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Heritage Auctions, June 27
F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925Heritage Auctions, June 27
Mary Shelley
Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus
London: Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, 1818Heritage Auctions, June 27
J. R. R. Tolkien
The Hobbit; or, There and Back Again
London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1937Heritage Auctions, June 27
Jane Austen
Emma: A Novel. In Three Volumes. By the Author of "Pride and Prejudice," &c. &c.
London: Printed for John Murray, 1816Heritage Auctions, June 27
Robert Louis Stevenson
An Inland Voyage
London: C. Kegan Paul & Co., 1878Heritage Auctions, June 27
Ernest Hemingway
Three Stories & Ten Poems
Paris: Contact Publishing Co., 1923Heritage Auctions, June 27
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark
History of the Expedition under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark
Philadelphia, 1814Heritage Auctions, June 27
Emily Dickinson
Autograph letter signed ("Emily and Vinnie"), to Mary Adelaide Hills
Amherst, MA, Late April, 1880Heritage Auctions, June 27
John Keats
Autograph letter signed ("John Keats"), to Mrs. Jeffrey
Honiton 4 or 5 May 1818Heritage Auctions, June 27
Samuel Johnson
A Dictionary of the English Language: In which the Words are deduced from their Originals…
London, 1765Heritage Auctions, June 27
H. P. Lovecraft
Small archive of nine lengthy autograph letters signed variously over a period of six years to J. Vernon Shea.
Various places, 1931-1937Heritage Auctions, June 27
Izaak Walton
The Compleat Angler or the Contemplative Man's Recreation…
London: T. homas Maxey for Rich. ard Marriot, 1653 -
Freeman’s | Hindman, June 25: [Keats, John] Spenser, Edmund: The Works of that Famous English Poet, Mr. Edmond Spenser. $50,000 - $80,000.Freeman’s | Hindman, June 25: (Walton, Izaak): The Compleat Angler or the Contemplative man's Recreation. Being a Discourse of Fish and Fishing. $30,000 - $50,000.Freeman’s | Hindman, June 25: Thomas, Gabriel: An Historical and Geographical Account of the Province and Country of Pensilvania; and of West-New-Jersey in America. $25,000 - $35,000.Freeman’s | Hindman, June 25: [Carroll, Lewis]: The Game of Alice in Wonderland. $2,000 - $3,000.Freeman’s | Hindman, June 25: Athias, Joseph, et al.: Biblia Hebraica. $7,000 - $10,000.Freeman’s | Hindman, June 25: [Warhol, Andy, and Jens Quistgaard] Dansk Designs Salesman's Presentation Catalogue. $2,500 - $3,500. -
Sotheby’s
Modern First Editions
Available for Immediate PurchaseSotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USDSotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USDSotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USDSotheby’s
Modern First Editions
Available for Immediate PurchaseSotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USDSotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USDSotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD -
Old World Auctions (Jun 5-19):
Lot 4. Blaeu's Magnificent Carte-a-Figures World Map in Full Contemporary Color (1642) Est. $12,000 - $15,000Old World Auctions (Jun 5-19):
Lot 125. 1775 Edition of the Landmark Fry-Jefferson Map of Virginia and Maryland (1775) Est. $15,000 - $18,000Old World Auctions (Jun 5-19):
Lot 673. Rare Frontispiece in Full Contemporary Color with Gilt Highlights (1662) Est. $4,000 - $4,750Old World Auctions (Jun 5-19):
Lot 717. Complete Tanner Atlas with Important Maps of Texas & Iowa (1845) Est. $4,000 - $4,750Old World Auctions (Jun 5-19):
Lot 3. Henricus Hondius' Baroque-Style World Map (1641) Est. $9,500 - $11,000Old World Auctions (Jun 5-19):
Lot 258. Complete Set of De Bry's Native Virginians & Picts from Part I of Grands Voyages (1608) Est. $2,750 - $3,500Old World Auctions (Jun 5-19):
Lot 608. Superb Work on 18th Century Russia with over 100 Maps and Plates (1788) Est. $3,500 - $4,250Old World Auctions (Jun 5-19):
Lot 49. One of the Most Important 16th Century Maps of the New World (1556) Est. $5,000 - $6,000Old World Auctions (Jun 5-19):
Lot 706. Superb Image of the Annunciation in Contemporary Hand Color (1518) Est. $900 - $1,100Old World Auctions (Jun 5-19):
Lot 123. One of the Earliest Maps to Show Philadelphia (1695) Est. $4,000 - $4,750Old World Auctions (Jun 5-19):
Lot 631. One of the Earliest Printed Maps of Afghanistan & Pakistan (1482) Est. $1,900 - $2,200Old World Auctions (Jun 5-19):
Lot 689. Proof Copy Engraving of the Senate Floor During the Compromise of 1850 (1855) Est. $1,500 - $1,800
Rare Book Monthly
Articles - September - 2006 Issue
A New "Phishing" Expedition No One Should Believe
Email supposedly from the IRS invites the "phish" to apply for a tax refund.
By Michael Stillman
We have occasionally written about "phishing" expeditions, those ubiquitous emails we all get trying to con valuable information from us. From the legendary Nigerian scam, where an alleged wealthy former Nigerian official requested our bank account details so he could send us millions of dollars, to today's regular mailings supposedly from our banks, credit card companies, eBay, PayPal, Amazon and more, phishers look for valuable information. They want our bank account details, credit card numbers, passwords and the like. They attempt to sound like the real companies, so we will trust them with this data. Of course, if they were really these companies, they would already have this information, but no bother. If they can fool us into sending it, these frauds will be able to use it to steal from our accounts. Fortunately, most people are wise to their ways, though a few must still be fooled. Otherwise, why would they keep sending the stuff?
Some of these phishing attempts are fairly convincing, others downright laughable. Many I receive, obviously from overseas locations where English is a second language, or a third or fourth or barely a language at all, are a joke. I am certain that if Citibank ever sends me an email, it will be written by someone who speaks English at least as well as an average second grader. That's a tip. They may farm out their telephone answering to India, but they don't have their emails written in Romania, at least not yet. However, this most recent attempt to hook me was ridiculous not for its bad grammar, but for the patent absurdity of what it offered, and what it expected in return.
In this latest scam, the bait was a mere $63.80. Why would they offer so little when the "Nigerians" were offering millions of dollars? Probably they figured that by now I know no one is going to send me millions, but I might believe someone would give me $63.80. But, do you know who was supposedly offering me this money? The IRS! Can you imagine, the IRS offering to give me money, instead of taking it? I think the IRS offering to give me $63.80 is somewhat less likely than some Nigerian stranger offering to give me $10 million. This email obviously emanated from some foreign country where the natives know nothing about the IRS (America's Internal Revenue Service, or tax collectors for those of you who live in other lands).
The language was a bit stilted. The email said that my refund was determined "after the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity." What does that mean, in English? My "fiscal activity?" I engage in about as much "fiscal activity" as I engage in physical activity. Not much. However, while eBay or Amazon would never send such a message, government-speak is frequently legalistic and incomprehensible. Bad English, as long as grammatically correct, therefore does not give away an email allegedly from the government as being fake. The offer of money was far more suspicious than the awkward language.
