If you were pleased with the results of sales in the books and paper field at auction in 2021, you should be happy with those for 2022 as well. It was almost a carbon copy. When we reported these results last year, there had been a large increase in the median price and the number of lots offered. Prices had gained by 8.8%, lots offered by 22%. This time, the price increase was under 1% while the number lots offered declined slightly, by 1.6%. Since the previous year had smashed all records for prices and lots offered, 2022 was another very good year from a historical perspective.
The s...
Over the past two years we have had the great fortune to have Clarence Wolf’s reminiscences as a bookseller. He has a keen eye and wry style. This past year he self-published his widely appreciate...
It is always sad to say good-bye to someone like Joyce Meskis of Tattered Cover Book Store, Denver. For over four decades, she developed a small independent book store into a vibrant cultural hub f...
Like many people in the book business I’ve had good and bad experiences with consignment. Over the years I pretty much avoided this method, but as I got older and my own stock dwindled, I noticed t...
A few days ago I heard over the transom that Forum Auctions was the bearer of good news both to their consignors and one of their bidders.
On Thursday 26 January they sold a copy in their Fi...
Are you ready for another theory concerning the mysterious Voynich Manuscript? This is the early 15th century manuscript written in a language no one has been able to decipher, not even the greates...
Mr. Stuart, author of Contemporary Issues in Rare Book Manuscript Collecting: A Handbook for Collectors and the Trade has been widely endorsed.
Book collectors are known to read books and a f...
I went to Rome, Italy, and I took a picture of a 1671 edition of Martial’s epigrams inside the dreadful Colosseum. This place was once the showcase of the most powerful city on Earth; as you enter ...
Library worker has not ordinarily been thought of as a dangerous occupation, but these aren't ordinary times. The days when libraries were quiet places for readers are long gone. Library workers no...
A recent story on the Google Research blog quickly caught my eye: Using new technology and old books to combat disease. We tend to think of old books as a source of information about the past, whic...
While the collectible paper field has been preparing for the upcoming widely heralded California Antiquarian Book Fair in Pasadena February 10-12, there is another important book fair a week earlie...
Happy new year from Brooklyn!
We are delighted to announce that Christine von der Linn will be joining Honey Wax this February. Many of you already know Christine from her work at Swann Galleries...
It is always good news when books, stolen long ago, are finally returned to their rightful owners. A few weeks back, four such books were returned 80 years after they were looted. However, it highl...
There is an ongoing exhibition at the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives entitled Nature of the Book. It looks at the ingredients in and processes of creating books, specifically, the older books t...
The California International Antiquarian Book Fair returns to Pasadena February 10-12 and many are grateful that the collectible paper field is returning to form. Collectors and institutions and, ...
This month we review three new bookseller catalogues. Zinos Books offers their collection for winter 2023. Old West Books presents stories from the Old West. Shapero Rare Books publishes its fifth ...
SD Auctions, Apr. 16: Fredrik Kolstø. Aftenstemning ved Kysten. c.1890-t.
SD Auctions, Apr. 16: Knut Yran. OL-plakaten Oslo 1952.
Swann Fine Books Featuring Focus on Women April 23, 2026
Swann, Apr. 23: Thomas Heywood. An Apology for Actors. London: Printed by Nicholas Okes, 1612. $3,000 to $5,000.
Swann, Apr. 23: Illuminated Islamic Devotional Manuscript. 19th century. Approx. 90 leaves with gilt-decorated title and 2 full page miniatures of Mecca and Medina. $800 to $1,200.
Swann, Apr. 23: Antiphonal in Latin. Manuscript on Parchment. Cologne, early 16th century. $7,000 to $9,000.
Swann Fine Books Featuring Focus on Women April 23, 2026
Swann, Apr. 23: Mohammed ibn Jafir Albategnius. De Scientia Stellarum Liber. Bologna: Victor Benati, 1645. $8,000 to $12,000.
Swann, Apr. 23: Frank Herbert. Dune. Fine First Edition. Philadelphia: Chilton Books, 1965. $5,000 to $7,000.
Swann, Apr. 23: William Shakespeare. Five Plays from the Second Folio. London: Thomas Cotes for Robert Allot, 1632. $6,000 to $8,000.
Swann Fine Books Featuring Focus on Women April 23, 2026
Swann, Apr. 23: John Steinbeck. Of Mice and Men. New York: Covici-Friede, 1937. First edition, first issue. $800 to $1,200.
Swann, Apr. 23: Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities. With an A.L.S. London: Chapman and Hall, 1859. First edition, first issue. $1,200 to $1,800.
Swann, Apr. 23: Ursula K. LeGuin. The Left Hand of Darkness. Inscribed First Edition. New York: Walker and Company, 1969. $800 to $1,200.
Swann Fine Books Featuring Focus on Women April 23, 2026
Swann, Apr. 23: L. Frank Baum & Ruth Plumly Thompson. Five First Canadian editions including Ozma of Oz; The Emerald City of Oz; Glinda of Oz; [and others]. $1,000 to $1,500.
Swann, Apr. 23: Corita Kent. Different Drummer. 1967. Color screenprint; signed "Corita" in pencil on the lower edge. $1,000 to $1,500.
Swann, Apr. 23: Bible in English. Tyndale-Taverner Translation. The Bugge Bible. The Holye Bible. London: Imprinted by John Daye and Willyam Seres, 1549. $1,500 to $2,000.
Sotheby’s Books, Manuscripts & Objects from Three Important Collections Open for Bidding 2-17 April
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: [Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun]. Le Roman de la Rose, [Geneva or Lyons, c.1481], first printed edition of the most important medieval French vernacular poem. £200,000 to £300,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Castiglione. Il libro del cortegiano. [Venice], April 1528, first edition, in a magnificent binding by Jean Picard for Jean Grolier. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Jacobus de Cessolis. Schachzabelbuch, Strasbourg, 1483, von der Lasa copy. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: World Championship, 1972. A collection of 84 press photographs of the famed match between Spassky and Fischer. £2,000 to £3,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Ben Franklin. Autograph letter signed, to Lord Shelburne, British Prime Minister, during peace negotiations, November 1782. £15,000 to £20,000.
