Rare Book Monthly Articles - May - 2021 Issue

Book Fairs: May you live in Interesting Times

Sanford L. Smith + Associates has announced they are preparing for the 61st Annual New York International Antiquarian Book Fair at the New York Armory, September 9 – 12.  They are planning for a flexible number of exhibitors, down from the previous 210, allowing for increased space between booths.  The fair is at capacity under the current guidelines from New York City and the CDC, but as the situation evolves, so will the fair.  SLSA is expected to release the revised show map around mid-August.   SLSA will be closely following all guidelines from the CDC for exhibitors and guests.  For ...

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Coming Soon - Digital Collectible Books?

One advantage we always thought physical books had over their digital counterparts is that physical books are collectible. There is no way you could collect a book composed of ephemeral electronic ...

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Guest writer, Maureen E. Mulvihill, brings our attention to an important publication event in Irish Studies.

In her newest essay for Rare Book Hub, guest writer Maureen E. Mulvihill discusses history-writing and the new Cambridge History of Ireland, 4 volumes, some 100 contributors. Do you spot a familiar...

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Another Record Price for a Collectible Card

Once in a while, a collecting field becomes so hot it's hard to even keep up with what is going on. Such is the case with collector cards these days. It's reminiscent of tulips a few centuries ago,...

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A Solution in Search of a Problem: Tchotchkes

If you are collecting books no one needs to think where they will put them because book shelves are a basic design element.  Shelves are everywhere.  Manuscripts, often slim and fragile, however ar...

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Of Montaigne’s Thoughts and Flatulence

When I decided to visit Italy lately, I chose to visit it in the year 1580, and alongside Michel de Montaigne! The way I see it, if you’re gonna travel through space and time, why not do it with so...

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“OK Boomer” - Or what I learned from the Pandemic

It’s been a long year.   Hawaii went into lockdown in March of 2020 and is just now emerging to some semblance of pre-pandemic life. About the world of books there’s not much to tell, but if you’...

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Forum Auctions Celebrating Five Years with 12 Sales Beginning May 6th Culminating with their 250th in July

Forum Auctions in July is soon celebrating their 5th anniversary and are conducting a series of sales – both online only and ‘traditional’ – over the course of the spring and into the early summer ...

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While Walking in San Francisco

Ten years or so ago I used to occasionally walk along Sacramento Street between Presidio and Arguello in San Francisco when the weather was good, looking into sultry store windows arrayed to attrac...

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Historical Paper Triumphant Once Again; Prices Soar at Sotheby's!

The stupendous collection of Printed and Manuscript Americana built by Ira and Barbara Lipman grossed just under 12.4 Million dollars at Sotheby's this past month.   It is never a surprise when a...

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BookTok – A Book Phenomenon

Where is the next generation of book collectors? On #BookTok, maybe? You may not be familiar with BookTok if you are over, say, 25 years old. I don't know how many people subscribe to or visit #boo...

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Fine Travel books, Atlases, Maps, Natural History and historical Photographs

Sotheby’s London is offering 192 lots in its online sale of Travel, Atlases, Maps and Natural History which runs until May 13. Leading the sale is a 5 volume set of Braun and Hogenberg’s Civitates...

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Terrible Fire Destroys Library Collections

It was a library's worst nightmare. On April 18, a fire broke out on Devil's Peak in Cape Town, South Africa. It grew rapidly before firefighters were able to control it. It spread to the Universit...

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A Book Store is Closing

When a diner or shoe store closes the two rarely raise the ambient decibels while, when a bookstore closes, the future of civilization is imperiled.  The difference is that bookstores, for many, sy...

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I Have Been Offered $950,000, But Is It Real?

I get lots of “free” offers and I have learned to ignore most of them. They are generally for things I don't want anyway. But, when someone offers me $950,000, I do take notice. That is especially ...

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Nine New Catalogues Reviewed

This month we review nine new catalogues, which includes some unusual and spectacular ones. Artifacts of the Bible presents an extensive collection which is practically a history of the Church of J...

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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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