• Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Roberts (David) & Croly (George). The Holy Land, Syria, Idumae, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia. Lond. 1842 - 1843 [-49]. First Edn. €10,000 to €15,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Incunabula: O'Fihily (Maurice). Duns Scotus Joannes: O'Fihely, Maurice Abp… Venice, 20th November 1497. €8,000 to €12,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: An important file of documents with provenance to G.A. Newsom, manager of the Jacob’s Factory in Dublin, occupied by insurgents during Easter Week 1916. €6,000 to €9,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: WILDE (Oscar), 1854-1900, playwright, aesthete and wit. A lock of Wilde’s Hair, presented by his son to the distinguished Irish actor Mícheál MacLiammóir. €6,000 to €8,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Heaney (Seamus). Bog Poems, London, 1975. Special Limited Edition, No. 33 of 150 Copies, Signed by Author. Illus. by Barrie Cooke. €4,000 to €6,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Binding: Burke, Thomas O.P. (de Burgo). Hibernia Dominicana, Sive Historia Provinciae Hiberniae Ordinis Praedicatorum, ... 1762. First Edition. €4,000 to €6,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: COLLINS, Michael. An important TL, 29 July 1922, addressed to GOVERNMENT on ‘suggested Proclamation warning all concerned that troops have orders to shoot prisoners found sniping, ambushing etc.’. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Scott Fitzgerald (F.) The Great Gatsby, New York (Charles Scribner's Sons) 1925, First Edn. €2,000 to €3,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Yeats (W.B.) The Poems of W.B. Yeats, 2 vols. Lond. (MacMillan & Co.) 1949. Limited Edition, No. 46 of 375 Copies Only, Signed by W.B. Yeats. €1,500 to €2,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Miller (William) Publisher. The Costume of the Russian Empire, Description in English and French, Lg. folio London (S. Gosnell) 1803. First Edn. €1,000 to €1,500.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Miller (William) Publisher. The Costume of Turkey, Illustrated by a Series of Engravings. Lg. folio Lond.(T. Bensley) 1802. First Edn. €800 to €1,200.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Mason (Geo. Henry). The Costume of China, Illustrated with Sixty Engravings. Lg. folio London (for W. Miller) 1800. First Edn. €1,400 to €1,800
  • ABAA VBF: Holiday Edition
    November 30-December 2
    abaa.org/vbf
    ABAA VBF: Holiday Edition
    November 30-December 2
    abaa.org/vbf
    ABAA VBF: Holiday Edition
    November 30-December 2
    abaa.org/vbf
    ABAA VBF: Holiday Edition
    November 30-December 2
    abaa.org/vbf
    ABAA VBF: Holiday Edition
    November 30-December 2
    abaa.org/vbf
    ABAA VBF: Holiday Edition
    November 30-December 2
    abaa.org/vbf
    ABAA VBF: Holiday Edition
    November 30-December 2
    abaa.org/vbf
    ABAA VBF: Holiday Edition
    November 30-December 2
    abaa.org/vbf
    ABAA VBF: Holiday Edition
    November 30-December 2
    abaa.org/vbf
    ABAA VBF: Holiday Edition
    November 30-December 2
    abaa.org/vbf
  • Sotheby’s
    Fine Books from a Distinguished Private Library
    28 November 2023
    Sotheby’s, Nov. 28: Captain Thomas Brown | Illustrations of the American ornithology. £80000-120000
    Sotheby’s, Nov. 28: William Hamilton | Campi phlegraei. £40000-60000
    Sotheby’s, Nov. 28: Nicola Zabaglia and Domenico Fontana | Castelli, e ponti con alcune ingegnose pratiche. £6000-8000
    Sotheby’s, Nov. 28: Bible, German | Nuremberg: Koberger, 1483. £40000-60000
    Sotheby’s, Nov. 28: Bible, English | King James version. £8000-12000
  • Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    30th November, 2023
    Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Saint Jerome penitent, woodcut with contemporary hand-colouring and letterpress text beneath, [Augsburg], [Johann Froschauer], [c.1498]. £15,000 to £20,000.
    Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Elimithar (Elluchasem) "Ibn Butlan". Tacuini sanitatis, first edition, Strasbourg, Johann Schott, 1531. £15,000 to £20,000.
    Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: [Missale Romanum], Latin, Incipit ordo missalis secundum consuetudinem Curiae Romani, manuscript in Latin, on vellum, 234ff. [c. 1400]. £15,000 to £20,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    30th November, 2023
    Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Foyle copy.- [Shakespeare (William)]. Macbeth. A Tragedy: With all the Alterations, Amendments, Additions, and New Songs. As it is now Acted at the Theatre Royal, for Hen. Herringman, 1687. £5,000 to £7,000.
    Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Dickens (Charles). A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, first edition, first impression, first issue, Chapman & Hall, 1843. £12,000 to £18,000.
    Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Lawrence (T.E.) Revolt in the Desert, working draft typescript, 1927. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    30th November, 2023
    Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Hampstead Bindery.- Phillips (Stephen). Marpessa, exquisitely bound by The Hampstead Bindery, almost certainly P.A. Savoldelli, 1900. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Matisse (Henri).- Joyce (James). Ulysses, one of 1500 copies, this one of 250 signed by the author and artist, New York, The Limited Editions Club, 1935. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Burroughs (Edgar Rice). Tarzan at the Earth's Core, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author to his son, New York, 1930. £5,000 to £7,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    30th November, 2023
    Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Fitzgerald (F. Scott). Tender is the Night, first edition, first printing, signed by the author, New York, 1934. £15,000 to £20,000.
    Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Fleming (Ian).- Hooks (Mitchell) and David Chasman. Dr. No, British film poster, Stafford & Co Ltd, [1962]. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: America.- California.- Palou (Francisco). Relacion Historica de la Vida Y Apostolicas Tareas delVenerable Padre Fray Junipero Serra..., first edition, second issue, 1787. £6,000 to £8,000.

Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - June - 2011 Issue

Bibliography, Bookbinding and Reference from Forest Books

Books for bibliophiles from Forest Books.

Forest Books has published their Catalogue 110. Bibliography, Bookbinding & Reference. This may seem like a niche field, but there are over 600 titles available. While Forest Books is located in England, the selection knows no boundaries. It is international in nature. Among the items offered are numerous catalogues of great collections, some a bibliographical accounting, others prepared for the auctions which dispersed them. What individuals once possessed in their personal libraries, before so much material was scooped up by institutions, is astounding today. Here is a look at some of the material Forest Books is offering for sale.

 

You may not recognize the individual in the photograph on the cover of this catalogue, but he is perhaps the greatest collector ever. He collected, quite literally, everything. While his book collection was extensive, he is even better known for his manuscript and ephemeral material. Much of it was one of a kind, and he quite literally saved an enormous body of work from extinction. He attempted to obtain a copy of everything, and if no one could ever quite succeed at that, he came closest among private collectors. His library filled not just his shelves, but every room in his house, to the ceiling, leaving little more than alleyways to move around. Indeed, it is odd to see him depicted in such a clean space, just two books and a table, with empty walls and floor space. This could only be Sir Thomas Phillipps, and he is shown here in 1860 at the age of 68. In his hand is a 10th century Horace text, now at Harvard University, while on the table is a 13th century Gospels in Armenian. He had just purchased the manuscripts at the sale of the library of Rev. John Mitford. Item 319. Priced at £695 (British pounds, or approximately $1,129 U.S. dollars).

 

Speaking of the obsessive collector, item 403 is Phillipps' copy of Straker's Catalogue of a Collection or Oriental Manuscripts, Etc., Etc. William Straker's catalogue was published in 1836, and Phillipps' notations in the copy displays his need to possess everything. He has marked those items he wished to purchase, over 80% of 497 items listed. It came to a total of just over £1,250, an enormous sum of money in those days, particularly for someone like Phillipps who while of significant means, was not a man of great wealth. £225 (US $365).

 

Item 282 is a catalogue dispersing much of the library of one of the greatest names in the book trade, William Morris of the Kelmscott Press. The title is Catalogue of a Portion of the Valuable Library of Manuscripts, Early Printed Books, &c. of the Late William Morris, of Kelmscott House, Hammersmith. It was published for the 1898 auction of many of the books held by Morris. However, the auction was not conducted by the estate of Morris, who died in 1896. It was held by the eccentric collector Richard Bennett, who had earlier purchased the bulk of Morris' library. Bennett kept what he wanted, then auctioned off the rest. Bennett was in a buying mood at this time, but he had his oddities, such as not wanting any books over 13 inches in size. So those larger folios in Morris' collection were sent out for sale. Two years later, Bennett sold his collection to J. Pierpont Morgan, with the result that this portion of Morris' collection is with the Morgan Library today. Henry Wellcome was the largest buyer at the sale described by this catalogue, so that much of this material is in the Wellcome Institute Library now. £295 (US $479).

 

Item 19 is a catalogue of publications by a long defunct Edinburgh book collectors club:  Catalogue of the Bannatyne Club Publications, published in 1833. It had been founded a decade earlier by Sir Walter Scott, then a very popular British writer and poet, to print rare Scottish literature, history and poetry. It was named in honor of George Bannatyne, a 16th century Scottish preservationist who created an 800-page manuscript of earlier Scottish poems. This catalogue contains brief descriptions of the 54 works the club had published up to that time, as well as a list of members (membership was limited to 31). The Bannatyne Club would in time print 116 volumes before being dissolved in 1861. £275 (US $446).

 

Item 122 is a bound collection of around 20 sermons from the first half of the 19th century. There are a few interesting ones here, such as a deliberately provocative sermon in favor of Catholic emancipation by Sydney Smith in front of a Bristol audience not noted for its tolerance. However, this doesn't explain why such a collection is in a catalogue full of bibliographies. The explanation is the presence of a very rare copy of A Sermon Preached in the Church of St. Paul's, Covent Garden, in May 1828, on the Visitation of the Venerable George Owen Cambridge… The sermonizer was Thomas Frognall Dibdin, a reverend in his own right, but better known as the world's greatest bibliophile, or, perhaps, bibliomaniac. Dibdin wrote several books on his passion for book collecting, and later in life, following a depression in market prices, on how underpriced books had become. Many in the trade would agree with those sentiments today. While Dibdin's books on books sold well, his sermons were not so popular, this item having been printed in a run of just 50 copies. It is so inscribed, "Only 50 Copies printed," likely in the author's hand. £1,295 (US $2,104).

 

Forest Books may be reached at +44 1949-842360 or bib@forestbooks.co.uk. Their website is www.forestbooks.co.uk.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Chiswick Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    29th Nov. 2023
    Chiswick Auctions, Nov. 29: Lot 150
    Simpson (William). India Ancient and Modern, 2 vol., 50 chromo-lithographed plates, 1867 Est. £15,000 - £20,000
    Chiswick Auctions, Nov. 29: Lot 32
    St. James the Apostle, large historiated initial ‘A’ on vellum from a monumental Lectionary of Martyrology. [mid C.12th.] Est. £4000 - £6000
    Chiswick Auctions, Nov. 29: Lot 257
    Gill (Eric) Artist, Sculpture & Illustrator. Crucifixion. original drawing/watercolour. n.d. Est. £4000 - £6000
    Chiswick Auctions, Nov. 29: Lot 254
    Fleming (Ian). Casino Royale, first edition, second impression, inc. dust jacket, 1953 Est. £4000 - £6000
    Chiswick Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    29th Nov. 2023
    Chiswick Auctions, Nov. 29: Lot 209
    Forster, (E.M.) Correspondence from Forster to Bob Buckingham’s family, with books from the library of Forster and Buckingham including presentation and signed copies. Est. £4000 - £6000
    Chiswick Auctions, Nov. 29: Lot 67
    Churchill (W.S.) Freedom of Blackpool, 7 records relating to Churchill’s Honorary Freedom of Blackpool, Sept. and Oct. 1946, with related ephemera. Est. £800 - £1200
    Chiswick Auctions, Nov. 29: Lot 104
    America.- Cator (Joseph). Manuscript account of a journey from Jamaica through North America to Boston, Mass. and to England, April—August 1764. Est. £2000 - £3000
  • Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 7, 2023
    Swann, Dec. 7: Samuel Augustus Mitchell, A New Map of Texas, Oregon and California with the Regions Adjoining, Philadelphia, 1846. $3,500 to $5,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: 17th–19th-century case maps of various locations. $1,500 to $2,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Andreas Cellarius, Haemisphaerium Stellatum Boreale Cum Subiecto Haemisphaerio Terrestri, celestial chart, Amsterdam, 1708. $2,500 to $3,500.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 7, 2023
    Swann, Dec. 7: Vincenzo Coronelli, Set of engraved gores for Coronelli’s monumental 42-inch terrestrial globe, Venice, circa 1688–97. $18,000 to $22,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer, group of four navigational charts, Antwerp, 1580s. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Thomas Bros, Block Book of Berkeley, Oakland, 1920s. $800 to $1,200.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 7, 2023
    Swann, Dec. 7: John Nieuhoff & John Ogilby, An Embassy from the East-India Company of the United Provinces, map of China, plan of Canton, London, 1673. $1,200 to $1,800.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Frederick Sander, Reichenbachia, St. Albans, 1888-1894. $5,000 to $7,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Two early illustrated works on horsemanship and breeding, Nuremberg, early 18th century. $700 to $800.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 7, 2023
    Swann, Dec. 7: John Gould, A Monograph of the Ramphastidae, or Family of Toucans. Supplement to the First Edition, London, 1834; 1855. $40,000 to $60,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: John Pinkerton, A General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting Voyages and Travels in All Parts of the World, London, 1808–14. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Oakley Hoopes Bailey, Hackensack, New Jersey, Boston, 1896. $800 to $1,200.

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