Rare Book Monthly Articles - September - 2025 Issue

Ken Huddleston: A man for (from) his Times

Ken Huddleston: A man for (from) his Times

The world has been transforming. For 20 somethings these days that’s the world you were born into. For those born before 1975 what we experience is surprisingly unfamiliar. Many, okay let’s be frank, most old and rare books and paper sellers have been having a difficult time adjusting.  Why? Because 30 years ago, the world was continuing to love what you were selling, and you were happy as a clam to be surrounded with material that makes you feel good. Institutions were pleased to receive your mailed catalogues. Collectors were always scarce, but you had some and you treated them well. Thei...

Numerous Foreign Country Post Offices Stop Shipping Small Parcels Worth Less than $800 (Books Included) to America

Numerous Foreign Country Post Offices Stop Shipping Small Parcels Worth Less than $800 (Books Included) to America

LATE UPUDATE – See bottom of the article   Last month we wrote about tariffs and their effect on shipping books to the U.S. from foreign countries. What we found was a jumble of uncertainty. Prev...

An Amazing Catalogue from Herman H. J. Lynge & Son Reintroduces Us to One of the Greatest Minds Ever, Søren Kierkegaard

An Amazing Catalogue from Herman H. J. Lynge & Son Reintroduces Us to One of the Greatest Minds Ever, Søren Kierkegaard

One of the greatest philosophers and thinkers of the ages was Søren Kierkegaard. If you are not aware of that or of him, you'll have to take my word for it. Most people probably recognize Aristotle...

Pokémon Trading Cards - Not your Father's Collectible. Values Continue to Surge, Outperforming S&P 500

Pokémon Trading Cards - Not your Father's Collectible. Values Continue to Surge, Outperforming S&P 500

The already hot market for Pokémon Trading Cards gained additional traction at the Aug. 8 Pokémon Masters auction sale hosted by Heritage. That sale featuring 106 lots brought in a total of $1,360,...

The Field is Becoming Complicated

The Field is Becoming Complicated

The Field is becoming Complicated   As Rare Book Hub categorizes material, the field will contribute their ideas often based on their decades long experience. The ideal outcome for Categories is ...

Categories Are Improving

Categories Are Improving

Categories are Improving   Years ago we were asked to differentiate sales of baseball memorabilia from books and manuscripts because, occasionally, baseball cards dominated our weekly Top 25 list...

Shirley Jackson: A Discovery

Shirley Jackson: A Discovery

We live in the past and often are comfortable there. It isn’t that life was never easy. It was, sometimes. The fifties have become the Fifties. Certainly, the voices of women, minorities and the po...

A Museum Is Trying to Find the Death Mask of Little (Very Little) Paulina Musters. Can You Help?

A Museum Is Trying to Find the Death Mask of Little (Very Little) Paulina Musters. Can You Help?

Do you know what happened to little Paulina Musters' death mask? The people of her hometown would like to bring the last relic of her short life home. That town is Ossendrecht in the Netherlands, a...

Stockhols Auktionsverk Completes Acquisition of Uppsala Auktionskammare

Stockhols Auktionsverk Completes Acquisition of Uppsala Auktionskammare

Stockholms Auktionsverk recently confirmed  (18 August, 2025) the completion of its acquisition of Uppsala Auktionskammare – a historic merger between two of Sweden’s most prestigious players in th...

$216,000 Worth of Ancient Chinese Manuscripts Stolen from the UCLA Library Through an Elaborate Scam

$216,000 Worth of Ancient Chinese Manuscripts Stolen from the UCLA Library Through an Elaborate Scam

A San Francisco Bay area man has been charged with theft of rare and valuable Chinese manuscripts from the UCLA (University of California Los Angeles) library. Jeffrey Ying of Fremont, a man of man...

Iowa State Historical Archives in Iowa City Endangered

Iowa State Historical Archives in Iowa City Endangered

Proposed downsizing and consolidation result in vocal organized protest.   The State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI) has an outstanding record of collecting and preserving the state’s heritage ...

Adventures of Chevalier de ***, A Rare West Indian Romance

Adventures of Chevalier de ***, A Rare West Indian Romance

Voyages Avantures du Chevalier de ***... (Londres, Paris—1769)§ is a hard book to find. According to the Rare Book Transaction History, two copies only were offered for sale over the past 150 year...

Basketball Trading Card Sells for Over $12 Million

Basketball Trading Card Sells for Over $12 Million

“Do you hear that rumbling? It's the sound of the standing world record price for a basketball card getting ready to fall. For five years, the 2009-10 National Treasures Steph Curry Logoman Autogra...

Two New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

Two New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

This month we review two new bookseller catalogues. Jonathan A. Hill Bookseller has issued their Catalogue 250. It includes many Japanese and Asian works as usual, but also expands into various oth...

Rare Book Monthly

  • 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
  • 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:
  • 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.

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