one of the four [of 13 said to have once existe...
In 1967, the acclaimed children's (and adults') author Maurice Sendak traveled to Britain to promote the first English edition of Where the Wild Things Are. It was almost his last trip anywhere. La...
In news from the world of collectibles, a bottle of whiskey sold last month at Bonham's for $1.1 million. It is described as the "Holy Grail of Whiskey." Holy Cow! Did someone drink up that bottle ...
This month we review five new bookseller catalogues. Michael D. Heaston Rare Books and Manuscripts presents an "Intercontinental Athenaeum," a collection of various subjects with most from the Nort...
Sotheby’s Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana 27 January 2026
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: An extraordinary pair of books from George Washington’s field library, marking the conjunction of Robert Rogers, George Washington, and Henry Knox. $1,200,000 to $1,800,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: An extraordinary letter marking the conjunction of George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette, and Benjamin Franklin. $1,000,000 to $1,500,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: Virginia House of Delegates. The genesis of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. $350,000 to $500,000.
Sotheby’s Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana 27 January 2026
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: (Gettysburg). “Genl. Doubleday has taken charge of the battle”: Autograph witness to the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, illustrated by fourteen maps and plans. $200,000 to $300,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: President Lincoln thanks a schoolboy on behalf of "all the children of the nation for his efforts to ensure "that this war shall be successful, and the Union be maintained and perpetuated." $200,000 to $300,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: [World War II]. An archive of maps and files documenting the allied campaign in Europe, from the early stages of planning for D-Day and Operation Overlord, to Germany’s surrender. $200,000 to $300,000.
![<b>Sotheby’s, Jan. 27:</b> [World War II]. An archive of maps and files documenting the allied campaign in Europe, from the early stages of planning for D-Day and Operation Overlord, to Germany’s surrender. $200,000 to $300,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/9d2762bc-9f26-47ef-96de-1c28070e19f6.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Jan. 27:</b> [World War II]. An archive of maps and files documenting the allied campaign in Europe, from the early stages of planning for D-Day and Operation Overlord, to Germany’s surrender. $200,000 to $300,000.")