• Case Antiques
    Two-Day Summer Auction
    July 12 & 13, 2025
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Winston Link Signed Photograph, Hotshot Eastbound, Iager, West Virginia, July 1957. $3,400 to $3,800.
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Alexander Hamilton ALS, Whiskey Rebellion. $2,800 to $3,200.
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Civil War Canteen and Letters, Thomas Tabb Jr. CSA. $1,800 to $2,200.
    Case Antiques
    Two-Day Summer Auction
    July 12 & 13, 2025
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Archive of Capt. William Tabb of MS, CSA, Killed Atlanta. $1,000 to $1,400.
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Rudyard Kipling Collection, 29 Volumes, First Editions; Zaehnsdorf Bindings. $1,000 to $1,200.
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Artist Andrew Wyeth & Family Signed Letters, Cards. $1,000 to $1,200.
    Case Antiques
    Two-Day Summer Auction
    July 12 & 13, 2025
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Augusta Resolves Silk Broadside, Revolutionary War RelateD. $800 to $1,000.
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: 1894 Map of Nashville. $800 to $900.
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: CSA Navy Appointment, Semmes and Mallory plus Photo of Lt. Armstrong. $600 to $800.
    Case Antiques
    Two-Day Summer Auction
    July 12 & 13, 2025
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Slave Colonies of Great Britain, 1825, Macaulay, First Edition, plus Debate on Abolition, 1792. $600 to $800.
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Signed Photo of 3 Presidents: Nixon, Ford, Carter. $600 to $800.
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Slave Ledger, Merrill Plantations, Natchez, MS & Concordia, LA. $1,000 to $1,200.
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  • Sotheby’s
    New York Book Week
    12-26 June
    Sotheby’s, June 25: Theocritus. Theocriti Eclogae triginta, Venice, Aldo Manuzio, February 1495/1496. 220,000 - 280,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, June 26: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby, 1925. 40,000 - 60,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, June 26: Blake, William. Songs of Innocence and of Experience, Printed ca. 1381-1832. 400,000 - 600,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, June 26: Lincoln, Abraham. Thirteenth Amendment, signed by Abraham Lincoln. 8,000,000 - 12,000,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, June 26: Galieli, Galileo. First Edition of the Foundation of Modern Astronomy, 1610. 300,000 - 400,000 USD
  • Finarte
    Books, Autographs & Prints
    June 24 & 25, 2025
    Finarte, June 24-25: ALIGHIERI, DANTE / LANDINO, CRISTOFORO. Comento di Christophoro Landino Fiorentino sopra la Comedia di Danthe Alighieri poeta fiorentino, 1481. €40,000 to €50,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: ALIGHIERI, DANTE. La Commedia [Commento di Christophorus Landinus]. Aggiunta: Marsilius Ficinus, Ad Dantem gratulatio [in latino e Italiano], 1487. €40,000 to €60,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: ALIGHIERI, DANTE. Il Convivio, 1490. €20,000 to €25,000.
    Finarte
    Books, Autographs & Prints
    June 24 & 25, 2025
    Finarte, June 24-25: BANDELLO, MATTEO. La prima [-quarta] parte de le nouelle del Bandello, 1554. €7,000 to €9,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: LEGATURA – PLUTARCO. Le vies des hommes illustres, grecs et romaines translates, 1567. €10,000 to €12,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: TOLOMEO, CLAUDIO. Ptolemeo La Geografia di Claudio Ptolemeo Alessandrino, Con alcuni comenti…, 1548. €4,000 to €6,000.
    Finarte
    Books, Autographs & Prints
    June 24 & 25, 2025
    Finarte, June 24-25: FESTE - COPPOLA, GIOVANNI CARLO. Le nozze degli Dei, favola [...] rappresentata in musica in Firenze…, 1637. €6,000 to €8,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: SPINOZA, BARUCH. Opera posthuma, 1677. €8,000 to €12,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: PUSHKIN, ALEXANDER. Borus Godunov, 1831. €30,000 to €50,000.
    Finarte
    Books, Autographs & Prints
    June 24 & 25, 2025
    Finarte, June 24-25: LIBRO D'ARTISTA - LECUIRE, PIERRE. Ballets-minute, 1954. €35,000 to €40,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: LIBRO D'ARTISTA - MAJAKOVSKIJ, VLADIMIR / LISSITZKY, LAZAR MARKOVICH. Dlia Golosa, 1923. €7,000 to €10,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: LIBRO D'ARTISTA - MATISSE, HENRI / MONTHERLANT, HENRY DE. Pasiphaé. Chant de Minos., 1944. €22,000 to €24,000.

Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - May - 2019 Issue

The House of Romanov from Shapero Rare Books

The House of Romanov.

The House of Romanov.

Shapero Rare Books has prepared a catalogue of material relating to The House of Romanov. The Romanovs ruled Russia for 300 years. The family came to power somewhat reluctantly during a time of uncertainty in 1613. Late in that century, they would begin to rise to the role of an international power under Peter the Great. The Romanovs would continue unchallenged until late in the 19th century. Their popularity then began to wane, a defeat against the Japanese in 1904, and enormous casualties during World War I further eroded the last Romanov Tsar's power. He abdicated during the Revolution of 1917, and Tsar Nicolas and his family were executed by Bolsheviks in 1918.

 

Many of the items in this catalogue are in the Russian language, and we cannot display their Russian titles because they use the Cyrillic alphabet. However, many others are written in French, some in English. Here are a few samples from this catalogue.

 

We begin with the first item in the catalogue, which takes us all the way back to the beginning of the dynasty. It is not contemporary. It is the only printed account of the wedding of the first Romanov Tsar, Mikhail, to Evodokiia Stereshnev in 1626. Mikhail had been married in 1624, but his first wife died only four months later. This highly illustrated account of the wedding was published in 1810. Platon Petrovich Beketov, who operated his own press, conducted a great amount of research, including use of an historical manuscript account, to create the book. This copy includes the full compliment of 65 illustration (most copies have 63) and the images have been hand-colored. Mikhail was a gentle ruler, not at all the tyrant, and his rule saw great expansion of Russian territory. Item 1. Priced at £16,500 (British pounds, or approximately $21,086 in U.S currency).

 

Next we move along to Mikhail's grandson, one of three to become Tsar. He is perhaps the greatest of all, which logically explains having "Great" in his name. Actually, he was Peter I, but everyone knows him as Peter the Great. For a while, he was a co-regent with his half-brother, but including that time, he was Tsar from 1682-1725. During that period, Russia grew to an empire, and Peter, appropriately enough, became as emperor. Peter ruled over not only a larger Russia, but a modernized one as well. He sought to learn from other countries, westernizing the more backward country, while strengthening a weak military. His was, for the most part, a progressive rule, though Peter could be brutal with his enemies. Item 2 is the almost contemporary History of the Life of Peter I. Emperor of Russia, by John Mottley. Mottley was an English scholar, but usually wrote anonymously as his father was forced into exile for his support of James II, deposed in the Glorious Revolution. Late in life, Mottley wrote two books under his own name, this being one. It was almost contemporary with Peter's reign, having been published in 1739, 14 years after Peter died. It was published in London and is written in English. £2,500 (US $3,198).

 

Actually, Peter wasn't the only great Tsar. There was also Catherine II, known as Catherine the Great. After disruptions in the direct Romanov line, her husband, Peter III, became Tsar in 1762. His mother was a daughter of Peter the Great, but he was raised in Germany, and while a great reformer, attempting to initiate democratic and humanitarian reforms, his pro-Prussian stands were not well received. He also had a bad relationship with his wife, Catherine, and both conducted extra-marital affairs. This poor relationship more than foreign policy was instrumental in Catherine joining with others to overthrow her husband after just half a year as Tsar. Peter III died under mysterious circumstances a short time later. Catherine, on the other hand, ruled from 1762 until her death in 1796. Catherine, too, was a reformer, though perhaps not as much as her husband wished to be. Item 9 is a copy of Catherine's Instructions in French, Instructions. Adressées par sa Majesté l'Impératrice de tourtes les Russies... published in 1769. This French edition was published by the Russian Academy of Sciences but not offered for sale. Catherine had read texts of the French Enlightenment and this was an enunciation of her intention to bring these ideas to Russia. The Instructions were never really implemented, but it was a good thought. Item 9. £1,800 (US $2,303).

 

Item 46 is a lavish book dedicated to an exhibition by the Committee for the Construction of the 1812 Museum in Moscow. This does not pertain to the War of 1812 known by Americans. In Russia, this was the year the Russians forced Napoleon to retreat from Russia, not because of defeat on the battlefield, but by denying his troops access to supplies. Russian winters are not easy to survive without adequate supplies. An exhibition was prepared on the 100th anniversary in 1912, with exhibits housed in the Historical Museum on Red Square pending construction of the new museum. Material was gathered from other museums and private collections. There was more than could actually be displayed, and some of the items herein were therefore not on display. Unfortunately, the delay took the project into the time of World War I, and then there was the Russian Revolution, and the project was abandoned. However, such a museum was opened on the 200th anniversary of Napoleon's defeat. £7,000 (US $8,958).

 

Romanov rule would come to an end in 1917. Nicholas II, who became Tsar in 1896, had little ability to handle the deteriorating situation around him. He was the wrong man at the wrong time. Military defeat by Japan, terrible casualties during the First World War, workers' demands answered with a slaughter in 1905, and finally revolution sealed his fate. Nicholas abdicated in 1917, he and his family were killed in 1918. Item 31 is sort of a last look at the old order. It is a photograph, circa 1913, of his four daughters, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia. The close-knit sisters, who were also great-granddaughters of England's Queen Victoria, look bright but innocent, the four surrounding a table with an open book. Each of the sisters has signed the photograph and it is dated 1916. They could not have imagined the terrible fate that awaited them just two years hence. £35,000 (US $44,792).

 

Shapero Rare Books may be reached at +44 (0)20 7493 0876 or rarebooks@shapero.com. Their website is www.shapero.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Bonhams, June 16-25: 15th-CENTURY TREATISE ON SYPHILIS. GRÜNPECK. 1496. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: THE NORMAN COPY OF BENIVIENI'S TREATISE ON PATHOLOGY. 1507. $12,000 - $18,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: FRACASTORO. Syphilis sive Morbus Gallicus. 1530. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: THE FIRST PUBLISHED WORK ON SKIN DISEASES. MERCURIALIS. De morbis cutaneis... 1572. $10,000 - $15,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: BIDLOO. Anatomia humani corporis... 1685. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: THE NORMAN COPY OF DOUGLASS'S EARLY AMERICAN WORK ON INNOCULATION AND SMALLPOX. 1722. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: LIND'S FIRST TREATISE ON SCURVY. 1753. $15,000 - $20,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: RARE JENNER SIGNED CIRCULAR ON VACCINATION. 1821. $4,000 - $6,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: MOST BEAUTIFUL OF MEDICAL ILLUSTRATIONS. BRIGHT. Reports of Medical Cases... 1827-1831. $10,000 - $15,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE PRESENTATION COPY TO HER MOTHER. 1860. $6,000 - $8,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: LORENZO TRAVER'S MANUSCRIPT JOURNAL OF BURNSIDE'S NORTH CAROLINA EXPEDITION. TRAVER, Lorenzo. $2,000 - $3,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: ONE OF THE EARLIEST PHOTOGRAPHIC BOOKS ON DERMATOLOGY. HARDY. Clinique Photographique... 1868. $3,000 - $5,000
  • Bonhams, June 16-24: KELMSCOTT PRESS. RUSKIN. The Nature of Gothic. 1892. $1,500 - $2,500
    Bonhams, June 16-24: ASHENDENE PRESS. The Wisdom of Jesus. 1932. $2,000 - $3,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: CHARLOTTE BRONTE WRITES AS GOVERNESS. Autograph Letter Signed, 1851. $15,000 - $25,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: FIRST AMERICAN EDITION OF WUTHERING HEIGHTS. BRONTE, Emily. New York, 1848. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: IAN FLEMING ASSOCIATION COPY. You Only Live Twice. London, 1964. $7,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: DELUXE EDITION WITH ORIGINAL PAINTING. BUKOWSKI, Charles. War All the Time. 1984. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: EINSTEIN'S MOST POWERFUL STATEMENT ON THE ATOMIC BOMB. Original Typed Manuscript Signed, "On My Participation in the Atom Bomb Project," 1953. $100,000 - $150,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: EINSTEIN ON SCIENCE, WAR AND MORALITY. Autograph Letter Signed, 1949. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI. WASHINGTON, George. Engraved document signed, 1786. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: AN EARLY CHINESE-MADE 34-STAR U.S. CONSULAR FLAG. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH OF LINCOLN WITH HIS SON TAD. 1864. $60,000 - $90,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: MALCOLM X WRITES FROM KENYA. Postcard signed, 1964. $4,000 - $6,000

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