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

  • Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Galileo Galilei. Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo tolemaico, e copernicano. Firenze, 1632
    Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Saverio Manetti. Storia naturale degli uccelli. Firenze, 1771-76
    Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Fortunato Depero. Depero futurista. Rovereto, 1927
    Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Nicolas Visscher. Atlas minor sive totius orbis terrarum contracta delineat ex conatibus. Amsterdam, circa 1649-95
    Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Andreas Vesalius. Anatomia. Addita nunc. Antiquorum Anatome. Venezia, 1604
    Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Tristan Tzara and Salvador Dalì. Grains et Issues. Parigi, 1935
  • June 25, 2026
    Doyle, June 25: Houdini's biography, boldly signed. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Doyle, June 25: A volume from Abraham Lincoln's library, signed just before heading to Washington for his inauguration. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Doyle, June 25: A very early Confederate recruiting manual belonging to the chief commissary in Lee's Army. $600 to $800.
    Doyle, June 25: Rare hand-colored lithographs of the life of Napoleon. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Doyle, June 25: The "Holster Atlas" of the American Revolution. $5,000 to $8,000.
    Doyle, June 25: Jewish ceremonies in fine hand-colored engravings. $7,000 to $10,000.
    Doyle, June 25: A very rare work on Turkish military costume. $1,000 to $1,500.
    June 25, 2026
    Doyle, June 25: The most important illustrated work on the Mexican-American War. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Doyle, June 25: The finest illustrated book on Afghanistan. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Doyle, June 25: Henry Justice Ford St. George rescues the Princess from the horrible Dragon. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Doyle, June 25: A rare work of Prussian Army uniforms under Frederick William II, with exquisite hand-colored engravings. $800 to $1,200.
    Doyle, June 25: Lenny Bruce typed letter signed to a Village bohemian during his obscenity trials, with a manuscript note and drawing. $300 to $500.
    Doyle, June 25: Schiff's scarce Shanghai Sketchbook. $300 to $500.
    Doyle, June 25: The first accurate published representation of the American flag. $2,000 to $4,000.
  • Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 123. Celebrate 250 Years of Independence with Original Stars and Stripes (1790) Est. $1,400 - $1,700
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 20. Keulen's Spectacular Chart of the World Featuring California as an Island (1728) Est. $12,000 - $15,000
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 42. Schedel's Ancient World Map with Fantastic Humanoid Creatures (1493) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 591. Matching Set of 3 Stunning Globe Gores of Eastern Asia from Coronelli's 3.5 Foot Globe (1688) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 9. Speed's Popular World Map with Allegorical Representations of the Elements (1651) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 168. First Separate Map of Kansas & Nebraska Territories (1854) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 43. Only Macrobius Map with Britain Attached to Europe (1515) Est. $800 - $950
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 250. Rare Map of Boston and One of the Earliest Maps of the Revolutionary War (1775) Est. $2,000 - $2,300
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 79. Schenk's Uncommon Map Featuring Two Figurative Title Cartouches (1696) Est. $1,200 - $1,500
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 681. Hand-Colored Image of the Annunciation to the Shepherds (1502) Est. $800 - $950
  • Sotheby's Book Week
    2 June - 9 July
    Sotheby’s, June 25: Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations, on its 250th anniversary. $180,000 to $250,000.
    Sotheby’s, June 17: Fontana, Lucio. Concetto Spaziale. 1967. Leporello en papier doré. Bel exemplaire signé. €4,000 to $€,000.
    Sotheby’s, June 25: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past”. $150,000 to $200,000.
    Sotheby’s, June 25: Washington, George (as First President). Washington decries “an ostentatious imitation, or mimickry of Royalty” in his Presidency. $250,000 to $500,000.
    Sotheby’s, June 17: Lope de Vega. Rare manuscrit autographe signé de la préface dédicatoire de "El Cardenal de Belen" (le cardinal de Bethléem), pièce composée en 1610. €40,000 to €60,000.

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