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Rare Book Monthly Articles - January - 2020 Issue

Time for the Annual Rare Book Hub Top 500 Prices at Auction for 2019

Time for the Annual Rare Book Hub Top 500 Prices at Auction for 2019

Another year has come to an end, meaning it is time to look back at the the annual Rare Book Hub Top 500 prices achieved at auction during the previous year. We cover sales of books, manuscripts, and various other sorts of works on paper. For an explanation of what sort is in and which is out for this list, please see the explanation at the end of this article.   What we have noticed over the years, and the trend continues, is more high dollar purchases of paper outside the realm of traditional books and manuscripts. Here are two that jump out – comic books (including their original artwo...

The Pie is getting Larger

The Pie is getting Larger

It’s difficult to be older in a world that is less certain but there is some good news!   No, you aren’t getting younger but there is evidence of an increase in the number of auction buyers in th...

Publishing and Bookselling Data going into the New Decade

Publishing and Bookselling Data going into the New Decade

Going into the new decade here is a collection of interesting data condensed from a variety of recent sources that indicates where books and bookselling may be headed and to a lesser extent how tha...

A Complete Audubon Comes to Graham Arader

A Complete Audubon Comes to Graham Arader

At the Sotheby’s sale in New York on 18 December, 2019   John James Audubon:  The Birds of America; from Original Drawings by John James Audubon.  London:  Published by the Author, 1827-1838   ...

Financially Squeezed College Is Selling Its Shakespeare First Folio

Financially Squeezed College Is Selling Its Shakespeare First Folio

The Oakland Raiders aren't the only cherished institution leaving Oakland. A much older one is also on its way out. William Shakespeare, or at least his most important book, is also bidding adieu t...

AbeBooks' Top 12 Prices for 2019

AbeBooks' Top 12 Prices for 2019

AbeBooks, the world's largest used and rare book selling website, has compiled their list of the highest prices achieved on their site for the year 2019. There are 11 books and one letter in the to...

We'll let the wine age . . .

We'll let the wine age . . .

There is a time to harvest and a time to wait.  The new version of Rare Book Hub will be delayed.  Its complexities are such that several months will be needed to make sure everything is right.  We...

In Original Color

In Original Color

Last summer I wrote Recently I was offered a second edition of Wade Croome’s Panorama of the Hudson River, printed in 1846.  I look to understand the evolving waterfront of the Hudson River during...

Richard Blome, Mapping Jamaica And Other Territories

Richard Blome, Mapping Jamaica And Other Territories

Richard Blome’s Description of Jamaica; with the other Isles and Territories in America to Which the English Are Related... (London, 1672) is a book of exception. Although a long time Jamaica speci...

Americana is a Creed

Americana is a Creed

The Clements Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan, founded in 1923 at the University of Michigan holds collections of print and manuscript materials on the history of North America and the Caribbean, wit...

To Fine or Not to Fine – That Is the Question (But What Is the Answer?)

To Fine or Not to Fine – That Is the Question (But What Is the Answer?)

A hallowed tradition of library science could become an endangered species. We are talking about the ubiquitous practice of leveling overdue book fines on borrowers who do not return their books by...

Thirteen New Catalogues Reviewed to Start the New Year

Thirteen New Catalogues Reviewed to Start the New Year

We start the new year with 13 new catalogues to review. The Great American Cattle Co. offers the works of western/cowboy author and artist Will James. His western tales were based on personal exper...

Rare Book Monthly

  • Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 11. Blaeu's Superb World Map on a Polar Projection (1695) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 36. Schedel's Ancient World Map with Humanoid Creatures (1493) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 49. One of the First Lunar Globes to Show the Far Side of the Moon (1963) Est. $1,000 - $1,300
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 5. The First World Map with Lavish Allegorical Vignettes of the Continents (1594) Est. $15,000 - $17,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 55. Anti-British Propaganda Map with Churchill as an Octopus (1942) Est. $2,000 - $2,300
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 197. One of the Most Influential Maps of Westward Expansion (1846) Est. $9,500 - $12,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 10. Scarce Pitt Edition of Carte-a-Figures Map of the World (1680) Est. $9,500 - $11,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 220. A Fine, Early Rendering of San Francisco (1874) Est. $2,200 - $2,500
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 707. Hand-Colored Image of the Presentation of Jesus with Gilt Highlights (1450) Est. $1,600 - $1,900
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 80. One of the Most Important Maps Perpetuating the Myth of the Island of California (1680) Est. $3,250 - $4,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 725. Homann's Atlas Featuring 26 Folio-Sized Maps in Original Color (1715) Est. $4,500 - $5,500
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 169. One of the Earliest Maps to Show Philadelphia (1695) Est. $4,750 - $6,000
  • Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: DALVIMART, Octavien ou d’ALVIMAR(T). The Costume of Turkey
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: DALVIMART, Octavien ou d’ALVIMAR(T)]. CLARK. The Military Costume of Turkey
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: HOMMAIRE DE HELL, Ignace-Xavier. LAURENS, Jules. Voyage en Turquie et en Perse
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: POSTEL, Guillaume. De la République des Turc
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: PREZIOSI, Amadeo. Stamboul. Souvenir d’Orient.
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: COSTUMES. EMPIRE OTTOMAN.
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: PRISSE D'AVENNES, Achille Constant T. Emile. L'Art Arabe
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: PRISSE D'AVENNES. Histoire de l'art Egyptie
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: BESANCENOT, Jean. Costumes et types du Maroc.
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: COSTUMES OTTOMANS. Suite de figures ottomanes à l’aquarelle
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: LES MILLE ET UNE NUIT, contes arabes
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: SCHLEGEL, Hermann et A. H. VERSTER van WULVERHORST. Traité de Fauconnerie - Planches
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: THEVENOT, Melchisédec. Relation de divers voyages curieux
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11:
  • Sotheby's Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s: Balthus, Emily Brontë. Wuthering Heights, New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1993. 6,600 USD.
    Sotheby’s: Charles Dickens. Complete Works, Philadelphia & London: J.B. Lippincott Company & Chapman & Hall, LD, 1850. Limited Edition set of 30 volumes. 7,500 USD.
    Sotheby’s: John Lennon, Yoko Ono. Handwritten Letter from John Lennon and Yoko Ono to their Chauffer. 1971. 32,500 USD.
    Sotheby’s: Winston Churchill. First edition of War Speeches, Cassell and Company, Ltd., 1941. Set of 7 volumes. 5,500 USD.
    Sotheby’s: Andy Warhol, Julia Warhola. Holy Cats First Edition, Signed by Andy Warhol. 1954. 30,000 USD.

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