Rare Book Monthly Reviews - September - 2005 Issue

Old English Books and Manuscripts From Bernard J. Shapero Rare Books

Old English Books and Manuscripts From Bernard J. Shapero Rare Books

By Michael Stillman

The latest catalogue from Bernard J. Shapero Rare Books has arrived, English Books and Manuscripts to 1800. This is a diverse collection of primarily 17th and 18th century books covering a wide range of topics: politics, science, medicine, piracy, travel, executions, witchcraft and whatever else interested people in long ago times. These are works which make for some fascinating reading as well as antiquarian collecting. Here are a few samples.

Many people associate witchcraft trials with America as a result of some terrible events in Salem, Massachusetts, in the ...

A Western Sale From Arthur H. Clark

A Western Sale From Arthur H. Clark

By Michael Stillman

Catalogue 921 is similar yet different from the typical one issued by The Arthur H. Clark Company. It is similar in being filled with items of primarily western Americana. ...

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Bibliography and Reference from Forest Books of the U.K.

Bibliography and Reference from Forest Books of the U.K.

By Michael Stillman

This month we review our first catalogue from the British bookseller Forest Books. This is their catalogue number 104, Bibliography, Bookbinding, and Reference. It is an exce...

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The 16th-20th Century at L'Ancre Aldine

The 16th-20th Century at L'Ancre Aldine

By Michael Stillman

We have received our first catalogue from French bookseller L'Ancre Aldine. Located in the lovely city of Lyon, L'Encre Aldine offers a varied collection of 16th to 20th cent...

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Gunslingers and Other Characters of the Old West from Gene W. Baade

Gunslingers and Other Characters of the Old West from Gene W. Baade

By Michael Stillman

The latest catalogue from Gene W. Baade of Washington State, number 805, has just been published. Baade specializes in "Books on the West," that land of endless vistas, tall...

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Unusual Americana at Schoyer's Books

Unusual Americana at Schoyer's Books

By Michael Stillman

Schoyer's Books of Berkeley, California, recently issued two new catalogues. This month we'll look at the first, catalogue 118a, Recent Acquisitions in Americana & Western A...

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Private Press and Fine Printing from Oak Knoll Books

Private Press and Fine Printing from Oak Knoll Books

By Michael Stillman

Oak Knoll Books, of New Castle, Delaware, issued two new catalogues this summer. Oak Knoll is a specialist in "books about books." They are one of the premier resources for s...

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Two Esteemed Portraits From Martayan Lan

Two Esteemed Portraits From Martayan Lan

By Michael Stillman

This is a most unusual catalogue review for us. Usually, we describe catalogues full of books, and if not books, they offer manuscripts, periodicals, autographs or maps. Th...

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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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