Rare Book Hub is now providing a mobile optimized version that makes it easier to use us from your phone. In some respects it’s easier to understand our complex services on the main site. Here’s what it looks like. Here is how it works. Wherever you are in the world, use your phone’s browser and simply type in: Rare Book Hub or rarebookhub. Whether you are a day tripper, or logging in as a paid member, you have plenty to see and do. Our software will detect your operating system, your version, and screen size. You’ll then see our home page. Near to the top you’ll see Menu. Click on it. This...
This may not be the most peaceful and united of times in America, no twenty-first century version of the Era of Good Feelings. Still, a recent occurrence is symbolically more chilling than most. Bo...
Recently there have been a bevy of handwringing articles relating to softness in the 20th century arts auctions. Sculptures and paintings have appeared to exhausted their welcome near term. Later P...
It is the age old question of the book collecting field – where is the new collector? It is at times a rhetorical question, more a statement of fear for the field, that books will be overwhelmed by...
On May 21st, Freeman | Hindman’s converted Lincoln aspirations into a memorable auction that will rank among the top ten in the collectible paper category worldwide by dollar value for 2025. The s...
On May 8th the Trump administration fired Dr. Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress, with a terse two line email. It first appeared that this action was just one of a barrage of attacks aimed at ...
Come June, it will once again be time for the annual Rose City Book Paper Fair held in the “Rose City,” Portland, Oregon. The annual book fair will once again be held at the DoubleTree at Lloyd Ce...
Basil Hall’s narrative of travels in North America (Edinburgh, 1829) is everything you’d expect from an officer of the British navy (from Scotland, though): a boring display of self-laudatory refle...
Recently I bought an appealing item on eBay that included something unexpected.
What I bought was an executed mortgage gold bond offered to those who were hoping that New Paltz, New York’s elec...
Far from the big name houses of NYC, Ohio, Indiana and Michigan host a lively auction trade. While these Midwestern firms seldom grab the headlines, they do offer reputable representation and a div...
In April, we wrote about the Haskell Library, a unique symbol of Canadian-American friendship for over a century. It was built right on top of the border, the main entrance being in America but the...
James Strand was something of a recluse. An elderly man without children, he lived alone in a small house in the Lents neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. He had a niece and they spoke on occasion, b...
As long as there have been societies, there has been some sort of law governing behavior within that society, written or not. Communities, then nations, and also religions, have had their own laws....
This month we review four new bookseller catalogues. Philip Salmon Company has issued their first catalogue, The Interaction of Paper. It offers books where the paper has uncommon features, such a...
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
Bonhams, June 14-23: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presentation Gold Pocket Watch. Estimate: $20,000 - 30,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: Presentation Copy of the First Issue of the Lincoln Douglas Debates Signed by Abraham Lincoln in Pencil to a Sangamon County Illinois Republican. Estimate: $150,000 - 250,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: A Senate Resolution Signed in the Tense Days After the Union's Humiliating Defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run. Estimate: $80,000 - $120,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: Seven Passages to a Flight, an Artists Book with a Story Quilt by Faith Ringgold, the Publisher's Own Copy. Estimate: $80,000 - 120,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: A New Charter for Virginia, A Response to the First Armed Rebellion in the American Colonies. Estimate: $15,000 - 25,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: Earliest obtainable printing of the Bill of Rights. Estimate: $8,000 - 12,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: Edward Curtis Orotone. Estimate: $7,000 - 9,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: Owned by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: A Butter or Dessert Plate from FDR's State Dinner Service. Estimate: $3,000 - 5,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: An Early Large-Format Plan of the City of Washington. Estimate: $1,500 - 2,500
Bonhams, June 14-23: Containing the First Map to Name the Hudson River. Estimate: $20,000 - 30,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: America's First Major Novelist, a Complete Chapter in Autograph Manuscript by James Fenimore Cooper. Estimate: $15,000 - 20,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: The Only Full-Length Book by Jefferson, with the Justly Famous Map. Estimate: $12,000 - 18,000
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.
