• Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Alken (Henry). Sporting Notions, first edition, T.McLean, 1832-33. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Bardi (Lorenzo). Nuova Raccolta delle piu interessanti Vedute della Citta di Firenze…, Florence, Lorenzo Bardi, [c.1840]. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Crawfurd (John). Journal of an Embassy from the Governor-General of India to the Court of Ava..., first edition, 1829. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Dawe (George, engraver). The Life of a Nobleman, first edition, Geo. Henderson, [c.1825]. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: [Doyle (John)], "H.B.". Political Sketches &c., 10 vol. including The Descriptive Key to H.B., Thomas McLean, [1829-51]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Eben (Adolphus Christian Frederick, Baron von) and Nicolaus Heideloff. Modèles de l'Uniforme Militaire Adopté dans l'Armée Royale de Suède, Rudolph Ackerman, 1808. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Geissler (J.G.G.) and Friedrich Hempel. Mahlerische Darstellungen der Sitten, Gebrauche und Lustbarkeiten bey den Russischen, Tartarischen…, 4 parts in 1, Leipzig and Paris, [1804]. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Hunt (Charles). Portraits of Winning Horses...of the Derby, Oaks, & St. Leger, from the Year 1842 to 1849…, Rock Brothers & Payne, 1849. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Kunike (Adolf Friedrich). Zwey hundert und sechzig Donau-Ansichten nach dem Laufe des Donaustromes…, Vienna, Leopold Grund, 1826. £3,000 to £5,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Lasinio (Carlo). [Matrimony], Florence, 1790. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Reinhardt (Joseph). A Collection of Swiss Costumes, in Miniature, second English edition, James Goodwin, [1828]. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Wengen (Gottfried Durst von). Die Öffentliche Maskerade Bamberg am Fastnachts-Montage 1833…, Bamberg, [1833]. £2,000 to £3,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD
  • Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000
  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas

Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - March - 2017 Issue

Bibles, Theology and Related Subjects from The Philadelphia Rare Books & Manuscripts Co.

Bibles and more.

The Philadelphia Rare Books & Manuscripts Company has issued a most devout catalogue entitled Bibles – Theology – Church History – Missions – Martyrs – Ministry – Music – Witchery – Witness – Illustrated Books. These are all still current topics in religion, except witchery, and hopefully not too many martyrs anymore. These books came from the collection of the Pacific School of Religion, all "properly released," PRBM assures us. The Pacific School of Religion was founded 150 years ago to offer theological training for various participating Protestant denominations. It is located in Berkeley, California. Here are a few selections of these mostly quite old books.

 

We will begin with what PRBM calls "one of the foundational works in any collection of Bibles and Testaments." This one is commonly known as the "Douai Old Testament" for the place in France where it was published, though the official title is The Holie Bible faithfully translated into English, out of the authentical Latin. This is the first Catholic Old Testament in English. With Protestantism having taken control of England, English Catholics needed their own Bible in the language they understood. An English New Testament was printed in 1582, but it took almost 30 years before the Old was published. It was ready much earlier, but funds for printing were not. It comes in two volumes, published 1609-1610. This copy has some fascinating adjustments and annotations. Some pages were removed from Genesis, but the missing pages from a different copy were tipped in. On the front pastedown there is an inscription "Cloister of Nazareth," along with the explanation, "The holy Bible some pages cut out, (for modesty's sake) thro' ignorance yt. each word hear in is sacred, & too sacred for such, as finds thmselves unfit to read it." Evidently the sisters of the Cloister of Nazareth (we are guessing it's the European convent) weren't so prudish that they could not bear to read Genesis. There is also a signed inscription dated 1810 from Rev. Folkins of Derbyshire. The good Reverend had a sense of humor the sisters, and maybe every other woman, might not appreciate. It reads:

 

"Men have many faults

Women have but two

Nothing wright they say

Nothing good they doo"

 

I could never get away with such humor. Neither can you. Item 6. Priced at $12,000.

 

Since we had one for the Catholics, here is one for the Protestants. This is not a fair balance. Rather than a Protestant Bible, this is a Protestant attack on the Catholic Church. Item 27 is Acts and monuments of matters most special and memorable, happening in the church, with a universal historie of the same...with the bloody times, horrible troubles, and great persecutions against the true martyrs of Christ... The title is longer but you get the drift. The author was John Foxe, and the book is more commonly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs. To be fair, Foxe lived in 16th century England, and the battles between Catholics and Protestants in that era spilled much blood on both sides, as each jockeyed for political power. While still in school, Foxe became disillusioned with the Catholic Church. This was the time of the Reformation, so the Church was under much criticism. Meanwhile, King Henry VIII, wishing to be rid of his first wife, but unable to obtain an annulment, led England away from the Catholic Church. This must have influenced Foxe's thought, and the belief that the Church was standing in the way of reaching God, rather than facilitating the connection. All of this became much worse when Queen Mary succeeded the sickly teenage King Edward VI, a Protestant King who had succeeded his father Henry. Mary was Catholic, daughter of Henry's Catholic first wife. And, Mary did not earn the nickname "Bloody Mary" for nothing. She created her share of martyrs for Foxe to write about in his book. However, Foxe, now in exile in Europe, already had a collection of earlier martyrs to the Catholic Church, with Mary providing the coup de grace. The first edition was published in 1563. The edition here offered is from 1641, three large folio volumes printed for the Company of Stationers. It is the first edition to include Samuel Foxe's biography of his father. $7,500.

 

This next book represents the beginning of Christian archaeology. Antonio Bosio was a late 16th, early 17th century Italian discoverer. However, he did his discoveries under, rather than above ground. Ancient subterranean burial grounds were accidentally discovered in Rome when Bosio was a young man. He decided to find more and explore them. He devoted his life to searching, and when he found them, climbing in and recording what he saw. He used early Christian texts to help locate long forgotten entrances and what to look for inside. He wrote about what he found in the catacombs, though his discoveries remained mostly unknown during his lifetime. The first edition of his account was not published until 1632, three years after he died. Item 22 is a 1671 edition of Roma subterranea novissima... edited by Paolo Aringhi. PRBM cautions that Aringhi added anti-Semitic and anti-Protestant commentary that was not present in Bosio's original. $1,250.

 

This review would not be complete without something from the category of witchery. This may be the most important such work: A Blow at Modern Sadducism in some Philosophical Confederations about Witchcraft. This is Joseph Glanvill's "proof" of the existence of witches. This one is described as a corrected and enlarged fourth edition, published in 1668. It is actually a much revised version of a book that appeared two years before, and would appear after, under different titles. Glanvill uses both empirical and philosophical arguments to establish the reality of witches. His notable empirical evidence came from the home of John Mompesson of Tedworth. He won a lawsuit against a drummer who supposedly retaliated by having spirits visit the house with drumming noises. Glanvill spent a night at the house and said he heard something too. Others suspect there was fraud, or Mompesson's children playing a prank since the noise often came from their rooms. A philosophical proof, and perhaps the one that most troubled the likes of American Puritan Cotton Mather, the influential clergymen who more or less looked the other way during the Salem witch trials, went like this. If witches are real, then evidently other biblical figures, such as angels and God himself, must be real. If witches are not real, then we might doubt the existence of those other beings as well. Item 30. $1,450.

 

The Philadelphia Rare Books & Manuscripts Company may be reached at 215-744-6734 or rarebks@prbm.com. Their website is found at www.prbm.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.

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