Rare Book Monthly Reviews - December - 2003 Issue

Catalogue Review – Oak Knoll Catalogue 251

Catalogue Review – Oak Knoll Catalogue 251

By Mike Stillman

Oak Knoll Books is noted for selling “books about books,” and this latest catalogue is no exception. However, rather than breaking its offerings into many categories as usual, they have used just two this time: books about books and bibliography. And, while Oak Knoll always offers a healthy selection of bibliographies, they’ve outdone themselves this time with over 500 listings. There seem to be bibliographies of just about any kind of book you could dream of collecting.

There are numerous state bibliographies, and not just for California or Texas, but for smaller s...

Catalogue Review – Travel Books From Bernard J. Shapero

Catalogue Review – Travel Books From Bernard J. Shapero

By Mike Stillman

Mb>Bernard J. Shapero Rare Books has just released their latest catalogue, “Travel Books – Recent Acquisitions 2003.” Shapero is a London bookseller and most of the material re...

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Catalogue Review &#150;  South Americana<br>From Flo Silver Books

Catalogue Review &#150; South Americana<br>From Flo Silver Books

By Mike Stillman

Flo Silver’s catalogue titles, like old book titles, are very descriptive and very long. Her latest catalogue is titled “Catalogue 68: Mexico, Central, and South America: Archa...

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Catalogue Review:<br>James Cummins Bookseller

Catalogue Review:<br>James Cummins Bookseller

By Mike Stillman

James Cummins Bookseller has recently issued his “Catalogue 87.” It is a varied collection of 76 items and what they have in common is that each is uncommon.

An example of ...

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Catalogue Review: Color-Plate<br>Books from Heritage Book Shop

Catalogue Review: Color-Plate<br>Books from Heritage Book Shop

By Mike Stillman

It’s not very often that a catalogue comes along about which very little can be said. After all, books are themselves filled with words. So, here’s a catalogue that leaves me s...

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Catalogue Review: Periodicals<br>From William Reese Company

Catalogue Review: Periodicals<br>From William Reese Company

By Mike Stillman

Catalogue 228 is an unusual venture for the William Reese Company. Noted for handling many of the most important books and manuscripts of American history for the past quarter ...

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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.
  • Heritage Auctions
    Rare Books Signature Auction
    December 15, 2025
    Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tender is the Night. A Romance.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: Bram Stoker. Dracula. Westminster: Archibald Constable & Co., 1897.
    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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