Rare Book Monthly Reviews - December - 2017 Issue

American Personal Narratives from Langdon Manor Books

American Personal Narratives from Langdon Manor Books

Langdon Manor Books has issued their Catalog 3 American Personal Narratives. They describe their collection as "The Extraordinary History of the Every Day," and that is precisely what makes these photo albums, diaries and the like so fascinating. These are not life stories of great people but of "ordinary" people, people like the rest of us, extraordinary in their own way. You will be able to relate to these people in ways you can't to George Washington and Winston Churchill. They are not unlike us. Here are a few selections from a catalogue of material I find some of the most interesting t...

A Variety of Material from Raptis Rare Books

A Variety of Material from Raptis Rare Books

Raptis Rare Books has issued an untitled catalogue, but we know what is in it from the table of contents. Here it is: Religious & Philosophical Thought, History & Geography, Americana, Hero...

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The Latest Variety from Honey & Wax Booksellers

The Latest Variety from Honey & Wax Booksellers

Honey & Wax Booksellers has issued a new catalogue, simply No. 6. Honey & Wax catalogues are not easy to describe because they do not follow any particular format. There are many books with...

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Best of the West from the William Reese Company

Best of the West from the William Reese Company

The William Reese Company has published their 348th catalogue, Best of the West. That is, not coincidentally, the same name as that of a bibliography of the West that Reese published last year. Tha...

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Radical Causes from Lorne Bair Rare Books

Radical Causes from Lorne Bair Rare Books

Lorne Bair Rare Books has issued their Catalog 28. Bair specializes in radical literature, mostly from the left. Minority and workers' rights, economic justice, and similar causes dominate the mate...

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Counterculture and Whatever from Brian Cassidy, Bookseller

Counterculture and Whatever from Brian Cassidy, Bookseller

Brian Cassidy, Bookseller has issued Catalogue 12. There is no further explanation given and I suspect that is because he has as much trouble describing what is in here as I have. I could take the ...

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Travel Books from Peter Harrington

Travel Books from Peter Harrington

Peter Harrington has issued a new catalogue of Travel. The catalogue is new, the travels old. Most are from the 18th or 19th century, a few much older. They do come from times when European knowled...

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The Latest from The Veatchs Arts of the Book

The Latest from The Veatchs Arts of the Book

The Veatchs Arts of the Book has released their Catalogue 87 Fall 2017. It includes books and various ephemeral items in the book arts. The latter ranges from portfolios of artwork to individual br...

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Australia from Hordern House

Australia from Hordern House

Australian Bookseller Hordern House has released a catalogue of their homeland, titled simply Australia. That sort of says it all, but for more specificity, it is divided into eight sections as fol...

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Books for the Young from Aleph-Bet Books

Books for the Young from Aleph-Bet Books

Aleph-Bet Books has released their Catalogue 116 of Children's Books & Illustrated Books. Those two types are rarely an either or – virtually everything here is both for children and illu...

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Polyglossia, a World of Many Languages, from Shapero Rare Books

Polyglossia, a World of Many Languages, from Shapero Rare Books

Shapero Rare Books has issued a catalogue entitled Polyglossia, subtitled Printing and the Meeting of Minds. For those readers for whom "polyglossia" is not a part of their everyday vocabulary, it ...

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A Variety of Books and Ephemera from Whitmore Rare Books

A Variety of Books and Ephemera from Whitmore Rare Books

Whitmore Rare Books has published their Catalogue 16. It doesn't otherwise have a name or a description, so we can only say there is a variety of material. There are a couple of books over five cen...

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An Autumn Miscellany from L & T Respess Books

An Autumn Miscellany from L & T Respess Books

L & T Respess Books has published An Autumn Miscellany in a Variety of Subjects and Formats. We will leave our introduction at that as I really cannot find a unifying thread to describe the mat...

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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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