Aleph-Bet Books Offers 500 Books and a Top 100 List
- by Michael Stillman
A “true” story about gorillas.
Here is a look at the future from the past: 2002: Childlife One Hundred Years From Now, by Laura Dayton Fessenden. Published in 1902, it is a science fiction journey into the future, and while Ms. Fessenden certainly didn't get everything right, she did foresee many things that came to pass. The boy and girl who inhabit this “future” world travel to Hawaii, now a state in this tale. She got that right, though she missed in saying it had been renamed “Roosevelt.” Presumably, it was named for Teddy, for if she predicted it would be named for Franklin in 1902, that would be truly miraculous. Some of the amazing developments include refrigeration without blocks of ice, submarine travel, airships filled with hydrogen traveling at the incredible speed of 75 miles per hour, cities enclosed in climate-controlled glass domes, moving sidewalks, and telephones where you could see the person to whom you were speaking. Yes, she predicted Skype. There are no longer criminals, but sick people who are taken to hospitals to be cured of their sickness. Chimpanzees have been taught to speak and now act as domestic servants. You actually can get good help these days. And, everything you need is distributed by the government. Socialism has come to America. However, you do still get to choose your government, conducted through electronic voting machines. We have not quite yet traveled to Mars in 2002, though that will be coming soon. Radio contact has been established with the Martians. World peace was achieved in 1980 and America even has a woman President. Time will tell which comes first – world peace, contact with Martians, or a woman President. Item 184. $850.
Item 1 is an unusual ABC book: Kryolith Kids Alphabet. “A is for Arctic where Kryolith is / B is for beauty which cleanliness gives.” Kryolith is a mineral that was mined mainly in the Arctic, which publisher Pennsylvania Salt Mfg. Co. used to produce lye, to make soap. This must have really fascinated the kids. $300.
ALDE, Apr. 8: GUEVARA (ANTONIO DE). Histoire de Marc-Aurèle, Empereur Romain, vray miroir et horloge des Princes. Paris, Pierre et Galliot du Pré, frères, 1565. €3,000 to €4,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: HEURES DE LA VIERGE. Horæ in laudem beatissimæ virginis Mariæ ad usum Romanum. Paris, Charles L'Angelier, 1556. €4,000 to €5,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: MONTAIGNE (MICHEL DE). Les Essais. Édition nouvelle, trouvée après le deceds de l'autheur… Paris, Abel L'Angelier, 1595. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [ROJAS (FERNANDO DE)]. Celestina, tragicomedia di Calisto et Melibea, tradotta de lingua castigliana in italiano idioma… Venise, 1531. €2,000 to €3,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CAMÕES (LUÍS DE). Os Lusiadas. Lisbonne, Pedro Crasbeeck, 1613. €2,000 to €3,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CERVANTES (MIGUEL DE). El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Bruxelles, Roger Velpius & Huberto Antonio, 1611. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: LA FONTAINE (JEAN DE). Fables choisies, mises en vers. Paris, Denys Thierry et Claude Barbin, 1678-1694. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CERVANTES (MIGUEL DE). El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Madrid, Joaquin Ibarra, 1780. €3,000 to €4,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: DIDEROT (DENIS) ET JEAN LE ROND D'ALEMBERT. Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. Paris, 1751-1765. €15,000 to €20,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [LIVRE TISSÉ]. LAMARTINE (Alphonse de). Les Laboureurs. Poème tiré de Jocelyn… Lyon, J. A. Henry, 1883. €8,000 to €10,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [LIVRE TISSÉ]. Livre de prières tissé d'après les enluminures des manuscrits du XIVe au XVIe siècle. Lyon, [A. Roux], 1886. €5,000 to €6,000.
Sotheby’s Books, Manuscripts & Objects from Three Important Collections Open for Bidding 2-17 April
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: [Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun]. Le Roman de la Rose, [Geneva or Lyons, c.1481], first printed edition of the most important medieval French vernacular poem. £200,000 to £300,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Castiglione. Il libro del cortegiano. [Venice], April 1528, first edition, in a magnificent binding by Jean Picard for Jean Grolier. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Jacobus de Cessolis. Schachzabelbuch, Strasbourg, 1483, von der Lasa copy. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: World Championship, 1972. A collection of 84 press photographs of the famed match between Spassky and Fischer. £2,000 to £3,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Ben Franklin. Autograph letter signed, to Lord Shelburne, British Prime Minister, during peace negotiations, November 1782. £15,000 to £20,000.
