Rare Book Monthly Reviews - December - 2018 Issue

Illustrated Books 1497-2011 from Ursus Rare Books

Illustrated Books 1497-2011 from Ursus Rare Books

Ursus Rare Books has published a catalogue of Illustrated Books 1497-2011. That doesn't leave out too many years of printing. Naturally, the illustrations are high points of these books. However, that does not mean these books aren't significant or interesting for reasons beyond their art. There are scientific, mathematical, architectural, historical, humorous, and other varieties of books herein with much to say as well as display. Here are a few of them.
 
This first book was written two thousand years ago, though obviously, a printed edition is not that old. Indeed, this one is le...

Pirates and Privateers from Daniel Crouch Rare Books

Pirates and Privateers from Daniel Crouch Rare Books

Daniel Crouch Rare Books, the specialist in maps, atlases, plans, sea charts, and voyages, has created a catalogue entitled X Marks the Spot. This is a spectacular catalogue, 188 pages of detailed ...

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Americana from Donald Heald Rare Books

Americana from Donald Heald Rare Books

Donald Heald Rare Books has published a catalogue of Americana. There are 100 items and they are pieces of Americana at the highest level. There is little in the way of obscurity here. These are im...

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The Unusual and Uncommon from Walkabout Books

The Unusual and Uncommon from Walkabout Books

Walkabout Books has released their Catalogue Five of Books, Manuscripts, Photographs, Archives, Ephemera. If you have a penchant for the odd, or a sense of humor, you are going to love this catalog...

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The Book Arts, Illustrated Books, Literature, First Appearances & More from the Kelmscott Bookshop

The Book Arts, Illustrated Books, Literature, First Appearances & More from the Kelmscott Bookshop

The Kelmscott Bookshop has printed their Catalog 16. What is there to be found? They have provided a concise summary: Artists' Books & Private Press, Movables, Miniature Books, Designer Binding...

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The American West and More from Back of Beyond Books

The American West and More from Back of Beyond Books

Back of Beyond Books has published their Rare Book Catalogue No. 20. Back of Beyond is noted as a specialist in books about the American Southwest, but their coverage has expanded substantially in ...

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Contemporary Accounts from Primary Sources Uncharted Americana

Contemporary Accounts from Primary Sources Uncharted Americana

Primary Sources Uncharted Americana has released its second catalogue, Catalogue 2 Fall 2018. As their name suggests, the material goes back to original sources for historic events. You get to part...

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A Miscellany from Jonathan A. Hill Bookseller

A Miscellany from Jonathan A. Hill Bookseller

The latest from Jonathan A. Hill Bookseller is Catalogue 224 A Miscellany. You may find many different things in a miscellany, but don't look for anything new. There are just degrees of antiquarian...

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Books, Manuscripts and Pamphlets from the Lawbook Exchange

Books, Manuscripts and Pamphlets from the Lawbook Exchange

The Lawbook Exchange has released a catalogue of Books, Manuscripts & Pamphlets 15th to 20th Centuries. This is a mix of legal items, from some very early and ancient codes to scholarly texts, ...

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Personal Collections and Items from Extraordinary Ordinary People from Langdon Manor Books

Personal Collections and Items from Extraordinary Ordinary People from Langdon Manor Books

Langdon Manor Books, subheaded The Extraordinary History of the Every Day, has released their Catalog 6. It is filled with documents, manuscripts, and photographs from "eve...

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Unusual and Unique Material Offered by Brian Cassidy Bookseller

Unusual and Unique Material Offered by Brian Cassidy Bookseller

Brian Cassidy Bookseller has issued Catalogue Fourteen. It contains, "archives, photographs, albums, manuscripts, scrapbooks, collections, ephemera, and other primary materials." There is much in h...

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Fine Press Books from John Windle Antiquarian Bookseller

Fine Press Books from John Windle Antiquarian Bookseller

John Windle Antiquarian Bookseller has issued a new "short list" of 34 Fine Press Books. These are mostly books that emanated from the fine presses of the Arts and Crafts Movement of the late 19th ...

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Important Books & Ephemeral Material from Raptis Rare Books

Important Books & Ephemeral Material from Raptis Rare Books

Raptis Rare Books has issued a new catalogue of important books and ephemeral material. Raptis divides their catalogues into sections which show what sort of items you can expect to find. These are...

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Expeditions and Travel from the Arctic to the Tropics from Antiquariat Kainbacher

Expeditions and Travel from the Arctic to the Tropics from Antiquariat Kainbacher

Antiquariat Kainbacher has issued their Katalog XVI, Von der Arktis in die Tropen Expeditionen und Reisen. That translates to "From the Arctic to the Tropics, Expeditions and Travel." That title no...

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Medical Books, Ancient Artifacts, Japanese Interest and More from James Tait Goodrich

Medical Books, Ancient Artifacts, Japanese Interest and More from James Tait Goodrich

James Tait Goodrich Antiquarian Books and Manuscripts has issued Catalogue Z-80 MMXVIII A.D. The subtitle provides more specificity: History of Medicine and Science, Pre-Columbian Artifacts, Medica...

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Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry and More from Whitmore Rare Books

Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry and More from Whitmore Rare Books

Whitmore Rare Books has issued their Catalogue 18. It is not topic-specific, and has no further title. What you will find is a mix, novels and nonfiction, throw in some poetry and children's books,...

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Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby's Book Week
    2 June - 9 July
    Sotheby’s, June 25: Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations, on its 250th anniversary. $180,000 to $250,000.
    Sotheby’s, June 17: Fontana, Lucio. Concetto Spaziale. 1967. Leporello en papier doré. Bel exemplaire signé. €4,000 to $€,000.
    Sotheby’s, June 25: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past”. $150,000 to $200,000.
    Sotheby’s, June 25: Washington, George (as First President). Washington decries “an ostentatious imitation, or mimickry of Royalty” in his Presidency. $250,000 to $500,000.
    Sotheby’s, June 17: Lope de Vega. Rare manuscrit autographe signé de la préface dédicatoire de "El Cardenal de Belen" (le cardinal de Bethléem), pièce composée en 1610. €40,000 to €60,000.
  • June 23rd, 24th & 25th 2026
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Medical Incunabula: Petit (Jean)publisher & Kerver (Thielman)printer. Regimen Sanitatis Salernitanum, sm. 8vo, Paris [1498]
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Hugo (Victor) [Wraxall (Lascelles)]. Les Miserable, 3 vols., 8vo, L. (Hurst & Blackett) 1862, First Authorized English Translation (copyright).
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Shelley (Mary Wollstonecraft). Frankenstein: or The Modern Prometheus, 8vo, 2 vols. in one, L. (G. & W.B. Whittaker, Ave-Maria-Lane) 1823.
    June 23rd, 24th & 25th 2026
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Cuisine: Anon. Cookery, Pastry, and Sweet Meats in three Books, Alphabetically Digested, 8vo 1710.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Lambert (Aylmer Bourke). A Description of the Genus Pinus, with Directions Relative to the Cultivation…, 2 vols. Sm. folio L. (Messrs. Weddell) 1832.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Botany: Curtis (William). Flora Londinensis: or Plates and Descriptions of such Plants as Grow Wild in the Environs of London, 2 vols. folio, London (B. White) 1777 – 1798.
    June 23rd, 24th & 25th 2026
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Le Moire (J.M.) Maple Leaves, Canadian History and Quebec Scenery (Third Series) 8vo Quebec (Hunter, Rose & Co.) 1865. First Edn.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: The Earliest Extant Printed House Contents Sale Catalogue in Ireland: Baillie, Auctioneer, Abby Street. A Catalogue of the Goods and Stock of the late Edward Wingfield…
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: William III King of England. Autograph Letter Signed ("William R") to an unnamed correspondent [possibly Charles-Henri de Lorraine] discussing his strategy against the French forces during the siege of Namur.
    June 23rd, 24th & 25th 2026
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: [Austen (Jane) (1785-1817]. Pride and Prejudice, 3 vols. sm. 8vo, L. (T. Egerton) 1813.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Heaney (Seamus). Ugolino, sm. folio D. (Dolmen) 1979, Limited Edn. No. 78/125 Copies, Signed by Seamus Heaney, Louis le Brocquy, Liam Miller and Andrew Carpenter.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Voltaire (F.M. Avouet de). Petits Ouvrages, attribues a M. de Voltaire, sm. folio manuscript, dated 1776, containing 9 works.
  • Bonhams, June 14-23: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presentation Gold Pocket Watch. Estimate: $20,000 - 30,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: Presentation Copy of the First Issue of the Lincoln Douglas Debates Signed by Abraham Lincoln in Pencil to a Sangamon County Illinois Republican. Estimate: $150,000 - 250,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: A Senate Resolution Signed in the Tense Days After the Union's Humiliating Defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run. Estimate: $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: Seven Passages to a Flight, an Artists Book with a Story Quilt by Faith Ringgold, the Publisher's Own Copy. Estimate: $80,000 - 120,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: A New Charter for Virginia, A Response to the First Armed Rebellion in the American Colonies. Estimate: $15,000 - 25,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: Earliest obtainable printing of the Bill of Rights. Estimate: $8,000 - 12,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: Edward Curtis Orotone. Estimate: $7,000 - 9,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: Owned by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: A Butter or Dessert Plate from FDR's State Dinner Service. Estimate: $3,000 - 5,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: An Early Large-Format Plan of the City of Washington. Estimate: $1,500 - 2,500
    Bonhams, June 14-23: Containing the First Map to Name the Hudson River. Estimate: $20,000 - 30,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: America's First Major Novelist, a Complete Chapter in Autograph Manuscript by James Fenimore Cooper. Estimate: $15,000 - 20,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: The Only Full-Length Book by Jefferson, with the Justly Famous Map. Estimate: $12,000 - 18,000
  • June 25, 2026
    Doyle, June 25: Houdini's biography, boldly signed. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Doyle, June 25: A volume from Abraham Lincoln's library, signed just before heading to Washington for his inauguration. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Doyle, June 25: A very early Confederate recruiting manual belonging to the chief commissary in Lee's Army. $600 to $800.
    Doyle, June 25: Rare hand-colored lithographs of the life of Napoleon. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Doyle, June 25: The "Holster Atlas" of the American Revolution. $5,000 to $8,000.
    Doyle, June 25: Jewish ceremonies in fine hand-colored engravings. $7,000 to $10,000.
    Doyle, June 25: A very rare work on Turkish military costume. $1,000 to $1,500.
    June 25, 2026
    Doyle, June 25: The most important illustrated work on the Mexican-American War. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Doyle, June 25: The finest illustrated book on Afghanistan. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Doyle, June 25: Henry Justice Ford St. George rescues the Princess from the horrible Dragon. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Doyle, June 25: A rare work of Prussian Army uniforms under Frederick William II, with exquisite hand-colored engravings. $800 to $1,200.
    Doyle, June 25: Lenny Bruce typed letter signed to a Village bohemian during his obscenity trials, with a manuscript note and drawing. $300 to $500.
    Doyle, June 25: Schiff's scarce Shanghai Sketchbook. $300 to $500.
    Doyle, June 25: The first accurate published representation of the American flag. $2,000 to $4,000.
  • Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 123. Celebrate 250 Years of Independence with Original Stars and Stripes (1790) Est. $1,400 - $1,700
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 20. Keulen's Spectacular Chart of the World Featuring California as an Island (1728) Est. $12,000 - $15,000
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 42. Schedel's Ancient World Map with Fantastic Humanoid Creatures (1493) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 591. Matching Set of 3 Stunning Globe Gores of Eastern Asia from Coronelli's 3.5 Foot Globe (1688) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 9. Speed's Popular World Map with Allegorical Representations of the Elements (1651) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 168. First Separate Map of Kansas & Nebraska Territories (1854) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 43. Only Macrobius Map with Britain Attached to Europe (1515) Est. $800 - $950
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 250. Rare Map of Boston and One of the Earliest Maps of the Revolutionary War (1775) Est. $2,000 - $2,300
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 79. Schenk's Uncommon Map Featuring Two Figurative Title Cartouches (1696) Est. $1,200 - $1,500
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 681. Hand-Colored Image of the Annunciation to the Shepherds (1502) Est. $800 - $950

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