Rare Book Monthly Articles - April - 2024 Issue

The 64th New York International Antiquarian Book Fair: Be There!!

The 64th New York International Antiquarian Book Fair:  Be There!!   On April 4th, in New York City, the Park Avenue Armory begins to host the 64th New York International Antiquarian Book Fair that runs through the 7th. One hundred ninety-six exhibitors will be displaying prized materials to seduce the steady crowds that annually make these New York book fairs the premier antiquarian book fair in the world.  To the casual observer it may seem just a book fair but this is a reminder that New York City, once the home of more than 200 bookshops, lost them slowly over the 20th century while o...

The Discovery of America catalogue of works will be offered for sale at the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair 2024

The Discovery of America catalogue of works will be offered for sale at the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair 2024

R. David Parsons assembled one of the most important collections of early explorations to the Americas and to Asia.  David passed away in 2014, and his collection was recently acquired from the Par...

Bonhams offering an auction about Remarkable Women Closing April 2nd

Bonhams offering an auction about Remarkable Women Closing April 2nd

Bonhams is offering an auction about Remarkable Women.  It’s concentrations of material owned and/or used by women during their lives.  Book collections rarely say much about their collectors.  The...

Criminal Prosecution of Librarians and Withdrawal from the American Library Association is on the Legislative Agenda in Multiple States

Criminal Prosecution of Librarians and Withdrawal from the American Library Association is on the Legislative Agenda in Multiple States

American libraries continue to be a focus of the culture wars and debate over what should or should not be allowed on the shelves and who should select it has become increasingly loud and divisive....

Eric Caren:  A Consignor who is making his case:  Potter and Potter April 18

Eric Caren: A Consignor who is making his case: Potter and Potter April 18

Eric C. Caren is writing about his 9th Single Owner Auction of "How History Unfolds on Paper" at Potter Potter, April 18th.  Highlights include George Washington's Commission to be Commander in Ch...

Believe It Or Not – A Florida School District Removes 1,600 Books from Its Shelves

Believe It Or Not – A Florida School District Removes 1,600 Books from Its Shelves

Schools in Escambia County, Florida, have removed an astonishing 1,600 books from their schools in response to a law passed last year by the Florida legislature and signed by the Governor. It requi...

UPDATE: The British Library and Toronto Public Library are still recovering from ransomware cyber attacks which caused massive disruption of services and highlighted weaknesses in their IT systems

UPDATE: The British Library and Toronto Public Library are still recovering from ransomware cyber attacks which caused massive disruption of services and highlighted weaknesses in their IT systems

Two of the world’s largest libraries, The British Library and the Toronto Public Library, were both victims of massive cyber attacks which disabled their computer systems and held them for ransom i...

Document Taken from Peru a Century Ago Returned by the Rosenbach Library

Document Taken from Peru a Century Ago Returned by the Rosenbach Library

Some time a century or more ago, a document made its way from Peru to the United States. It had once been included in a volume with other documents currently held in the Peruvian archives. Exactly ...

Swann Galleries:  Fine Books Offered on April 11th

Swann Galleries: Fine Books Offered on April 11th

It’s April and the steady pitter patter of the collectible paper audience walking to and from the Armory, will soon recede.  Meanwhile Swann Galleries on 24th Street will soon hammer down 308 lots ...

Pushkin and the Kremlin Mercenaries

Pushkin and the Kremlin Mercenaries

Is the Kremlin sending mercenaries to various libraries over Europe to steal old Russian books?   The Kremlin organizing the theft of old Russian books all over Europe might sound like a hoax—bu...

Your e-Book Reader May Not Be Immune to Hacking

Your e-Book Reader May Not Be Immune to Hacking

Your e-book reader may be an access point for cybercriminals, hackers who want to enter your electronic devices to either steal valuable personal information or plant malicious software such as adw...

Capital Rare Book Fair to be Held in Washington May 3-5

Capital Rare Book Fair to be Held in Washington May 3-5

The Capital Rare Book Fair will take place on Saturday and Sunday May 4-5, plus there will be a special preview on the Friday evening before. Booksellers from Virginia to Maine, and as far west as ...

Four New Catalogues Reviewed

Four New Catalogues Reviewed

This month we are reviewing four new catalogues from booksellers. The 19th Century Rare Book Photograph Shop presents a catalogue of “Magnificent Books, Manuscripts Photographs.” It lives up to i...

Rare Book Monthly

  • Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: DALVIMART, Octavien ou d’ALVIMAR(T). The Costume of Turkey
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: DALVIMART, Octavien ou d’ALVIMAR(T)]. CLARK. The Military Costume of Turkey
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: HOMMAIRE DE HELL, Ignace-Xavier. LAURENS, Jules. Voyage en Turquie et en Perse
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: POSTEL, Guillaume. De la République des Turc
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: PREZIOSI, Amadeo. Stamboul. Souvenir d’Orient.
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: COSTUMES. EMPIRE OTTOMAN.
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: PRISSE D'AVENNES, Achille Constant T. Emile. L'Art Arabe
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: PRISSE D'AVENNES. Histoire de l'art Egyptie
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: BESANCENOT, Jean. Costumes et types du Maroc.
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: COSTUMES OTTOMANS. Suite de figures ottomanes à l’aquarelle
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: LES MILLE ET UNE NUIT, contes arabes
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: SCHLEGEL, Hermann et A. H. VERSTER van WULVERHORST. Traité de Fauconnerie - Planches
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: THEVENOT, Melchisédec. Relation de divers voyages curieux
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11:
  • Forum Auctions
    Online: India
    Ends 19th February 2026
    Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 40
    Ramasvami (Kavali Venkata). A Digest of the Different Castes of India, 83 charming hand-coloured lithographed plates, Madras, 1837. £5,000-7,000
    Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 50
    Watson (John Forbes) & John William Kaye. The People of India: A Series of Photographic Illustrations...of the Races and Tribes of Hindustan, 8 vol., 480 mounted albumen prints, 1868-75. £4,000-6,000
    Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 53
    Afghanistan.- Elphinstone (Hon. Mountstuart). An Account of the Kingdom of Caubul, first edition, hand-coloured aquatint plates, a fine copy, 1815. £2,000-3,000
    Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 57
    [Album and Treatise on Hinduism], manuscript treatise on Hinduism in French, 31 watercolours of Hindu deities, Pondicherry, 1865. £3,000-4,000
    Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 62 Allan (Capt. Alexander). Views in the Mysore Country, [1794]. £2,000-3,000
    Forum Auctions
    Online: India
    Ends 19th February 2026
    Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 76
    Bird (James). Historical Researches on the Origin and Principles of the Bauddha and Jaina Religions..., first edition, lithographed plates, Bombay, American Mission Press, 1847. £3,000-4,000
    Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 100
    Ceylon.- Daniell (Samuel). A Picturesque Illustration of the scenery, animals, and native inhabitants, of the Island of Ceylon: in twelve plates, 1808. £5,000-7,000
    Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 123
    D'Oyly (Charles). Behar Amateur Lithographic Scrap Book, lithographed throughout with title and 55 plates mounted on 43 paper leaves, [Patna], [1828]. £3,000-5,000
    Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 139
    Gandhi (known as Mahatma Gandhi,) Fine Autograph Letter signed to Jawaharlal Nehru, Sevagram, Wardha, 1942, emphasising the importance of education in rural communities. £10,000-15,000
    Forum Auctions
    Online: India
    Ends 19th February 2026
    Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 140
    Gantz (John). Indian Microcosm, first edition, Madras, John Gantz & Son, 1827. £10,000-15,000
    Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 146
    Grierson (Sir George Abraham). Linguistic Survey of India, 11 vol. in 20, folding maps, original cloth, Calcutta, Superintendent Government Printing, 1903-28. £2,000-3,000
    Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 195
    Madras.- Fort St. George Gazette (The), No.276-331, pp.493-936 and Index to all of 1834 at end, modern half calf, Madras, 2nd July - 31st December 1834. £2,000-3,000
    Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 205
    Marshall (Sir John) and Alfred Foucher. The Monuments of Sanchi, 3 vol., first edition, 141 plates, most photogravure, [Calcutta], [1940]. £3,000-4,000
  • Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: HAMILTON, Sir William (1730-1803) - Campi Phlegraei. Napoli: [Pietro Fabris], 1776, 1779. € 30.000 - 50.000
    Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: [MORTIER] - BLAEU, Joannes (1596-1673) - Het Nieuw Stede Boek van Italie. Amsterdam: Pieter Mortier, 1704-1705. € 15.000 - 25.000
    Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: TULLIO D'ALBISOLA (1899-1971) - Bruno MUNARI (1907-1998) - L'Anguria lirica (lungo poema passionale). Roma e Savona: Edizioni Futuriste di Poesia, senza data [ma 1933?]. € 20.000 - 30.000
    Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: IL MANOSCRITTO RITROVATO DI IPPOLITA MARIA SFORZA. TITO LIVIO - Ab Urbe Condita. Prima Decade. Manoscritto miniato su pergamena, metà XV secolo. € 280.000 - 350.000
  • Sotheby's Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s: Balthus, Emily Brontë. Wuthering Heights, New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1993. 6,600 USD.
    Sotheby’s: Charles Dickens. Complete Works, Philadelphia & London: J.B. Lippincott Company & Chapman & Hall, LD, 1850. Limited Edition set of 30 volumes. 7,500 USD.
    Sotheby’s: John Lennon, Yoko Ono. Handwritten Letter from John Lennon and Yoko Ono to their Chauffer. 1971. 32,500 USD.
    Sotheby’s: Winston Churchill. First edition of War Speeches, Cassell and Company, Ltd., 1941. Set of 7 volumes. 5,500 USD.
    Sotheby’s: Andy Warhol, Julia Warhola. Holy Cats First Edition, Signed by Andy Warhol. 1954. 30,000 USD.
  • Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 11. Blaeu's Superb World Map on a Polar Projection (1695) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 36. Schedel's Ancient World Map with Humanoid Creatures (1493) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 49. One of the First Lunar Globes to Show the Far Side of the Moon (1963) Est. $1,000 - $1,300
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 5. The First World Map with Lavish Allegorical Vignettes of the Continents (1594) Est. $15,000 - $17,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 55. Anti-British Propaganda Map with Churchill as an Octopus (1942) Est. $2,000 - $2,300
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 197. One of the Most Influential Maps of Westward Expansion (1846) Est. $9,500 - $12,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 10. Scarce Pitt Edition of Carte-a-Figures Map of the World (1680) Est. $9,500 - $11,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 220. A Fine, Early Rendering of San Francisco (1874) Est. $2,200 - $2,500
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 707. Hand-Colored Image of the Presentation of Jesus with Gilt Highlights (1450) Est. $1,600 - $1,900
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 80. One of the Most Important Maps Perpetuating the Myth of the Island of California (1680) Est. $3,250 - $4,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 725. Homann's Atlas Featuring 26 Folio-Sized Maps in Original Color (1715) Est. $4,500 - $5,500
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 169. One of the Earliest Maps to Show Philadelphia (1695) Est. $4,750 - $6,000

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