James Cummins Bookseller has issued Catalogue 142 Fine Books & Manuscripts. There are many significant and important items, including personally written manuscripts by notable people. However, they don't fit within any particular category. There is a wide array of subjects and categories of material offered. Here are a few samples.
We will begin with an import piece of Americana by one of if not the greatest leader in the country's history. Abraham Lincoln was not a notable political figure when he ran for the senate in Illinois in 1858. He was but a one-term congressman, out o...
The Kelmscott Bookshop has issued their Catalog 18, long title Artists' Books & Private Press, Miniature Books, Movables, History, Literature, Art, Travel & Exploration, & More. That's ...
Honey & Wax Booksellers has published their catalogue No. 10. Honey & Wax catalogues are always exciting and different if impossible to describe. There is a mix of material that defies desc...
Bull's Head Rare Books has published their second catalogue, appropriately called Catalogue Two. Also, Not Fair. Why isn't it fair? Is it unfair? Or maybe the condition of the material is better th...
The Lawbook Exchange has published a catalogue of Recently Acquired Rare Books and Manuscripts in Law and Related Fields – America, Great Britain and Europe, 16th to 20th Centuries. That cove...
Shapero Rare Books has published a catalogue of Baedeker & General Travel Guides. This is the fourth catalogue of Baedeker-plus guides Shapero has created, which we assume means these guides mu...
The Veatchs Arts of the Book has published their Catalogue 98 New Acquisitions, including Artists' Books, Bindings, Calligraphy, and Typography. That makes describing what's in this selection easy,...
Zephyr Used and Rare Books has published a catalogue of Fall & Winter Excavations. It is filled with ephemeral items, numerous trade catalogues, photo albums, archives, some forgotten twentieth...
David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books has issued a new catalogue, no. 186, of Rare Americana. As always, these are filled with fascinating material relating to America (with an occasional exceptio...
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.