Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - April - 2006 Issue

Book Arts From The Veatchs

Item 214 is a collection of type specimen books.

Item 214 is a collection of type specimen books.


Theodore Bachaus perhaps did not take paper quite so seriously. His book sounds serious enough: Ceremonial Paper of America. An Investigation into Their Variety, Uses, and Properties with an Essay on Their Psychological Effects on the Life of Our Time. It includes 14 mounted paper specimens. However, it turns out the ceremonial papers are toilet paper, this being a spoof of a serious book published a year earlier. A 15th, tipped-in specimen includes the motto "Stamp Out Hitler" with a caricature of the monster. The publication date explains that one - 1938. This is number 11 of just 30 copies printed, and bears the signature of Bachaus. This rare book was published by the Golden Hind Press. Item 52. $350.

Item 75 is a special edition of Robert Frost's Mending Wall. Published in 2001 by Seattle's Holburne Press, this copy unfolds to be 38 inches long. You pull on the granite "stones" in the book, and a rock wall pops up, with the words "Good fences make good neighbors," in various typefaces. This is one of 100 copies, designed by Margery Hellmann. I'm not sure, but it sounds like a pop-up book for adults. $165.

Item 50 is a book almost as attractive as the residences it depicts: Villas on the Hudson, by Austin Turner. This 1860 book contains 31 photo-lithographs of "country residences" along the Hudson River. Included are floor plans for these country homes of the wealthy at this decisive moment in American history. This book is most unusual as the photo-lithographs have been colored, very uncommon for photography. $8,000.

For those who collect type specimens, item 214 is a collection. It includes 18 specimen books dated 1908-1943. $1,000.

The Veatchs may be found online at www.veatchs.com, or reached by phone at 413-584-1867.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Book Week
    December 9-17, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Francesco Colonna. Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Nausea. De principiis dialectices Gorgias, and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Billon. Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur, Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Book Week
    December 9-17, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.
  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!

Review Search

Archived Reviews