Are books purchased in America, shipped from a foreign country, subject to tariffs? Not long ago, the easy answer was “no.” Now it's “I don't know.” The tariff situation is so confusing and changing day to day that it is hard to know. The President undoubtedly always tells the truth, but he does change his mind a lot. Add to that the incomprehensible legalese that envelopes everything that comes out of Washington and we have a problem. What nations and which goods are subject to tariffs?
There is something called the Harmonized Tariff Schedule which lists various goods. Then there is so...
Our Weekly Auction Updates are becoming more robust. As the auction market has broadened, it has become practical to provide more versions of Top 25s on a weekly basis. This week we have added Map...
Auctions are a window on human experience. Strong feelings fade with time. When we accept what happened, we tend to wax philosophical, it wasn’t us, the world was different. Auction lots have long...
At Rare Book Hub this is a refrain we hear frequently as collectors in their 70s and 80s, struggle to make decisions about what to do with their books. These are decisions they have put off for far...
Do you believe in the tooth fairy? A recent press release for a new book really got my attention. The press release announced, “new childrens' book series makes dental care fun, easy and magical fo...
Two book collecting friends from Detroit and Santa Fe were recently in town (San Francisco) and spent an easy hour talking about how books are treating us. Ryan M. Place (Detroit) spoke about his c...
There are some interesting possibilities to visit book fairs during August and September. For those on Cape Cod, August quickly starts with the Martha’s Vineyard Book Festival on August 1-3rd, on S...
Le Père Duchesne, or Father Duchesne, is a straightforward and cocky character invented by the French satirists of the 18th century. In 1790, René-Jacques Hébert entitled his revolutionary journal ...
The Thousand-year-old Pannonhalma Archabbey Library in Hungary has been struck by a pest older than the library itself. They are dealing with an infestation of bookworms. Actually there is no such ...
Nineteenth century photography prices got a healthy boost and a major increase in interest with the recent auction of the Maillet Daguerreotype Collection at Christie’s on June 26. The sale feature...
Once upon a time collectible paper auctions were unusual and well-spaced out. In the past, when there was a quiet month, auction houses took opportunities to have siestas. Anymore, quiet months are...
Fablelistik Editions, the fine press of Macmillan Publishers, launched last October, has announced the publication of their fifth book. The first was a classic, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, reminis...
Frieze Masters is one of the great shows and gatherings. However, it is devoted to art, not books. But... Dr. Jorn Gunther Rare Books is attending Frieze Masters 2025 in October. Maybe most books a...
Joel Munsell, the mid-19th century Albany, New York printer has recently reappeared thanks to the keen eyes of De Wolfe and Wood, of Alfred, Maine. In their recent offers were imprints associated ...
These are dangerous times in which we live. War is again in the air. America mostly feels distance, our only recent experience being a one-sided thrashing of Iran from the air. We are far enough aw...
It's summertime and the living is easy... for catalogue writers. Only one new dealer catalogue arrived in our mailbox this month. Hordern House presents the Whitmont Collection of Australiana and r...
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.
