Rare Book Monthly Articles - March - 2021 Issue

A Death In The Family: Remembering Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1919 - 2021)

There was a time when today’s gray beards and white tops were bright-eyed pioneers, forging pathways and persuading American youth to join them in a ‘Great Liberation’ of the soul, body, and mind. They called it freedom from the old ways, death to ‘the Establishment’.   That colorful generation of nay-sayers gave us many heroes: a prince among them was Lawrence Ferlinghetti, poet, publisher, consummate bookman. His famed bookstore, City Lights, 261 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco, became a touchstone for those who identified with the so-called Beat generation. But the bookstore was more th...

Finding Shakespeare and Pocahontas with the Aid of Rare Book Hub and Further Research!

I usually buy Paper and not Books per se. However my interest is in contemporary  reportage so I include printed English Chronicles from the 16th and 17th century such as Abbot, Purchas, Cooper, Ca...

Census of First Edition of Newton's Principia Yields More Copies than Anyone Knew Existed

If you are wondering where you can find a first edition of Isaac Newton's Principia, in fact, where you can locate every known copy still in existence, a preliminary report issued last fall will gi...

Small Museum in Asheville, N.C. Meets The Challenges of the Pandemic

Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center carries on in difficult times   Black Mountain College was a famous experimental college founded in 1933. Many of the school's faculty and students wou...

Joubert de la Rue, A Savage Satire of French Society

In the wake of Montesquieu’s Lettres Persanes (1721), fake epistolary works from alleged travellers became a sure way to draw a satirical portrait of society. Thus, while pretending to be an Americ...

Home For Sale Perfect for Someone Needing a Massive Library

For those requiring a substantial library, we have found just the right home for you. It will be most convenient for those already living in England, but if not, it is worth the move. This is truly...

California Book Fair Virtual Tours: March 4-6, 2021

Imagine walking through the California International Antiquarian Book Fair with some of the foremost experts in a collecting field, listening as they discuss the significance of items offered for s...

How to Shop a Virtual Book Fair

Here is an article we all need if we are interested to go online to a virtual rare book fair.  Most people instinctively understand that when you go to a brick and mortar book fair you know how to ...

The Literary Way of Death

Covid-19 has changed everything. The losses are deep and personal. We lose friends and family, we also lose some of our own possibilities.    Yet as history shows, disaster often invites an explo...

Joe Maddalena of Profiles in History has joined Heritage

Heritage’s news release explains it this way:   “Joe Maddalena, the founder and CEO of Profiles in History, has joined Heritage in the role of Executive Vice President.  When Joe reached out to u...

Italian Senator Acquitted in Case Related to the Massive Girolamini Library Book Theft

In an offshoot of the massive Girolamini Library theft case, former Italian Senator Marcello Dell'Utri has been acquitted of the charges leveled against him. Dell'Utri was once a powerful politicia...

PBA Remembering the Beats, the Counterculture, and the Literary on March 18th

(Berkeley, California, February 25th, 2021) – PBA Galleries’ upcoming auction of Fine Literature with Beats, Bukowski and Counterculture on March 18th, 2021 pays homage to Ferlinghetti with several...

Leslie Hindman: Literature from a Private New Orleans Collection: Sale 855

Live and Online March 19,2021 / 10:00am CST   Leslie Hindman:  Lots of Fun on March 19th   The Hindman Company of Chicago and Palm Beach is offering an appealing sale of Literature from a Priv...

Overdue Library Book Returned 82 Years Late, and It's a Good Thing They Waited So Long

A library book has been returned 82 years overdue and that's a good thing. It probably wouldn't have survived if returned on time.   Jordan Muscyscyn (pronunciation unknown) was working in his at...

Will the Yale Library Deliberately Suffocate You if There is a Fire?

Will the Yale University Library deliberately suffocate its patrons if there's a fire? Do we even need to ask this question? Yes. Many people believe it. This is an old story that recently made the...

One New Catalogue Review

This month we have only one new catalogue to review. It comes from Shapero Rare Books and it is a new selection of travel guides from Baedeker and other publishers. It can be found at this link: Cl...

Rare Book Monthly

  • Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Isaac Newton on chemistry and matter, and alchemy, Autograph Manuscript, "A Key to Snyders," 3 pp, after 1674. $100,000 - $150,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Exceptionally rare first printing of Plato's Timaeus. Florence, 1484. $50,000 - $80,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: On the Philosophy of Self-Interest: Adam Smith's copy of Helvetius's De l'homme, Paris, 1773. $40,000 - $60,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: "Magical Calendar of Tycho Brahe" - very rare hermetic broadside. Engraved by Merian for De Bry. c.1618. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Author's presentation issue of Einstein's proof of Relativity, "Erklärung der Perihelbewegung des Merkur aus der allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie." 1915. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: First Latin edition of Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed. Paris, 1520. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: De Broglie manuscript on the nature of matter in quantum physics, 3 pp, 1954. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Tesla autograph letter signed on electricty and electromagnetic theory. 1894. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Heinrich Hertz scientific manuscript on his mentor Hermann Von Helmholtz, 1891. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: The greatest illustrated work in Alchemy: Micheal Maier's Atalanta Fugiens. Oppenheim, 1618. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Illustrated Alchemical manuscript, a Mysterium Magnum of the Rosicurcians, 18th-century. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Rare Largest Paper Presentation Copy of Newton's Principia, London, 1726. The third and most influential edition. $60,000 - $90,000
  • Doyle, May 1: Thomas Jefferson expresses fears of "a war of extermination" in Saint-Dominigue. $40,000 to $60,000.
    Doyle, May 1: An exceptional presentation copy of Fitzgerald's last book, in the first issue dust jacket. $25,000 to $35,000.
    Doyle, May 1: The rare first signed edition of Dorian Gray. $15,000 to $25,000.
    Doyle, May 1: The Prayer Book of Jehan Bernachier. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Doyle, May 1: Van Dyck's Icones Principum Virorum Doctorum. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Doyle, May 1: The magnificent Cranach Hamlet in the deluxe binding by Dõrfner. $7,000 to $10,000.
    Doyle, May 1: A remarkable unpublished manuscript of a voyage to South America in 1759-1764. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Doyle, May 1: Bouchette's monumental and rare wall map of Lower Canada. $12,000 to $18,000.
    Doyle, May 1: An rare original 1837 abolitionist woodblock. $8,000 to $12,000.
    Doyle, May 1: An important manuscript breviary in Middle Dutch. $15,000 to $25,000.
    Doyle, May 1: An extraordinary Old Testament manuscript, circa 1250. $20,000 to $30,000.
  • Gonnelli
    Auction 51
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 14st 2024
    Gonnelli: Leonard Bramer, The descent from the cross, 1634. Starting price 3200€
    Gonnelli: Gustav Hjalmar de Morner Karel, Rome’s Carnival, 1820. Starting price 1000€
    Gonnelli: Various Authors, Mater Dolorosa, 1700. Starting price 200€
    Gonnelli: Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Carcere Oscura, 1790. Starting price 180€
    Gonnelli: Jan Brueghel, Marine fauna view, 1620 ca. Starting price 28000€
    Gonnelli: Ippolito Scarsella, Mary and Christ with Sant Rocco and Arch-Angel Michele,1615. Starting price 8000€
    Gonnelli: Hans Sebald Beham, Adam and Eve, 1543. Starting price 600€
    Gonnelli: Francesco Burani, Baccanale, 1630. Starting Price 280€
    Gonnelli: Giuseppe Maria Mitelli, Plance from Ventiquattr’ore, 1675. Starting price 800€
    Gonnelli: Giuseppe Angeli, Livorno’s Plan, 1793. Starting price 240€
    Gonnelli: XIV Century Artist, Capital “N” letter, 1350 ca. Starting price 340€
  • 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

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