Some strange occurrences are recounted in Strange news from Lemaster in Herefordshire, being a true narrative...of a most strange and prodigious opening of the earth in divers places thereabouts. Also, a true relation of several wonderful sights, viz. A hand, an arm and shoulder of the bigness of mans...seen to arise out of the earth and ascend up to the skyes. Beware of anyone who uses the word "true" multiple times in a title. This 1679 pamphlet tells of unusual events witnessed by a Mr. Barnes. Various large limbs, arms and shoulders and such, arose from openings in the ground, as did a flying blue globe and blood-colored saddles, which then ascended to the sky. There was also a loud noise, "as if canons had been discharged," which others in the vicinity also heard. And, for "whoever doubts the truth of this relation," Mr. Barnes offered to show them a copy of a letter he sent to his brother in London recounting these mysterious events. Proof enough for me. One of the rare remaining copies of the account of this "miraculous accident" is offered as item 57. L1,600 (US $2,940).
Item 44 is a 1654 book of proverbs from Thomas Drake, Bibliotheca scholastica instructissima. Or, a treasury of ancient adagies and sententious proverbs... Some of these are still familiar today: "when the cat is away, the mice play;" "it is better late than never;" and "Rome was not built in a day." But how about "an empty purse maketh the face full of wrinkles?" Here is one I can attest to: "the dogge waggest his taile, not for you, but for your bread." I will make no comments on "where there are women, there is much tatling." And what about this one: "a poore mans head is full of bees?" What does that mean? Did poor men, like hippies, wear flowers in their hair? I was stumped, but if you can believe everything you find on Google (and certainly you cannot), it means scatterbrained or dreamy, a precursor to the expression "bees in your bonnet." L400 (US $734).
From the "better late than never" category, here's a funeral invitation for John Moor. Mr. Moor's funeral took place on June 25, 1712. This was a fill-in form, name, date, and location to be entered as required. The invitation begins, "You are desired to Accompany the Corps of _____ with the name handwritten in the blank space. The invitation includes pictures of a skull, crossbones, and skeleton, along with the motto "Remember to Die." I'm sure I will remember, but hopefully not to soon. Item 56. L1,800 (US $3,311).
Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - June - 2005 Issue
Intriguing Old English Books From Bernard Shapero Rare Books
Siamese Twins Elisa and Mary Chulkhurst.
Rare Book Monthly
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Dominic Winter Auctioneers
Printed Books, Maps & Wisdens, English Bibles
1500-1800
22nd July 2026Dominic Winter, July 22: Lot 83 – Westall & Owen. Picturesque Tour of the River Thames, 1st edition, 1828. £2,000-3,000.Dominic Winter, July 22: Lot 88 – Blume. Rumphia, Botanicae de plantis Indiae Orientalis, 1835-1848. £2,000-3,000.Dominic Winter, July 22: Lot 101 – Michaux. Histoire des arbres forestiers de l'Amérique septentrionale, 1810-1812. £700-1,000.Dominic Winter Auctioneers
Printed Books, Maps & Wisdens, English Bibles
1500-1800
22nd July 2026Dominic Winter, July 22: Lot 102 – Miller & Shaw. Cimelia Physica, 1796 [but c. 1816]. £3,000-5,000.Dominic Winter, July 22: Lot 104 – Parkinson. Theatrum Botanicum: The Theater of Plants, London: Thomas Cotes, 1640. £800-1,200.Dominic Winter, July 22: Lot 159 – Plancius. Orbis Terrarum..., double hemisphere map, 1594-99. £5,000-8,000.Dominic Winter Auctioneers
Printed Books, Maps & Wisdens, English Bibles
1500-1800
22nd July 2026Dominic Winter, July 22: Lot 217 – Illuminated Medieval Manuscript. From a Breviary, 14th/15th c. £3,000-4,000.Dominic Winter, July 22: Lot 224 – The newe Testament … By Wylliam Tyndall…, 1549. £3,000-5,000.Dominic Winter, July 22: Lot 238 – Douay-Rheims Bible. 3 volumes, 1582/1609/1610. £7,000-10,000.Dominic Winter Auctioneers
Printed Books, Maps & Wisdens, English Bibles
1500-1800
22nd July 2026Dominic Winter, July 22: Lot 336 – Ashendene Press. A Treatyse of Fysshynge with an Angle, 1903. £1,000-1,500.Dominic Winter, July 22: Lot 393 – Sassoon. Memoirs of an Infantry Officer, signed limited edition, 1931. £800-1,200.Dominic Winter, July 22: Lot 402 – Dylan Thomas. Twenty-Five Poems, 1st edition in d.j., 1936. £400-600. -
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Case Auctions
2026 Summer Auction
August 1st and 2ndCase Antiques, Aug. 1: Timberlake, Henry: A DRAUGHT OF THE CHEROKEE COUNTRY on the West Side of the Twenty Four Mountains, Commonly Called "Over the Hills". $18,000 to $22,000.Case Antiques, Aug. 1: Manuscript orderly book detailing day to day activities of multiple Virginia regiments in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary,1776-1777. $7,000 to $8,000.Case Antiques, Aug. 1: Cormac McCarthy, The Orchard Keeper, Random House, New York, 1965. Signed 1st Edition. $3,800 to $4,200.Case Auctions
2026 Summer Auction
August 1st and 2ndCase Antiques, Aug. 1: Battle of Kings Mountain Pamphlet by Isaac Shelby, April 1823, Signed. $1,800 to $2,200.Case Antiques, Aug. 1: Large Tintype CSA Lt. Col. Thomas Coke Johnson, 19th GA, w/ Southern Cross, Book. $1,400 to $1,800.Case Antiques, Aug. 1: Rare Civil War Ambrotype, 19th GA Infantry with Johnson Family of GA. $800 to $1,200.Case Auctions
2026 Summer Auction
August 1st and 2ndCase Antiques, Aug. 1: A signed note written by Thomas Alva Edison to an unknown recipient, in which he shares his thoughts on Guglielmo Marconi, regarded as the inventor of the radio. $800 to $1,200.Case Antiques, Aug. 1: Rare 1931 TN Grasslands Steeplechase Book, Gallatin. $800 to $1,000.Case Antiques, Aug. 1: War of 1812 related Broadside, Petersburg Volunteers. $700 to $800.Case Antiques, Aug. 1: 2 World War I Posters, “Our Colored Fighters” and “No Slacker”. $800 to $1,000.