This month we review our first catalogue from Simon Beattie Antiquarian Books and Music of Chesham, Buckinghamshire, U.K. It carries the deceivingly simple title Short List 2. For those who believe there is nothing new in bookseller catalogues, you need to get your hands on a copy. This is the largest catalogue I have seen, folio or elephant folio, depending on whose terminology you use (12 x 16). Most of the catalogue is devoted to large images of the books being offered, with only the last few pages used for the descriptions, thorough but in small type. It is indeed a short list - just 25...
David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books has issued their 117th catalogue of Rare Americana. Lesser's catalogues specialize in pamphlets and shorter form pieces pertaining to America, mostly from the...
This month we review our first catalogue from Voyager Press Rare Books & Manuscripts. Voyager Press is located in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, and is headed up by Bernhard Lauser. Logically, for a ...
Yeoman's in the Fork has issued their first printed catalogue, aptly titled 2011 Catalog - One. Yeoman's has been selling books for several years, but is now venturing into print. As Director of Op...
In a Gallup poll conducted this past President's Day, Americans selected the "greatest" President of the United States. Reagan, Clinton and Kennedy all beat out George Washington. How soon we forge...
Marc Selvaggio, Books & Ephemera (or as he has restyled his name for this catalogue, Marc Selvaggio, Bibliohydrologist) has issued a catalogue on Water in the American West. National security, ...
The Veatchs Arts of the Book has issued Catalogue 68. New Acquisitions for a New Year. The Veatchs offer books that double as works of art, featuring such items as fine bindings, private press book...
Bernard and Stephane Clavreuil of Librairie Thomas-Scheler of Paris have just issued a new catalogue: Livres Ancien du XVI au XIX siecle (Antiquarian Books of the 16th-19th century). As would...
The Arader Galleries will be conducting a syndicated distribution of hand-colored lithographic plates from ornithologist/artist John Gould's most spectacular work: A Monograph of the Tro...
Back of Beyond Books recently published their Rare Book Catalogue #4. Back of Beyond specializes in books relating to the American Southwest. There are works of nonfiction, including natural histor...
Bernard J. Shapero Rare Books has released their catalogue of Travel 2011 Part I. From this we will infer that there will be at least one more travel catalogue before the year is out. It is broken ...
Knuf Rare Books has issued a catalogue of Old & Rare Books about Books. Knuf Rare Books is located in Vendome, France, so not surprisingly, most books are from France. However, the catalogue it...
The Columbia Trading Company has published Catalog 151, dated January-February, 2011. We are only very slightly late on this review, close enough to call it, in effect, if not actuality, on time. C...
David Schulson Autographs has released their Winter Sale Catalog 2011. We would encourage those who collect autographed material to get a hold of this catalogue quickly as winter is almost over, an...
Lorne Bair Rare Books, together with Between the Covers, has issued a catalogue of 101 Books from the Library of Ben and Bernarda Bryson Shahn. Ben Shahn was one of America's most notable artists o...
James Cummins Bookseller and the William Reese Company have combined to produce a catalogue of The Charles Cramer Archive. It is not a typical bookseller's catalogue. It contains but one item, thou...
Gert Jan Bestebreurtje Rare Books has issued a new catalogue entitled Shipwrecks & Piracy, Colonial & Maritime History. Bestebreurtje is located in the Netherlands, and the Dutch were leade...
James Pepper Rare Books has released Catalogue 199 in their almost monthly series. The formula is similar, and obviously successful. They offer a mix of material related to film and theater, with l...
The William Reese Company has issued Bulletin 18: American Historical Manuscripts. This is a collection of handwritten documents pertaining to American issues from the 18th and 19th centuries...
Phillip J. Pirages Fine Books and Manuscripts recently published their Catalogue 60. Medieval, Renaissance, and Modern (Mostly Illuminated) Manuscript Material as well as Books Printed before 1700 ...
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 156: Cornelis de Jode, Americae pars Borealis, double-page engraved map of North America, Antwerp, 1593.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 206: John and Alexander Walker, Map of the United States, London and Liverpool, 1827.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 223: Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, hand-colored double-page engraved world map, Antwerp, 1575.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 233: Aaron Arrowsmith, Chart of the World, oversize engraved map on 8 sheets, London, 1790 (circa 1800).
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 239: Fielding Lucas, A General Atlas, 81 engraved maps and diagrams, Baltimore, 1823.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 240: Anthony Finley, A New American Atlas, 15 maps engraved by james hamilton young on 14 double-page sheets, Philadelphia, 1826.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 263: John Bachmann, Panorama of the Seat of War, portfolio of 4 double-page chromolithographed panoramic maps, New York, 1861.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 265: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1558.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 271: Abraham Ortelius, Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Antwerp: Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 283: Joris van Spilbergen, Speculum Orientalis Occidentalisque Indiae, Leiden: Nicolaus van Geelkercken for Jodocus Hondius, 1619.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 285: Levinus Hulsius, Achtzehender Theil der Newen Welt, 14 engraved folding maps, Frankfurt: Johann Frederick Weiss, 1623.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 341: John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, Plate 26, London, 1827.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.
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>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/00d5fd41-2542-4a80-b119-4886d4b9925f.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.")
