Rare Book Monthly Reviews - October - 2014 Issue

Modern Literature from Ken Lopez, Bookseller

Modern Literature from Ken Lopez, Bookseller

Ken Lopez, Bookseller has issued Catalog 163 – Modern Literature. “Modern” means overwhelmingly 20th century, mostly the second half of the century, and occasionally even more recent. Most items, as we might expect, are books, but there are manuscripts, letters, typescripts, magazine articles, and such. Much of the material was groundbreaking, or strange, depending on your point of view, in its time. Here are a few items from this selection of literary modernity.
 
We will start with a very rare book, a first edition, 14th printing of J. D. Salinger's Catcher in the...

An American Miscellany from Walkabout Books

An American Miscellany from Walkabout Books

Walkabout Books has issued their Catalogue Three. An American Miscellany. This is a selection of very American material, that is, the issues and discoveries described are quintessentially part of A...

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A Summer Miscellany from L & T Respess Books

A Summer Miscellany from L & T Respess Books

L & T Respess Books has published their List 295: A Late Summer Miscellany. Recent Acquisitions in Many Fields and Formats. This is certainly a miscellany. In other words, there is no particula...

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Voyages and Travel from Maggs Bros.

Voyages and Travel from Maggs Bros.

Maggs Bros. Ltd. has issued a catalogue of Voyages & Travel, the 1475th in their long history. It takes us back to a time when journeys were a major, often extremely dangerous undertaking. That...

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A New Selection of Children's Books from Aleph-Bet Books

A New Selection of Children's Books from Aleph-Bet Books

Aleph-Bet Books has released Catalogue 108 of Children's Books and Illustrated Books. This is a new selection of books that are mostly children's and illustrated books. Even those not so youth orie...

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Maritime Books and Images from the Ten Pound Island Book Company

Maritime Books and Images from the Ten Pound Island Book Company

The Ten Pound Island Book Company recently released their Maritime List 225 – Old, Rare, and Short. The contextual meaning of “old” and “rare” for this catalogue is ob...

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World's Fairs from Marc Selvaggio

World's Fairs from Marc Selvaggio

Marc Selvaggio, Books & Ephemera has issue a new collection of World's Fairs & Expositions. Since the first such fairs around the middle of the 19th century, these events have drawn worldwi...

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James Cummins Bookseller Offers a New Selection of Works

James Cummins Bookseller Offers a New Selection of Works

James Cummins Bookseller recently published their Catalogue 124. Cummins sells a variety of material, so it is hard to describe what can be found inside. Suffice it to say it is all significant, hi...

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European Pacific Discovery from Hordern House

European Pacific Discovery from Hordern House

Hordern House has prepared a catalogue of European Discovery 1538-1843. We will try our best to refrain from using the shorthand “Euro Disco” to describe this catalogue. Europeans &ldqu...

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Imprints Relating to America from David Lesser Antiquarian Books

Imprints Relating to America from David Lesser Antiquarian Books

David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books has issued their No. 139 of Rare Americana – A Catalogue of Significant and Unusual Imprints Relating to America. It includes books, pamphlets, broadsid...

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Military History from Asher Rare Books and the Antiquariaat Forum

Military History from Asher Rare Books and the Antiquariaat Forum

Asher Rare Books and the Antiquariaat Forum have released a catalogue of Military History. The focus is on equipment and wars in Europe from centuries past. There is much to write about. With so ma...

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Rare Book Monthly

  • 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.
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  • 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.

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