Welcome to our new world
Collectible paper, né rare books and manuscripts, has been transforming the markets that have traditionally sold them. Show dealers now can fit a thousand interesting examples in two briefcases to sell at face-to-face events that they-themselves are becoming fewer and more concentrated. An auction house, in one case, made their bones selling farm equipment, now sell manuscripts and paper* interspersed with dog-eared transmission manuals. There’s the sense that, if the market is willing, they’ll sell ‘em. The trick was once to find the customer. Now the hustl...
In the 19th century, the average lifespan was only in the 30s, or if you survived infancy, you could hope for 40-something. There were many reasons for this short lifespan, but was reading books on...
Peter Harrington will be showing a selection of incredible items at the Empire State Rare Book Print Fair taking place September 27-29, 2024 at the historic City College of New York.
Their col...
Our Weekly Auction Updates (WAU) have become a significant publication for us over the past 10 years. Our RBM and WAU audiences are similar but their perspectives are different. Rare Book Monthly...
Seven years after joining Sotheby’s New York Books and Manuscripts Department as an associate cataloguer, Dr. Kalika Sands has been appointed the Head of the department. Richard Austin, the Global ...
Dominic Winter’s 11 September auction has an unusually high number of antiquarian books and manuscripts, many lots pre-1700. There are leaves from Caxton incunables, a fine Book of Hours, embroider...
Auction: September 24 and 25, 2024
Exhibition: September 19, 20, 21, 2024 (10 AM - 1 PM, 2 PM - 6 PM)
Location: Palazzo Crivelli - Via Pontaccio 12, 2021 Milan
The second half of the au...
Scholium Group, owner of Shapero Rare Books, recently announced their 2024 full-year results. If you're wondering how they know their 2024 results already, Scholium doesn't use a calendar year. The...
Elton John made his living in the music business, and it was a very good living at that. He used some of his enormous wealth to collect, his focus being art. Anyone who has ever seen John perform w...
RBH readers may have seen recent August photos and video of a dumpster load of library books being “culled” from the shelves of Florida’s New College in Sarasota. The pictures themselves were dishe...
Utah joined the growing list of states attempting to censor the holdings of public school libraries when a controversial new law passed earlier this year went into effect.
According to an Aug. 2 a...
Let’s face it: in the field of old books, money alone will grant you access to books of exception. But it’s not a problem. The old book world is so vast and so varied that some treasures are almost...
BOSTON, MA – The Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair (BIABF) celebrates its 46th year at the Hynes Convention Center in Downtown Boston, November 8-10, 2024. This three-day event welcomes th...
Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts and Nashua, New Hampshire. MW Book Fairs, a collaboration between Wiggins Fine Books ABAA, SNEAB and Richard Mori Books, is pleased to announce that 40 outstanding an...
Once again it's time for Boxboro Paper Town. They feature all types of paper ephemera (and a few plastic and metallic items). It's no great secret that ephemera, once the stepchild of the printing ...
The 2024 Northampton Antiquarian Book, Ephemera, and Book Arts Fair, the eighth edition, will be Friday, November 22nd from 5 – 8pm and Saturday, November 23rd from 10am to 4pm in the Northampton C...
The Edward Gorey Charitable Trust is grateful to everyone who joined us at the July 31st Summer Cocktail Party Fundraiser at The Strand’s Rare Book Room and everyone who bid – in-person or online –...
This month we review five new bookseller catalogues. Four dealers have teamed up to sell the exceptional collection of the late R. David Parsons of Atlanta. Peter Harrington, the William Reese Comp...
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!
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.