Rare Book Monthly Articles - July - 2021 Issue

A Story of Fraud, Deceit, Forgery and Murder Comes to Its Conclusion at Heritage Auctions

A Story of Fraud, Deceit, Forgery and Murder Comes to Its Conclusion at Heritage Auctions

A story of deceit, fraud, forgery, and murder closed perhaps its final chapter in the book rooms at Heritage Auctions last month. This sordid tale goes back 35 years, though its beginnings started over four centuries earlier, in 1638. That is when Stephen Daye, a locksmith by trade, boarded a ship bound for the New World. He had agreed to work for printer Joseph Glover in return for paying his fare. Daye didn't know much about printing, but Glover was there to teach him the ropes.   It didn't turn out that way. Glover died on the voyage. Daye's indebtedness now belonged to Glover's widow,...

Shifting Gears

Shifting Gears

Collecting old books for me has been a day by day, step by step process over six decades converting interests, ambitions and possibilities into accumulations that held together over the years to be...

Sotheran’s, Historic London Bookseller, Reports on Emergence from Pandemic

Sotheran’s, Historic London Bookseller, Reports on Emergence from Pandemic

“Sotheran's home is London,” wrote Chris Saunders, 47, the managing director for Henry Sotheran Ltd. “ We've been here for over 200 years, which is a long time, but only the blink of an eye for a c...

Has a Book from Shakespeare's Library Finally Been Located?

Has a Book from Shakespeare's Library Finally Been Located?

Has a book from Shakespeare's library finally been found? William Shakespeare is undoubtedly the English language's greatest literary giant. We also know that many of his plays were based on earlie...

Detroit Festival Of Books: July 18th, 2021 - Get Ready!

Detroit Festival Of Books: July 18th, 2021 - Get Ready!

As cities begin to open up, post-Covid, Detroit (again) is showing its commitment to books and the culture of the book. The upcoming Bookfest, again at Eastern Market, Detroit, may set another atte...

The Numbers are Way Up:  Way Up

The Numbers are Way Up: Way Up

Rare Book Hub is the combination of facts and numbers about books and recently the number of auctions covering books, manuscripts, maps and ephemera has rapidly increased this year.  To illustrate ...

Mungo Park in Africa: A Classic, I Presume

Mungo Park in Africa: A Classic, I Presume

Mungo Park’s Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa (London, 1799) is one of the most iconic travel books ever. It is the testimony of one of the very first white men to travel this part of th...

Where are we?

Where are we?

The last year has been a whirlwind for the auction market. In the early months of the Pandemic, when the Trade and book fairs scrambled to work out online platforms and the possibilities of sourcin...

Donald Heald Announces his first Americana Sale:  Buckle Up!

Donald Heald Announces his first Americana Sale: Buckle Up!

An invitation to you extended by Donald Heald - Please join me for our first Americana sale on July 17th beginning at 1:00 pm EST.  Our upcoming event at Donald Heald Auctions offers a dive into m...

The U. S. Economy is Rebounding, so says Jerome H. Powell

The U. S. Economy is Rebounding, so says Jerome H. Powell

Economies go through cycles   Free world economies are complex systems that balance economic and political realities in democracies.  Recessions and occasionally depressions reflect declines in e...

Another Record Price and Two More News Items about Collectible Cards

Another Record Price and Two More News Items about Collectible Cards

We have been writing lately about record prices for baseball and other sports cards seemingly ad nauseam. You may wonder why we do this on a rare books site, besides the fact they are constantly hi...

A Nation:  A City, & Its First Library:  the St. Louis Mercantile Library

A Nation: A City, & Its First Library: the St. Louis Mercantile Library

Libraries represent bundles of ambitions, many initially modest, always beginning with the hope to make a difference in people’s lives.  This is why tens of thousands of volunteers commit their tim...

Shapero Rare Books' Parent Finishes Year with a Loss

Shapero Rare Books' Parent Finishes Year with a Loss

This has been a tough year for just about anyone in the book business, but most don't have to announce their results. That is not true for Shapero Rare Books parent, Scholium Group, as it is a publ...

LiveAuctioneers announces proposed acquisition by Auction Technology Group

LiveAuctioneers announces proposed acquisition by Auction Technology Group

  Treasure hunters and auctioneers to receive access to enhanced suite of online products and services   NEW YORK – LiveAuctioneers, one of North America’s favorite destinations for fine and de...

Dr. Seuss Is Coming to Blockchain

Dr. Seuss Is Coming to Blockchain

Dr. Seuss is coming to blockchain. The beloved children's author, who has recently been in some hot water due to racially insensitive drawings he made in the 1930s and 40s, is now leaping into the ...

Six New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

Six New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

This month we review six new bookseller catalogues. Type Punch Matrix is focused on the counterculture. Lorne Bair Rare Books feature progressive and radical movements. Ursus Rare Books targets Ava...

Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby’s
    Year in Review
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: A Rare Hebrew Bible with Micrographic Masorah. Sold: 1,514,000 USD
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: "The Freedman's Primer.” Sold: 241,300 USD
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: Smith, William. "The Map that Changed the World." Sold: 139,700 USD
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: Psalter, C13th. Illuminated Psalter. Sold: 330,200 GBP
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: Lincoln, Abraham. The abolition of slavery. Sold: 13,697,500 USD
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: Vergilius. Opera, Venice, Aldo Manuzio, 1501. Sold: 1,041,400 USD
  • University Archives
    Rare Autographs & Books Including Lincoln & Space Exploration
    January 7, 2026
    University Archives, Jan. 7: Jefferson's Owned & Signed "Plutarch's Morals" Vol. 4. - 1st Time At Auction In Nearly 200 Years!
    University Archives, Jan. 7: Flown NASA Hasselblad 203S Space Camera On Endeavour STS-111, With Components, Data Module & Flown Film Magazine!
    University Archives, Jan. 7: One Of The Finest Lincoln Assassination Letters Extant, April 15, 1865 - Illustrated & Beyond Dramatic! 8pp.
    University Archives
    Rare Autographs & Books Including Lincoln & Space Exploration
    January 7, 2026
    University Archives, Jan. 7: Isaac Newton Highly Important Religious Manuscript With 85+ Words In His Hand, Ex-Bonhams
    University Archives, Jan. 7: Marilyn Monroe Gorgeous Signed & Inscribed Photograph, PSA Authenticated
    University Archives, Jan. 7: Rare Ernest Hemingway, 1 Of 10 Signed Presentation Copies Of "Farewell To Arms"
    University Archives
    Rare Autographs & Books Including Lincoln & Space Exploration
    January 7, 2026
    University Archives, Jan. 7: Ayn Rand 11pp Revised AMS "The Cold Civil War" For LA Times Newspaper- 900+ Words In Her Hand!
    University Archives, Jan. 7: Mary Todd Lincoln Calls Abe A "great & good man, who loved & served his country so well"
    University Archives, Jan. 7: Abraham Lincoln Gives Rebel Woman Pass To Visit Prisoner Of War Husband, Showing A Very Human Lincoln!
    University Archives
    Rare Autographs & Books Including Lincoln & Space Exploration
    January 7, 2026
    University Archives, Jan. 7: Babe Ruth PSA Type II Signed Conlon Photo, With Ruth Miniature Louisville Slugger, 16.25"
    University Archives, Jan. 7: Armstrong, Collins, Aldrin Signed Photo - Prime Crew Apollo 11 - PSA Authenticated
    University Archives, Jan. 7: Huge Abraham Lincoln Hesler Photo, Ca. 1880 - As If He Were In The Room!

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