Rare Book Monthly Articles - November - 2021 Issue

Fire Claims Another Bookshop

New Street, Wem, Shrewsbury SY4 5JX, in the United Kingdom.  A fire tore through a building in Shrewsbury at Wem Industrial Estate overnight on 7 October, closing roads and cutting power to the town.  Fire has long been a hazard for the old and rare book trade and a bookshop, Cosmo Books, was located there.   The alarm was raised about 12.30am, the firefighters arriving to find flames shooting from the roof.  It started in an adjoining unit to Cosmo Books but spread along the roof space. The fire burned through ceiling panels and onto Mr. Downie's huge collection of books, built up over 2...

“The Extraordinary History of the Every Day”- Langdon Manor Books Finds Its Niche

I first became aware of Houston based dealer Adam Schachter back in 2012 when he was a practicing bankruptcy attorney moonlighting as a book scout. Since then he’s transitioned from law to the anti...

Being on Top of the Market

Book valuation is never a certain number when you look on a listing site because what determines market value is when a  willing buyer makes an offer and the seller agrees.  Book listing sites offe...

One of America's Best-Selling Authors Has Turned 100 Years Old

This year we are celebrating the 100th birthday of one of America's most popular authors. Her first book has sold over 75 million copies, but she has written about 250 in total. We don't have count...

Maria Sibylla Merian, A Rare Species Of Woman

  The Bilbiothèque Nationale de France, or French National Library (BNF) ran a series of portraits of “singular women” on their website last March. It featured the extraordinary Maria Sibylla Meri...

Library Overdue Book Fines Becoming a Thing of the Past

There has been a movement over the past few years to eliminate late fees for overdue books in libraries. San Francisco, San Diego, Miami, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Seattle and Columbus are amo...

Old Books and Old Collectors shout Harrah!!

Book fairs have been the early and consistent victims of COVID and it’s time to say The Empire Strikes Back!  In-person buying and selling in the collectible paper field has long been a vital compo...

Do you believe in Magic Again?

Do you believe in Magic?   If you are of a certain age you will remember when book auctions were mostly books but now-a-days we are living in the world of collectable paper and collectibles gener...

From Books to Toilet Paper

There is an old joke about what you can do with old books you don't need, or never were worth reading in the first place. You can put them in the bathroom where the pages can be put to appropriate ...

Welcome Back to NYPL: The library is Here for You!

NYPL has recently opened a new, first-ever permanent exhibit called The Polonsky Exhibition of the New York Public Library's Treasures, featuring some of the most extraordinary items from the 56 mi...

The Mittler Collection of Texana and early American History to be sold at Hindman on Nov. 9th

Brant Mittler, a medical doctor, lawyer and collector now 75, has long appreciated the intersection of early American government, Texas history, and the difficulties and struggles discovering and s...

Boston Book Fair goes virtual November 18-20

The ABAA invites bibliophiles everywhere to join the hunt for rare books and all manner of fine works on paper at the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America’s Virtual Book Fair: Boston Edi...

The 19th Century Rare Book and Photograph Shop Celebrates its 37th Anniversary with Special Catalogue

The 19th Century Rare Book and Photograph Shop, has just issued its Catalogue 190, Magnificent Books and Manuscripts, celebrating its 37th year in business. The business was established in 1984 by ...

Portland's Rose City Book and Paper Fair Returns Live on December 10

The Portland, Oregon, area has faced a tough year. Record heat brought temperatures as high as 116 this summer, their hottest temperature ever recorded. Droughts led to fires, then followed by torr...

American Arts and Crafts Museum Opens in St. Petersburg

A museum dedicated to the American Arts and Crafts movement recently opened in St. Petersburg, Florida. Founded by local philanthropist Rudy Ciccarello, it is an impressive structure, “a work of ar...

Four New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

This month we are reviewing seven new bookseller catalogues. Whitmore Rare Books features a collection of great and important books. The 19th Century Rare Book and Photograph Shop created a collect...

Rare Book Monthly

  • Fonsie Mealy’s
    Summer Rare Book
    & Collectors’ Sale
    July 30-31, 2024
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: U.S. / European Shipping Archive 1800-1814. The Widow Bermingham & Sons Collection. €7,000 to €10,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Bunreacht na hÉireann. Constitution of Ireland. An important copy of the First Printing of De Valera’s new Constitution, approved in 1938. Signed by the Constitution Cabinet. €7,000 to €9,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: A Rare Complete Run of the Cuala Press Broadsides. €7,000 to €9,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s
    Summer Rare Book
    & Collectors’ Sale
    July 30-31, 2024
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Grose (Francis). The Antiquities of Ireland, 2vols. folio London (for S. Hooper) 1791. Magnificent Hand-Coloured Copy - Only 25 Copies. €3,000 to €5,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Cantillon (Richard). Essai sur la Nature du Commerce en General, Traduit de l'Anglois, Sm. 8vo London (Fletcher Gyles) 1756. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Gregory, (Lady Augusta). Spreading the News: The Rising of the Moon: The Poorhouse (with Douglas Hyde). Being Vol. IX of the Abbey Theatre Series. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s
    Summer Rare Book
    & Collectors’ Sale
    July 30-31, 2024
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Lavery (Lady Hazel). A moving series of three A.L.S. and a Telegram to Gen. Eoin O'Duffy, July-August 1927, expressing her grief at the death of Kevin O'Higgins. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Dampier (Wm.) Nouveau Voyage Autour du Monde, ou l'on descrit en particulier l'Isthme de l'Amerique…, 2 vols. in one, Amsterdam, 1698. €800 to €1,200.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Howell (James). Instructions for Forreine Travel Shewing by what Cours, and in what Compasse of Time…, London, 1642. €800 to €1,200.
    Fonsie Mealy’s
    Summer Rare Book
    & Collectors’ Sale
    July 30-31, 2024
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Rowling (J.K.) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 8vo, L. (Bloomsbury) 1999, First Edn., First Printing of Deluxe Collectors Edn. Signed. €800 to €1,200.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: James (Wm.) A Full and Correct Account of the Military Occurrences of The Late War Between Great Britain and The United States of America. 2 vols. Lond. 1818. €650 to €900.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: The Laws of the United States, Published by Authority, 3 vols. Philadelphia (Richard Folwell) 1796. €600 to €800.

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