The year 2020 was a year like no other. The coronavirus pandemic was bad for way more businesses than it was good. Many went under. What would this mean for books and other paper collectibles? Would unemployment rates that soared higher than at any time since the Great Depression severely damage the trade, or would people stuck at home but not financially hurt exchange dollars usually spent on entertainment for building their collections? The experiences felt by many dealers was different, but for auctions of books and other paper collectibles, the answer was collectors repurposed those dol...
I was recently given a gift by an old friend, old enough to have achieved emeritus status both with the ABAA and AE RBH:
Annual Report of the American Rare, Antiquarian and Out-of-Print Book T...
Clarence Wolf of MacManus Rare Books has been writing some very interesting perspectives on events and people he has encountered over his career in the rare book world. He has a keen eye and a gi...
T. Craig McKinney, had a life-long love affair with old books and the sundry paraphernalia around them. He found them in attics, basements, garage sales, at country auctions and antique shops. I...
For the past 60 years, the Stuttgart Rare Book Fair has taken place in January in the southern German city from which it takes its name. It’s fair to call it “well established” in the trade. But li...
Everett Cleveland Wilkie, of Tow, Texas lost his life at the hands of Covid-19 on December 23rd, 2020. His roots ran deep along the Neuse River in Kinston, North Carolina where as a bright student...
In these tough economic times, numerous institutions – libraries, colleges, museums and such – have determined one way of relieving the burden is to sell their book collection. These attempted sale...
Already accepting bids by the time you read this, and closing on February 10th, Old World Auctions’ Sale #181 features several rare and historic pieces never before auctioned by them. Seven hund...
So close and yet so far! was my cry of disillusion when I read “Jeune” after “Thouvenin—” on the binding of a book I had just received from Germany. Well, I was still very pleased with my purchase,...
EXLIBRIS: Chances are unless you are a professional in the field of rare books, manuscripts and special collections, or operate at an elevated level in the book trade, the free EXLIBRIS listserv ho...
A new record price has been set for a baseball card, and this time it topped $5 million. The card is a Tops 1952 Mickey Mantle rookie card, sold by PWCC to Indianapolis native Rob Gough. The final ...
History through Commerce: the confluence of money and ideas converted into Certificates of Ownership
I’ve been reading two volumes, both photographic essays, that are collector’s guide books t...
A book store in England has turned to crowd sourcing to fund its business. This is not the often seen case of a bookstore trying to survive the pandemic through contributions from its loyal custome...
For February, we have reviewed seven new booksellers' catalogues. Type Punch Matrix is offering a selection of children's books. The Veatchs Arts of the Book has a new collection from the book arts...
Dominic Winter, May 14: Taylor (John). All the Workes of John Taylor the Water-Poet..., 1630. £1,000-1,500
Dominic Winter, May 14: Pierpont Morgan Collection. Catalogue of the Morgan Collection of Chinese Porcelains, 1904 & 1906. £2,000-3,000
Sotheby's Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
Sotheby's Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
Gonnelli Auction 59 Antique prints, paintings and maps May 20th 2025
Gonnelli: Pietro Aquila, Psyche and Proserpina,1690. Starting price 140€
Gonnelli: Jacques Gamelin, Memento homo quia pulvis es et in pulverem reverteris, 1779. Starting price 300€
Gonnelli: Giorgio Ghisi, The final Judgement, 1680. Starting price 480€
Gonnelli Auction 59 Antique prints, paintings and maps May 20th 2025
Gonnelli Goya y Lucientes Francisco, Los Proverbios.1877. Starting price 1000 €
Gonnelli: Domenico Peruzzini, Long bearded old man, 1660. Starting price 2200€
Gonnelli: Enea Vico, Leda and the Swan,1542. Starting price 140€
Gonnelli Auction 59 Antique prints, paintings and maps May 20th 2025
Gonnelli: Andrea Del Sarto [school of], San Giovanni Battista, 1570. Starting price 25000€
Gonnelli: Carlo Maratta, Virgin Mary and Jesus, 1660. Starting Price 1200€
Gonnelli: Louis Brion de La Tour, Sphére de Copernic Sphere de Ptolemée / Le Systême de Ptolemée. Le Systême de Ticho-Brahe…, 1766. Starting price 180€
Gonnelli Auction 59 Antique prints, paintings and maps May 20th 2025
Gonnelli: Marc’Antonio Dal Re, Ville di Delizia o Siano Palaggi Camparecci nello Stato di Milano Divise in Sei Tomi Con espressevi le Piante…, Tomo Primo, 1726. Starting price 7000€
Gonnelli: Katsushika Hokusai, Bird on a branch, 1843. Starting price 100€