Rare Book Monthly Articles - July - 2023 Issue

Montana: A Paper Trail. A Review

Recently I received a heavy package that contained a copy of Thomas Minckler’s book detailing his collection of Montanaiana.  It is large in every respect; 10.25” x 12.25” x 1.5”, 440 pages with images on more than 80% of them.  It weighs 6+ lbs.  And oh yes, he has 12,000 items relating to his magnificent obsession of which several hundred are contextualized and explained.  Welcome to collecting nirvana! <-------- Click on these images and they become a full size slide show!! Over the years I’ve received a thousand or more dealer catalogues and umpteen auction catalogues.  Anymore, mo...

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Did ChatGPT Learn Its Lesson About Old Books?

An article in Palm Springs' Desert Sun recently caught my eye. Writer Mike Rivkin said he had asked ChatGPT to identify five categories of antiques that were rising and five in decline. He said Cha...

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Sotheby’s: Bibliotheca Brookeriana will be coming into the rooms

On October 11, Sotheby’s will inaugurate a series of sales the likes of which, in terms of celebrity, magnitude, and value, has not been seen in the book world since the heady days of the Papal Cou...

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Old Books; Old is often not enough

Rare Book Hub is a paid self-appraisal service. Nevertheless, we frequently receive requests for free “advice” about what an owner should do with their old books.  Over the years, from their random...

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The Lament of the Beast of Gévaudan

I received an obscure manuscript from the South of France the other day, dealing with a mysterious animal that devoured more than a hundred people between 1764 and 1767—the infamous Beast of Gévaud...

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A Happy Ending for Bookstore Victimized by Theft

Recently, 15 books were stolen from Graffiti Books in the town of Montana, just north of Pretoria, in South Africa. They were all copies of the same book, Truth to Power: My Three Years Inside Esko...

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Where has the truth gone?

Where has the truth gone?     Facts have become malleable in a world where traditional sources have been set in competition against loud voices that tell you what you want to hear.   Daily ne...

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Library Book Returned 81 Years Late. Perhaps the Borrower Thought He Was Doing Other Patrons a Favor Keeping It.

There seems to have been a rash of stories about long overdue library books being returned many years late recently. Perhaps people's consciences have become more sensitive, or maybe it's because m...

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Case Auctions July 8 & 9: A Summer Gem

On July 8 9 Case Auctions will soon be holding a two day sale featuring “fine art, antiques, and jewelry and a solid 150 lots of ephemera, manuscripts, early images, relics and flags.  Do I now ha...

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Censorship Is Not Just an American Problem

Library censorship has become a major concern in the United States this past year, but the issue is not limited to America. Other nations are ahead of us, and as such, perhaps, provide a road map a...

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Seven New Catalogues Reviewed for July

This month we review seven new catalogues in the field of books and related paper. They represent seven different subjects. Shapero Rare Books offers a collection of modern first editions. Bulls He...

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Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD
  • Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction May 27th
    Ketterer Rare Books, May 27:
    K. Marx, Das Kapital,1867. Dedication copy. Est: € 120,000
    Ketterer Rare Books, May 27:
    Latin and French Book of Hours, around 1380. Est: € 25,000
    Ketterer Rare Books, May 27:
    Theodor de Bry, Indiae Orientalis, 1598-1625. Est: € 80,000
    Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction May 27th
    Ketterer Rare Books, May 27:
    Breviary, Latin manuscript, around 1450-75. Est: € 10,000
    Ketterer Rare Books, May 27:
    G. B. Piranesi, Vedute di Roma, 1748-69. Est: € 60,000
    Ketterer Rare Books, May 27:
    K. Schmidt-Rottluff, Arbeiter, 1921. Orig. watercolour on postcard. Est: € 18,000
    Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction May 27th
    Ketterer Rare Books, May 27:
    Breviarium Romanum, Latin manuscript, 1474. Est: € 20,000
    Ketterer Rare Books, May 27:
    C. J. Trew, Plantae selectae, 1750-73. Est: € 28,000
    Ketterer Rare Books, May 27:
    M. Beckmann, Apokalypse, 1943. Est: € 50,000
    Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction May 27th
    Ketterer Rare Books, May 27:
    Ulrich von Richenthal, Das Concilium, 1536. Est: € 9,000
    Ketterer Rare Books, May 27:
    I. Kant, Critik der reinen Vernunft, 1781. Est: €12,000
    Ketterer Rare Books, May 27:
    Arbeiter-Illustrierte Zeitung (AIZ) / Die Volks-Illustrierte (VI), 1932-38. Est: €8,000

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