Rare Book Monthly Reviews - August - 2019 Issue

Magnificent Books and Photographs from the 19th Century Shop

Magnificent Books and Photographs from the 19th Century Shop

The 19th Century Rare Book & Photograph Shop has published a catalogue of Magnificent Books & Photographs. There's not much you can add to that. I will only say that "magnificent" is not an exaggeration. I imagine the unidentified man on the cover, who must be Walt Whitman, would probably agree, since a first edition of Leaves of Grass and other Whitman items are found in this catalogue. Here are a few other examples of what can be found in this selection.
 
As we are in the midst of political debate season, there seems nowhere more appropriate to start than with the most sig...

Law and Related Fields 15th-20th Centuries from the Lawbook Exchange

Law and Related Fields 15th-20th Centuries from the Lawbook Exchange

The Lawbook Exchange has published a new catalogue with the lengthy title Books, Manuscripts and Ephemera on Law and Related Fields, America, Great Britain and Europe, 15th to 20th Centuries. Or, t...

Read More
Colonial and Revolutionary Americana from the George S. MacManus Company

Colonial and Revolutionary Americana from the George S. MacManus Company

The George S. MacManus Company has issued a catalogue of Colonial and Revolutionary America. This is the first of three planned catalogues on the subject. Even these encompass only a small part of ...

Read More
"Oh, The Places We Will Go" with Zephyr Used & Rare Books

"Oh, The Places We Will Go" with Zephyr Used & Rare Books

Zephyr Used & Rare Books has published a catalogue titled "Oh, The Places We Will Go." This refers not just to physical places, in effect a travel catalogue, but to new technology, ideas, and s...

Read More
Antiquarian and Rare Books from Erasmushaus

Antiquarian and Rare Books from Erasmushaus

Erasmushaus has published their Catalogue 930. The only other title is Rare Books, which these are. We might add to that antiquarian. Most of what is found is of a very aged vintage. The dates rang...

Read More
Avant-Garde Book Design 1915-2000 from  Ursus Rare Books

Avant-Garde Book Design 1915-2000 from Ursus Rare Books

Ursus Rare Books has issued a catalogue of Avant-Garde Book Design 1915-2000. These are cutting edge designs, some ahead of their time, others, perhaps, short trips down a blind alley. Beauty is in...

Read More
Rare Americana from David Lesser Antiquarian Books

Rare Americana from David Lesser Antiquarian Books

David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books has issued their Catalogue 169 of Rare Americana. Primarily pamphlets, broadsides and various documents and manuscripts, there is something from the 17th thro...

Read More
Catalogue XXVIII of Unusual Material from Samuel Gedge, Ltd.

Catalogue XXVIII of Unusual Material from Samuel Gedge, Ltd.

Samuel Gedge Ltd. has published their Catalogue XXVIII. Typical of a Gedge catalogue, it is filled with unusual items, most several centuries old. Few are book length. There are more documents, bot...

Read More
South Carolina from L & T Respess Books

South Carolina from L & T Respess Books

L & T Respess Books has published a catalogue entitled South Carolina. This can reasonably be thought of as a companion to their recent catalogue on North Carolina. The books and documents in h...

Read More
Rare and Antiquarian Canadiana from Patrick McGahern Books

Rare and Antiquarian Canadiana from Patrick McGahern Books

Patrick McGahern Books has released a new catalogue of Canadiana Rare and Antiquarian Books. This is their Catalogue 278, and while everything at least touches on Canada, there are some items that ...

Read More
Other Places, Other Lives from Shapero Rare Books

Other Places, Other Lives from Shapero Rare Books

Shapero Rare Books has issued a catalogue entitled Other Places, Other Lives. Travel & Exploration. The travelers and explorers were mostly Europeans. The places they went were... everywhere! T...

Read More

Rare Book Monthly

  • 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.
  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!

Review Search

Archived Reviews