Rare Book Monthly Articles - November - 2023 Issue

Need to Sell Your Valuable Books but have No Idea How? We Can Help!

Need to Sell Your Valuable Books but have No Idea How? We Can Help!

Over the past 20 years, the Rare Book Hub has grown to be far and away the world's largest source of sales data about rare and collectible books. As a result, we have come to work with many of the leading auction houses and booksellers. When it comes to collectors, the one question I have been asked most often is “how do I sell my books?” For most collectors, whether it's age, space limitations, finances, changed focus or fading interest, it eventually becomes time to sell. For others, it is books they inherited but know nothing about. They would like to dispose of them for a fair price but...

Library Sale Turns into Library Theft

Library Sale Turns into Library Theft

The Batley Library in Wales, U.K., saw dozens, maybe hundreds of books taken from its shelves in one of the more bizarre misunderstandings seen lately. The Friends of the Batley Library were holdin...

Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair Turns 45!

Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair Turns 45!

The Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair celebrated its 45th anniversary, Oct 27-29, at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston’s historic Back Bay. The event brought together over 100 exhibito...

The Columbus Letter, History and Forgery

The Columbus Letter, History and Forgery

Fake old books are rare, as it’s very expensive, and thus hardly profitable to forge one. Yet there are a few documents that are worth the effort—the letter Columbus sent to the Court of Spain when...

Bankruptcy Filing at Denver’s Tattered Cover Raises Concern in the World of Books

Bankruptcy Filing at Denver’s Tattered Cover Raises Concern in the World of Books

The news that Tattered Cover, Denver’s iconic long running independent bookseller, had declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 16th sent ripples of concern through the world of books.   Accordi...

AbeBooks Most Expensive Books Sold in July-September 2023

AbeBooks Most Expensive Books Sold in July-September 2023

AbeBooks has announced their latest list of the top prices paid for books sold on the top old and used books website in the world. This one covers the third quarter, July-September, of 2023. It is ...

Doyle is offering the interesting and obscure on November 7th:  Be mindful!

Doyle is offering the interesting and obscure on November 7th: Be mindful!

Salem Witch Trials + very early New England   ·       Auction of Rare Books, Autographs Maps on Tuesday, November 7, 2023 at 10am ·       Including the Esmond Bradley Martin Collection of Afric...

Hindman Auctions Offers Two Book and Paper Sales on 9-10 November

Hindman Auctions Offers Two Book and Paper Sales on 9-10 November

Hindman Auctions of Chicago has two auctions soon coming into the rooms:  165 lots from The Dorros Family Collection on the 9th, and 411 more of Fine Books Manuscripts, Including Americana on the ...

A NEW “SHADOW”  HAS RISEN

A NEW “SHADOW” HAS RISEN

Contributed by Mr. Stevens and Richard Mori who were this show’s promoters.   From all accounts the Boston shadow fair was one of the most successful in years, in terms of the quality of dealers ...

Book Legal Case #1 – Massive Copyright Violation

Book Legal Case #1 – Massive Copyright Violation

A group of publishers have sued what is known as a “shadow library,” what the publishers describe as “just a ruse for a massive piracy effort.” The defendant is Library Genesis, better known for sh...

Book Legal Case #2 – The Internet Archive to Appeal Copyright Infringement Judgment Against It Over Their Open Library

Book Legal Case #2 – The Internet Archive to Appeal Copyright Infringement Judgment Against It Over Their Open Library

The Internet Archive (IA), creator of the famed Wayback Machine and numerous other free services, has announced that it will appeal a legal decision against it in a suit by publishers over copyrigh...

SPENCER W. STUART, Bibliophilic Advisor, chats with The Institute Library Community via ZOOM EVENT

SPENCER W. STUART, Bibliophilic Advisor, chats with The Institute Library Community via ZOOM EVENT

Spencer Stuart, author of Contemporary Issues in Rare Book and Manuscript Collecting: A Handbook for Collectors and the Trade, speaks to questions of interest to today’s bibliophiles. Book collecti...

The Veatchs inventory begins to appear at NE Auctions mid-November

The Veatchs inventory begins to appear at NE Auctions mid-November

Eight hundred+ items from the Veatchs’s stock, to be included in many New England Auctions sales continuing into 2024.  In mid-November this will be the first sale that will include their material ...

Emily Kerrigan joins Leland Little

Emily Kerrigan joins Leland Little

Auction houses are finding more consignors and interesting material to sell.   Leland Little Auctions is expanding their services to the rare book community by hiring book specialist Emily Kerrig...

Paris Map Fair Returns November 4

Paris Map Fair Returns November 4

The 22nd annual edition of the Ancient Geographical Map Exhibition, also known as the “Paris Map Fair,” will take place on Saturday. November 4. Hours are 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Naturally, it is he...

US New Book Sales Drop Across the Board in First 9 Months of 2023, But eBooks, and Audiobooks Show Gains

US New Book Sales Drop Across the Board in First 9 Months of 2023, But eBooks, and Audiobooks Show Gains

Unit sales of print books fell 4.1% in the first nine months of 2023, compared to the same period in 2022, at outlets that report to Circana BookScan according to a recent article in Publishers Wee...

Nine Catalogues Reviewed This Month

Nine Catalogues Reviewed This Month

This month we review nine new bookseller catalogues. Jonathan A. Hill Bookseller features Chinese, Japanese Korean books, manuscripts scrolls. Type Punch Matrix has a collection of fine and varie...

Rare Book Monthly

  • Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Book Week
    December 9-17, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Francesco Colonna. Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Nausea. De principiis dialectices Gorgias, and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Billon. Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur, Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Book Week
    December 9-17, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.
  • Heritage Auctions
    Rare Books Signature Auction
    December 15, 2025
    Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tender is the Night. A Romance.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: Bram Stoker. Dracula. Westminster: Archibald Constable & Co., 1897.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!

Article Search

Archived Articles