• Sotheby’s
    Fine Books and Manuscripts
    8 December 2023
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: [Austen, Jane] — Isaac D'Israeli. Jane Austen's copy of Curiosities of Literature. 100,000 - 150,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition in boards of the author's debut novel. 70,000 - 100,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Brontë, Charlotte. "I am no bird; and no net ensnares me..." 100,000 - 150,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Eliot, George. The author's magnum opus. 25,000 - 35,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Whitman, Walt. Manuscript written upon the Death of Lincoln, 1865. 60,000 - 80,000 USD
  • Sotheby’s
    Important Modern Literature from the Library of an American Filmmaker
    8 December 2023
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Kerouac, Jack. Typescript scroll of The Dharma Bums. Typed by Kerouac in Orlando, Florida, 1957, published by Viking in 1958. 300,000 - 500,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Hemingway, Ernest. The autograph manuscript of "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber." [Key West, finished April 1936]. 300,000 - 500,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Miller, Henry. Typescript of The Last Book, a working title for Tropic of Cancer, written circa 1931–1932. 100,000 - 150,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Ruscha, Ed. Twentysix Gasoline Stations, with a lengthy inscription to Joe Goode. 40,000 - 60,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Hemingway, Ernest. in our time, first edition of Hemingway’s second book. 30,000 - 50,000 USD
  • 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.
  • CHRISTIE’S
    Valuable Books and Manuscripts
    London auction
    13 December
    Find out more
    Christie’s, Explore now
    TREW, Christoph Jacob (1695–1769). Plantae Selectae quarum imagines ad exemplaria naturalia Londini in hortus curiosorum. [Nuremberg: 1750–1773]. £30,000–40,000
    Christie’s, Explore now
    VERBIEST, Ferdinand (1623–88). Liber Organicus Astronomiae Europaeae apud Sinas restituate. [Beijing: Board of Astronomy, 1674]. £250,000–350,000
    Christie’s, Explore now
    PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ALICE & NIKOLAUS HARNONCOURT. Master of Jean Rolin (active 1445–65). Book of Hours, use of Paris, in Latin and French, [Paris, c.1450–1460]. £120,000–180,000
    Christie’s, Explore now
    A SILVER MICROSCOPE. Probably by Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723), c.1700. £150,000–250,000
    Christie’s, Explore now
    AN ENGLISH HORARY QUADRANT
    C.1311. £100,000–150,000

Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - December - 2012 Issue

48 Varied Items from The Pages of Yesteryear

48.

The Pages of Yesteryear issued a catalogue a little while back with the succinct title 48. It was named, not sequentially for catalogues, but for years in business. This represents their 48th year in business, almost as old as books themselves. The items offered are an unusual mix. There are books and various ephemeral items – letters, broadsides, account books, typescripts and such. These provide a glimpse at life a century or two ago. Times have changed. Let's take a look.

Item 2 is a testament to amazing technological advances at another time of rapid technical change, the turn of the 20th (rather than 21st) century. It is a Souvenir Program of the International Aviation Tournament Belmont Park, Oct. 22-30, 1910. Most people associate New York's Belmont Park with horse racing, but for a few years, that was banned. Instead, for a few days in October, it featured airplane races. Obviously not around the track, but a race went from Belmont around the Statue of Liberty and back. The winning time was 35 minutes. Another race was won by accomplishing an average speed of 61 miles per hour. A record altitude of 9,714 feet was achieved. The program lists the events and competitors and includes several photographs. Among those who participated were Wilbur and Orville Wright. That brings us to what is so amazing about this meet. It took place just seven years after the Wright Brothers' first air flight, a 12-second journey of 120 feet at a speed of 6.8 mph and an altitude of 10 feet. Progress can be astonishing. Priced at $250.

Here is a letter the Wright Brothers might have appreciated. It is a four-page letter from a boy named “Nattie” to his “Dear Papa,” dated March 10, 1878, from Boston. In it, he talks about bicycles. Bicycle manufacturing was the Wright Brothers profession before they moved to aviation. Nattie was impressed by some men riding their “bicicles,” noting, “There is a rubber band goes around the outside of both wheels (rubber tires?)...they don't make a bit of noise...they have a little brake...and the man who rides on it can stop it just as quick as you can wink.” He notes the cost ranges from $80-$150. Item 4. $150.

Dentistry is not a particularly pleasant subject today, but at least it isn't the horror it was in 1875, the time of this dentist's account book. No high speed drills, novocaine, or much else to relieve the horror of a visit. At least Horace Mason Perkins appears to have had a bit of a sense of humor, though perhaps unintentionally, as he described his customers' creditworthiness. Perkins attended the Harvard Dental School in 1898 and received a DDS in 1908 from Tufts, which may make you wonder why he was practicing dentistry in 1875. He also received degrees from the Philadelphia Dental College in 1869 and Boston Dental College in 1870. I have no idea whether he was a good dentist, but at least he was a well-educated one. Among his comments on various customers' credit, he writes such things as “good as gold,” “[pays] cash – nice old lady,” “never known to pay bill,” “Good but doesn't come on time.” For one family he writes, “Look out for the Fox family - no good – especially G P Fox who is a loafer.” As for the “Portuguese from Cohasset,” they are hard to please and will beat you down, but if you stick to your price, they will give it to you. His pricing includes 50 cents for an extraction, but $1 if you want gas or to have it done in your home, $1 for a silver filling but $2-$3 for gold, 50 cents for killing a nerve, and $20 for a full lower plate. Item 14. $250.

Item 38 is a scathing attack on the Union Pacific Railroad from 1869, the year the transcontinental railroad was completed. The author is Chauncey H. Snow, government director for the Union Pacific under President Andrew Johnson. This report is titled Preliminary Report to the President of the United States on the Location, Construction, and Management of the Union Pacific Railroad. He criticizes the “grading, bridges, curves, location, corruption in management and in Congress, and pretty much everything connected to the Union Pacific in his 17 pages,” Pages of Yesteryear tells us. He also mentions Credit Mobilier, the company involved in a major scandal in the just beginning Grant administration. Snow concludes that he knows his report will “bring upon me enmity of persons in high official positions – of persons controlling unlimited capital...but I must do my duty.” A selfless public servant was Mr. Snow. The pamphlet is dated March 10, 1869, but that has been corrected in pencil to read March 5. That is correct, as the report was handed in to President Grant, who took office the previous day, on March 5. The following day, Grant replaced him. However, before getting too sympathetic for the idealistic Mr. Snow, or assuming this is evidence of early corruption in the Grant administration, according to the book Union Pacific by Maury Klein from 1987, Snow produced two reports on the Union Pacific, one favorable, one unfavorable. He was willing to submit the favorable one for the right compensation. When he did not receive it, he submitted the bad one. At various times, Snow reportedly sought cash or a coal supply contract from the railroad, threatening to provide harmful information if he was not paid off. $125.

Tornadoes are nothing new to the Midwest. Last year, we saw the terrible destructive force in Joplin, Missouri, and before that, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Here is a photo account of a similarly terrible storm a century ago: Omaha Cyclone in Pictures, Easter Sunday, March 23, 1913. It was not a happy Easter in Omaha that year. A line of intense storms spawned a series of tornadoes. A very bad one made its way into Omaha. The tornado was not only powerful, but wide, increasing the damage. Houses, including wooden ones from poorer neighborhoods and brick ones from wealthier ones, were destroyed. One hundred fifty people were killed, another 400 injured. This booklet contains 30 pages of pictures, one of text, and one of advertising. Item 32. $75.

The Pages of Yesteryear may be reached at 203-426-0864 or jrenjilian@hotmail.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • ABAA VBF: Holiday Edition
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    ABAA VBF: Holiday Edition
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  • 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

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