Bibliography, Bookbinding and Reference from Forest Books
List of titles in a Portsmouth, New Hampshire, circulating library.
Across the sea, another huge sale would take place in 1911-1912: Catalogue of the Library of Robert Hoe... Hoe was a manufacturer of printing presses, using his wealth to build a collection beyond compare. When the auction was completed, two years after he died, it had taken in almost $2 million, several times the amount of any previous book auction in history. Item 212, £375 (US $616).
Now for one more auction, one which demonstrates that timing can be everything: The Library of Jerome Kern. Kern was a notable popular songwriter of the 1920s, famous for such songs as Ol' Man River, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, and The Way You Look Tonight. Kern was also a bibliophile, and invested some of his earnings building an outstanding collection. Unlike the previous collectors, Kern decided to put his library up for sale during his lifetime. The sale was a spectacular success. It took in $1.7 million, almost as much as the Hoe sale for one-tenth the number of books. Timing was everything. The sale took place in 1929, at the height of the Roaring Twenties, just before the stock market crash and the beginning of the Great Depression. It took many decades for most of his books to regain their 1929 values, and some have never returned to those lofty heights. Item 239. £65 (US $106).
Item 90 is an unrecorded item: Catalogue of the Circulating Library. No. 7 Exchange Buildings. At the Book Store and Book Bindery of Childs & March. This library was run from a now obscure bookshop in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. At the time, there were few public libraries, most being cooperative or commercial ventures. This library possessed 500-600 titles and for $6 per year, you could borrow up to two octavo size or four smaller books at one time. £575 (US $944).
Forest Books may be reached at +44 1949-842360 or bib@forestbooks.co.uk. Their website is www.forestbooks.co.uk.
You will find many of Forest Books's, books listed in "Books For Sale" on this site. Click here.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
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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. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
