Books at auction is not a new idea but rather one factor in the complex evolutionary chain that a hundred years ago efficiently recycled material from collectors to dealers who resold it. And since 1980, what had been a wholesale market for dealers, began to become the retail market it is today.
Along the way many factors changed. Databases exploded and most people with books of value consult them today. These databases have also made it possible to identify the scale of non-standard subjects that are becoming the focuses of choice for many new collectors. How is this done? By deve...
AbeBooks has released their list of the Top 10 highest prices paid on their book selling website during the months of July-September. They fall into three categories: books or authors you know, ver...
A right of passage in New England each fall, the ABAA Book Fair in Boston, returns to the Hynes Center November 15-17. This is one of the ABAA’s fairs and a stalwart event for east coast dealers a...
Boston, MA—On Saturday, November 16, 2019, the Boston Book, Print Ephemera Fair returns to the Back Bay Events Center, 180 Berkeley at Stuart St., for its eight edition. The show features 60 deale...
There are no superheroes in this comic strip. No one is paying millions of dollars for a copy of her first edition. No one is spending tens of millions of dollars turning her into a super action fi...
It is not too difficult to find items signed by Mark Twain. There are lots of signed books, letters, photographs, postcards, documents, even checks out there. However, a first for Twain autographs ...
During the week of the Boston book fairs Skinner’s is running a 530 lot online auction of collectible paper including books, manuscripts, maps, photography, and ephemera. It’s a very interesting s...
In 1770, the atheist Philosopher Paul Henri Thiry, baron d’Holbach (1723-1789), revisited the history of Jesus Christ in his book Histoire critique de la vie de Jésus-Christ/A Critical History Of J...
A new library has opened in Los Angeles, but it is not your typical library. Rather, it is officially known as the “Homicide Library.” It will house what are called “murder books.” This is not a pl...
In the past year I’ve seen cultured approaches to collectors and collecting presented in magazines both by Freeman’s of Philadelphia and Christie's of everywhere else and thought this makes sense b...
The 18th Paris Map, Instruments Globes Fair will be held on November 9 in, you guessed it, Paris, France. It will bring dealers in the map field from all over the world to one of the world's favor...
Suicide, depression, anxiety, tornadoes, homelessness, hurricanes, tidal waves, impeachment, climate change, corruption and an unending litany of bad news 24/7. Yes my fellow book people, it’s scar...
Kevin Kelly, an ABAA dealer and resident of New Paltz, New York is someone I’ve known for many years. I grew up in New Paltz and was first introduced to book collecting there by Bill Heidgerd in t...
Here is a creative use for your old books now that no one reads anymore, except, maybe, on an electronic device. Credit this original idea to French fashion designer Sylvie Facon. According to her ...
This month we review eight new bookseller catalogues. Aleph-Bet Books is offering a new selection of children's and illustrated books. Hordern House focuses on Australia and the Southern Hemisphere...
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Galileo Galilei. Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo tolemaico, e copernicano. Firenze, 1632
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Saverio Manetti. Storia naturale degli uccelli. Firenze, 1771-76
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Fortunato Depero. Depero futurista. Rovereto, 1927
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Nicolas Visscher. Atlas minor sive totius orbis terrarum contracta delineat ex conatibus. Amsterdam, circa 1649-95
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Andreas Vesalius. Anatomia. Addita nunc. Antiquorum Anatome. Venezia, 1604
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Tristan Tzara and Salvador Dalì. Grains et Issues. Parigi, 1935
June 25, 2026
Doyle, June 25: Houdini's biography, boldly signed. $3,000 to $5,000.
Doyle, June 25: A volume from Abraham Lincoln's library, signed just before heading to Washington for his inauguration. $20,000 to $30,000.
Doyle, June 25: A very early Confederate recruiting manual belonging to the chief commissary in Lee's Army. $600 to $800.
Doyle, June 25: Rare hand-colored lithographs of the life of Napoleon. $20,000 to $30,000.
Doyle, June 25: The "Holster Atlas" of the American Revolution. $5,000 to $8,000.
Doyle, June 25: Jewish ceremonies in fine hand-colored engravings. $7,000 to $10,000.
Doyle, June 25: A very rare work on Turkish military costume. $1,000 to $1,500.
June 25, 2026
Doyle, June 25: The most important illustrated work on the Mexican-American War. $10,000 to $15,000.
Doyle, June 25: The finest illustrated book on Afghanistan. $10,000 to $15,000.
Doyle, June 25: Henry Justice Ford St. George rescues the Princess from the horrible Dragon. $2,000 to $3,000.
Doyle, June 25: A rare work of Prussian Army uniforms under Frederick William II, with exquisite hand-colored engravings. $800 to $1,200.
Doyle, June 25: Lenny Bruce typed letter signed to a Village bohemian during his obscenity trials, with a manuscript note and drawing. $300 to $500.
Doyle, June 25: Schiff's scarce Shanghai Sketchbook. $300 to $500.
Doyle, June 25: The first accurate published representation of the American flag. $2,000 to $4,000.
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 123. Celebrate 250 Years of Independence with Original Stars and Stripes (1790) Est. $1,400 - $1,700
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 20. Keulen's Spectacular Chart of the World Featuring California as an Island (1728) Est. $12,000 - $15,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 42. Schedel's Ancient World Map with Fantastic Humanoid Creatures (1493) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 591. Matching Set of 3 Stunning Globe Gores of Eastern Asia from Coronelli's 3.5 Foot Globe (1688) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 9. Speed's Popular World Map with Allegorical Representations of the Elements (1651) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 168. First Separate Map of Kansas & Nebraska Territories (1854) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 43. Only Macrobius Map with Britain Attached to Europe (1515) Est. $800 - $950
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 250. Rare Map of Boston and One of the Earliest Maps of the Revolutionary War (1775) Est. $2,000 - $2,300
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 79. Schenk's Uncommon Map Featuring Two Figurative Title Cartouches (1696) Est. $1,200 - $1,500
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 681. Hand-Colored Image of the Annunciation to the Shepherds (1502) Est. $800 - $950
Sotheby's Book Week 2 June - 9 July
Sotheby’s, June 25: Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations, on its 250th anniversary. $180,000 to $250,000.
Sotheby’s, June 17: Fontana, Lucio. Concetto Spaziale. 1967. Leporello en papier doré. Bel exemplaire signé. €4,000 to $€,000.
Sotheby’s, June 25: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past”. $150,000 to $200,000.
Sotheby’s, June 25: Washington, George (as First President). Washington decries “an ostentatious imitation, or mimickry of Royalty” in his Presidency. $250,000 to $500,000.
Sotheby’s, June 17: Lope de Vega. Rare manuscrit autographe signé de la préface dédicatoire de "El Cardenal de Belen" (le cardinal de Bethléem), pièce composée en 1610. €40,000 to €60,000.
