Rare Book Monthly Reviews - July - 2004 Issue

Just &#147;Catalogue 89&#148; From <br>James Cummins, Bookseller

Just &#147;Catalogue 89&#148; From <br>James Cummins, Bookseller

By Michael Stillman

James Cummins Bookseller has released their latest catalogue and it comes with the appropriate name “Catalogue 89.” The name is appropriate as it’s hard to be much more descriptive than that. A James Cummins catalogue tends to offer a wide variety of books and manuscripts, making it hard to pigeonhole. The same applies to Catalogue 89. So here are a few samples of what’s inside.

Collectors of automobilia will be interested in item 5. It is a British title by J.H. Knight called Notes on Motor Carriages. The date is what is notable: 1896. Cummins describes it as “t...

Literary Firsts and More from<br>James S. Jaffe Rare Books

Literary Firsts and More from<br>James S. Jaffe Rare Books

By Michael Stillman

James S. Jaffe Rare Books has issued a catalogue focused on literary first editions, illustrated books, fine printing, and poetry. This is their 74th catalogue, though it is...

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Western Americana From William Reese

Western Americana From William Reese

By Michael Stillman

William Reese Company’s 232nd catalogue is a collection of “Western Americana.” The West was conquered a long time ago. You can cross from the Mississippi to the Pacific in...

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Women, Country Houses, and Perspective<br>From Charles Wood

Women, Country Houses, and Perspective<br>From Charles Wood

By Michael Stillman

What do women, country houses and perspective have in common? For one, they are all topics of Charles Wood's latest catalogue (I must admit that I'm stumped as to what the ...

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A Fascinating Collection of Antique Maps<br>From Jonathan Potter

A Fascinating Collection of Antique Maps<br>From Jonathan Potter

By Michael Stillman

We recently received a new catalogue of maps from Jonathan Potter Limited, called, logically enough, "A selection of Antique Maps from Jonathan Potter." While the catalogue ...

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Interesting and Unusual Americana from<br>David M. Lesser Antiquarian Books

Interesting and Unusual Americana from<br>David M. Lesser Antiquarian Books

By Michael Stillman

David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books has released a new offering entitled "Rare Americana--A Catalogue of Significant and Unusual Imprints Relating to America (No. 80)". A...

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Some Summer Reading

Some Summer Reading

By Bruce McKinney

One of the great pleasures of summer is the opportunity to gorge on books. In the year between our last great business, which we sold in 1988 and the current great challenge,...

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Rare Book Monthly

  • 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…
  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
  • 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.

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