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

  • ALDE, Mar. 11: AUGUSTIN (Saint). De civitate Dei. Rome, Konrad Sweynheym et Arnold Pannartz, 1470. €20,000 - €30,000.
    ALDE, Mar. 11: [REGNART (LE LIVRE DE)]. [Le] Docteur en malice, maistre Regnard, demonstrant les ruzes et cautelles qu'il use envers les personnes… Rouen, 1550. €20,000 - €30,000.
    ALDE, Mar. 11: TRITHÈME (JEAN). Polygraphie et universelle escriture cabalistique. Paris, [Benoît Prévost pour] Jacques Kerver, 1561. €8,000 - €10,000.
    ALDE, Mar. 11: CAUS (SALOMON DE). La Perspective, avec la raison des ombres et des miroirs. Londres, John Norton, 1612.
    ALDE, Mar. 11: NICERON (JEAN-FRANÇOIS). La Perspective curieuse ou magie artificielle des effets merveilleux de l'optique. Paris, Pierre Billaine, 1638. €6,000 - €8,000.
    ALDE, Mar. 11: VONTET (JACQUES). L’Art de trancher la viande et toute sorte de fruits… S.l.n.d. [probablement Lyon, vers 1647]. €20,000 - €30,000.
    ALDE, Mar. 11: HUGO (VICTOR). [Paysage spectral avec une église], [vers 1837]. €20,000 - €30,000.
    ALDE, Mar. 11: [HERVEY DE SAINT-DENYS (LÉON D')]. Les Rêves et les Moyens de les diriger. Observations pratiques. Paris, Amyot, 1867. €3,000 - €4,000.
    ALDE, Mar. 11: GACHET (PAUL-FERDINAND). Les Chats de Gachet (Manuscrit). S.d. [avant mai 1873]. €6,000 - €8,000.
    ALDE, Mar. 11: [REDON (ODILON)]. PICARD (EDMOND). Le Juré. Monodrame en cinq actes… Bruxelles, Mme veuve Monnom, 1887. €7,000 - €9,000.
    ALDE, Mar. 11: [TOULOUSE-LAUTREC (HENRI DE) ET HENRI-GABRIEL IBELS]. MONTORGUEIL (GEORGES). Le Café-concert. Paris, [1893]. €4,000 - €5,000.
    ALDE, Mar. 11: [TERRY (EMILIO)]. Projet de fontaine. Dessin original au stylo et à l'encre noire. 1938. €2,000 - €3,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026
    25 March 2026
    Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- Andrews (H.C.) Coloured Engravings of Heaths, 4 vol. in 2, first edition, [1710,--94]-1802-1809-[1830]. £10,000 - £15,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Butterflies.- Cramer (Pierre) and Caspar Stoll. De Uitlandsche Kapellen voorkomende in de drie Waereld-Deelen…,, 5 vol., Amsterdam & Utrecht, 1779-91. £8,000 - £12,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Voyages.- Darwin (Charles) and others. Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle, 3 vol. in 4, including Appendix to vol.2, first edition, 1839. £8,000 - £12,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Butterflies.- de Graaf (Willem Diederik Vincent). [Inlandsche Kapellen in beeld], 170 fine original watercolours, [Enkhuizen], [1800-40]. £8,000 - £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026
    25 March 2026
    Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Dresser (Henry Eeles). A History of the Birds of Europe, 9 vol., including supplement, first edition, by the author, 1871-96. £6,000 - £8,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Zoology.- Felines.- Elliot (Daniel Giraud). A Monograph of the Felidæ or Family of the Cats, first edition, for the Subscribers, by the Author, [1878]-1883. £25,000 - £30,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Frisch (Johann Leonard). Vorstellung der Vögel Deutschlandes, 2 vol., first edition, Berlin, Friedr. Wilhelm Birnsteil, [1736]-1763. £40,000 - £60,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Gould (John). The Birds of Great Britain, 5 vol., first edition, by the author, 1862-1873. £30,000 - £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026
    25 March 2026
    Forum, Mar. 25: Pomology.- France.- Poiteau (A.) Pomologie Française. Recueil des Plus Beaux Fruits cultivés en France, 4 vol., Paris, 1846. £30,000 - £40,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- [Robin (Jean)]. Histoire des Plantes, nouvellement trouvées en l'Isle Virgine…,, 1620; with Geoffrey Linocier L'Histoire des plantes, second edition, 1619-20. £3,000 - £4,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Asia.- Japan.- Siebold (P.F. von). Nippon. Archiv zur Beschreibung von Japan, 7 parts in 6 vol., first edition, Leyden, [1832]-1852. £35,000 - £45,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Asia.- Valentijn (Francois). Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën..., 5 vol. in 8, first edition, Dordrecht [&] Amsterdam, 1724-26. £8,000 - £12,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- Australia.- Redouté (P.J.).- Ventenat (Étienne Pierre). Jardin de la Malmaison, 2 vol.,, Paris, 1803-04[-05]. £30,000 - £40,000.

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