Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - April - 2007 Issue

50 Fine Books for 2007 from Shapero Rare Books

Fifty Fine Books from Bernard J. Shapero


by Michael Stillman

Bernard J. Shapero Rare Books
has issued its catalogue of 50 Fine Books 2007. This is a collection of fifty stunningly beautiful illustrated books. Most are colored, though those that are not are still exceptional.

Topics are varied. There are beautiful bird books from Britain, Europe, Australia, North and South America. Quadrupeds, insects, and conches also get their due. There are several looks at Russia from the time of the czars, Egypt when its antiquities were just being rediscovered, fantastic views of the Himalayan and Pyrenees Mountains, Vienna, Amsterdam, Hong Kong and Pompeii. There are displays of horsemanship, both good and bad. There are portraits of the emperors of Turkey and the Indians of North America. Flora and gardens can be seen. There are beautifully illustrated tropical fish to be found. This truly is a magnificent collection of fine books, and here are a few examples.

Item 48 gives us one of the best looks available at America's Indians while their lives were still mostly untouched by Europeans. From 1832-1834, German Prince Maximilian traveled through America, going all the way up the Missouri River to present-day Montana. He wrote down his experiences with the tribes he met, while Artist Karl Bodmer painted their likenesses. Offered is a first edition from 1839-41 of Reise in das innere Nord-America..., four volumes with numerous hand-painted illustrations. Priced at £175,000 (British pounds, or approximate US equivalent of $337,988).

French explorer Jean-Baptise Chappe D'Auteroche visited Siberia in 1761. His journey was to observe the transit of Venus, but as his book will attest, he observed much more. His illustrated look at Siberia, its climate, people, wildlife and minerals, is presented in Voyage en Siberie, published in 1768. It also includes a translation of Krasheninnikov's description of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. Chappe D'Auteroche would travel to observe another transit of Venus off the California coast a decade later, but was fatally struck down by disease. Item 9. £11,000 (US $21,250).

For an even earlier view of Russia, item 8 is Reizen over Moskovie, door Persia en Indie... by Cornelis de Bruyn. De Bruyn was a Dutch painter who visited Moscow, Persia and India in 1701. This 1714 first edition includes a picture of Moscow, looking like not much more than a rural village. £9,500 (US $18,350).

Rare Book Monthly

  • Fonsie Mealy’s
    Summer Rare Book
    & Collectors’ Sale
    July 30-31, 2024
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: U.S. / European Shipping Archive 1800-1814. The Widow Bermingham & Sons Collection. €7,000 to €10,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Bunreacht na hÉireann. Constitution of Ireland. An important copy of the First Printing of De Valera’s new Constitution, approved in 1938. Signed by the Constitution Cabinet. €7,000 to €9,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: A Rare Complete Run of the Cuala Press Broadsides. €7,000 to €9,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s
    Summer Rare Book
    & Collectors’ Sale
    July 30-31, 2024
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Grose (Francis). The Antiquities of Ireland, 2vols. folio London (for S. Hooper) 1791. Magnificent Hand-Coloured Copy - Only 25 Copies. €3,000 to €5,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Cantillon (Richard). Essai sur la Nature du Commerce en General, Traduit de l'Anglois, Sm. 8vo London (Fletcher Gyles) 1756. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Gregory, (Lady Augusta). Spreading the News: The Rising of the Moon: The Poorhouse (with Douglas Hyde). Being Vol. IX of the Abbey Theatre Series. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s
    Summer Rare Book
    & Collectors’ Sale
    July 30-31, 2024
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Lavery (Lady Hazel). A moving series of three A.L.S. and a Telegram to Gen. Eoin O'Duffy, July-August 1927, expressing her grief at the death of Kevin O'Higgins. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Dampier (Wm.) Nouveau Voyage Autour du Monde, ou l'on descrit en particulier l'Isthme de l'Amerique…, 2 vols. in one, Amsterdam, 1698. €800 to €1,200.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Howell (James). Instructions for Forreine Travel Shewing by what Cours, and in what Compasse of Time…, London, 1642. €800 to €1,200.
    Fonsie Mealy’s
    Summer Rare Book
    & Collectors’ Sale
    July 30-31, 2024
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Rowling (J.K.) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 8vo, L. (Bloomsbury) 1999, First Edn., First Printing of Deluxe Collectors Edn. Signed. €800 to €1,200.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: James (Wm.) A Full and Correct Account of the Military Occurrences of The Late War Between Great Britain and The United States of America. 2 vols. Lond. 1818. €650 to €900.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: The Laws of the United States, Published by Authority, 3 vols. Philadelphia (Richard Folwell) 1796. €600 to €800.

Review Search

Archived Reviews

Ask Questions