This is the story of bookseller Clarence Wolf. He’s possesses the spirit of the great booksellers, exemplifying why the field is so compelling.
I have been a bookseller for over fifty years. It’s the only thing I’ve ever done, and for that matter ever really seriously considered. Books have always been a constant throughout my life. Both of my parents were bookish; my father was an artist and writer, and my mother was an editor. There were famous bookmen in my family, one of whom was Edwin Wolf II. Edwin was my cousin and mentor. He began his career working for A.S.W. Rosenbach in the...
One of the largest and most mysterious of book heists in recent memory finally unraveled last month with the discovery of the books under the floorboards of a Romanian garage. The remarkably sophis...
Early last month (September), the Italian police arrested a 40-year-old Romanian national in Turin, Italy. The suspect was wanted in the UK for the formidable theft of 260 rare books in 2017. He’s ...
This is not a political statement. Many of you do not appreciate political thoughts on a rare book website, and that is understandable. This is not about politics. It is way more important. It's ab...
Southern Methodist University hosts a stunning centennial exhibit titled “Women’s Voices, Women’s Votes” now on view at the website of the DeGolyer Library in Dallas. The display offers an intellec...
Graham Arader became a book and map dealer while an undergraduate at Yale. From the outset, he had the resources, imagination and exceptional memory characteristic of the greatest players in the fi...
Even when the Elsie and Phillip Sang Collection was consigned to a series of auctions forty years ago there was a sense that history was being made when so many remarkable examples were offered in ...
An article recently appeared in the Chicago Tribune titled Where to begin downsizing when you have thousands of books? The unnamed writer isn't the only one with this problem, although the quantity...
Christies Announces its Fall Various-Owner Books Manuscripts Sale Online
Christie's New York is very pleased to announce its fall various-owner online sale, Fine Printed Books Manuscripts Includ...
Marvin Getman, the rare book fair impresario has some good news to report: The Brooklyn Virtual Antiquarian Book Fair opened on September 4th, 2020 as proxy for what was a year ago an already a st...
Dr. Seymour Schwartz, age 92, of Rochester, New York, passed on August 28, 2020. Dr. Schwartz was a world-renowned surgeon. He practiced surgery from the 1950s until his retirement at age 72. He is...
Doyle held its first rare book auction of the Fall 2020 season, Fine Literature featuring The Library of Duncan Cranford, on September 30. 186 lots were offered in an Internet-only auction format, ...
There is a process for preserving ancient books and manuscripts taking place in northern India that is unlike any other I have seen before. It is being done at Dar-ul-Uloom, an Islamic seminary in ...
These are difficult times for everyone. Covid 19 has brought much of the world to its knees. In America, climatic disasters seem to have become the norm. Hurricanes and tropical storms in formerly ...
This was another slow month for new catalogues. The coronavirus has changed all sorts of businesses, with the question being, will it ever return to “normal” when the virus goes away? Most likely, ...
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
Bonhams, June 14-23: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presentation Gold Pocket Watch. Estimate: $20,000 - 30,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: Presentation Copy of the First Issue of the Lincoln Douglas Debates Signed by Abraham Lincoln in Pencil to a Sangamon County Illinois Republican. Estimate: $150,000 - 250,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: A Senate Resolution Signed in the Tense Days After the Union's Humiliating Defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run. Estimate: $80,000 - $120,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: Seven Passages to a Flight, an Artists Book with a Story Quilt by Faith Ringgold, the Publisher's Own Copy. Estimate: $80,000 - 120,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: A New Charter for Virginia, A Response to the First Armed Rebellion in the American Colonies. Estimate: $15,000 - 25,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: Earliest obtainable printing of the Bill of Rights. Estimate: $8,000 - 12,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: Edward Curtis Orotone. Estimate: $7,000 - 9,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: Owned by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: A Butter or Dessert Plate from FDR's State Dinner Service. Estimate: $3,000 - 5,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: An Early Large-Format Plan of the City of Washington. Estimate: $1,500 - 2,500
Bonhams, June 14-23: Containing the First Map to Name the Hudson River. Estimate: $20,000 - 30,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: America's First Major Novelist, a Complete Chapter in Autograph Manuscript by James Fenimore Cooper. Estimate: $15,000 - 20,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: The Only Full-Length Book by Jefferson, with the Justly Famous Map. Estimate: $12,000 - 18,000
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.
