Rare Book Monthly Articles - October - 2023 Issue

Be Prepared: Maui Fire A Wake Up Call For Us All

If you told me in July I’d be writing about disaster preparedness for an audience of rare book aficionados I would have scoffed at the idea. That was before August 8th when Lahaina, only a few miles from my house in Central Maui, burned to the ground. Most of you have seen the images on TV or social media. On August 7th Lahaina was a historic seaside West Maui town, a mecca for visitors and an economic engine for our island. By the evening of August 8th it was ashes, totally destroyed by one of the largest wildfire disasters in American history. Thousands of homes and commercial buildings...

Texas Passes a Censorship Law That Forces Booksellers to Enforce It Against Their Will

In this era of school library book bans, Texas has passed a new law that has booksellers up in arms. Pro-book people in general are not fans of censorship and bans, but this law goes a step further...

Christie's: Dancing in the Moonlight

Christie’s October Online auction is led by one of the most iconic works in the entire field of rare books: the Columbus Letter. It is the earliest obtainable edition of Christopher Columbus’s lett...

The 45th Annual Boston Book Fair: October 27-29

THE BOSTON INTERNATIONAL ANTIQUARIAN BOOK FAIR, RETURNS TO THE HYNES CONVENTION CENTER    This Three-day event features 110+ booksellers offering treasures from around the globe!   BOSTON, MA –...

The Boston Shadow Fair Lives!: October 28th

Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts and Nashua, New Hampshire.  MW Book Fairs, a collaboration between Wiggins Fine Books ABAA, SNEAB and Richard Mori Books, is pleased to announce that over 40 outstand...

Potter & Potter Brings the Swami back on October 28th

Ricky Jay, the magician, actor, and collector, is said to have died on November 24, 2018, but, somehow, he gloriously continues to reappear in the auction rooms.   Sotheby’s offered 700 of his lo...

The Future of the Past

Collectible paper has been prospering in the auction rooms for many years.  Over the prior 15 years it has been a given that the annual numbers would slowly increase.  When Covid hit no one knew wh...

Sylvester Stallone Started His Film Career by Stealing Books

The rich and famous attribute their success to many different influences. For famed movie actor Sylvester Stallone, one of his sources of success was stealing books. We need to stop right here and ...

Louis XVI in 1790 - of Locks and Other Deadly Matters

A lot has been said and written about Louis XVI, the French king who was beheaded in 1793. Yet a brochure entitled Vie de Louis XVI (Life of Louis XVI—Londres, 1790) recently attracted my attention...

Strikes Hit the World of Books and Media as American Labor Unrest Swells

The book world is not immune to the recent uptick in labor activism. What was originally dubbed the “summer of strikes,” shows every sign of continuing through the remainder of the year and beyond....

RR Auctions raises the bar for Ephemera

Not so long ago ephemera as a collectible category was an interesting idea that was busy being born.  Over the past 20 years it has been making the greatest gains in value and its place as a collec...

The Griggs saying Sayonara

We are retiring!  Oldmaps.com has been acquired by Bruce and Jenny McKinney’s RareBookHub.com.  We believe this is a positive development for all our subscribers.  RBH has the depth and expertise t...

Inaugural Empire State Book and Print Fair to Be Held October 5-7 in New York City

The Empire State Rare Book and Print Fair will debut in the heart of the Empire State, New York City, October 5-7. This promises to be a book fair unlike any others you have attended. Of course, th...

What Is The Largest Book Ever Published?

What is the largest book ever published? Honors for creating that book belong to a group of schoolchildren from Texas, who, with some help from adults, created the largest published book ever. Find...

Boxborough Paper Fair Returns October 14

Boxborough Paper Town will be returning to the only place it can truthfully be held this fall. It is set for Saturday, October 14, in Boxborough, Massachusetts, at the Boxborough Regency Hotel Con...

How to Get Good Reviews for Your Business (for the Ethically Challenged)

If you operate a book selling business, or any other for that matter, you undoubtedly know the importance of online customer reviews. As customers, I imagine most of us look at these when evaluatin...

Calling All Book Townies ... And Others: Ann Arbor Antiquarian Book Fair, October 1st -- Be There!

  A Benefit for the William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.   Bibliophiles on the Ann Arbor-Detroit circuit will be at the 43rd Annual Antiquarian Book Fair this Sunday,...

Four New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

This month we review four new catalogues from booksellers. Librairie Clavreuil offers the first part of their collection of important French literature, this one covering the 15th-17th century. Old...

Rare Book Monthly

  • 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.
  • 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
  • Jeschke Jadi
    Auction 151
    Saturday, April 27, 2024
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 546. Christoph Jacob Trew. Plantae selectae, 1750-1773.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 70. Thomas Murner. Die Narren beschwerung. 1558.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 621. Michael Bernhard Valentini. Museum Museorum, 1714.
    Jeschke Jadi
    Auction 151
    Saturday, April 27, 2024
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 545. Sander Reichenbachia. Orchids illustrated and described, 1888-1894.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 1018. Marinetti, Boccioni, Pratella Futurism - Comprehensive collection of 35 Futurist manifestos, some of them exceptionally rare. 1909-1933.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 634. August Johann Rösel von Rosenhof. 3 Original Drawings, around 1740.
    Jeschke Jadi
    Auction 151
    Saturday, April 27, 2024
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 671. Jacob / Picasso. Chronique des Temps, 1956.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 1260. Mary Webb. Sarn. 1948. Lucie Weill Art Deco Binding.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 508. Felix Bonfils. 108 large-format photographs of Syria and Palestine.
    Jeschke Jadi
    Auction 151
    Saturday, April 27, 2024
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 967. Dante Aligheri and Salvador Dali. Divina Commedia, 1963.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 1316. Tolouse-Lautrec. Dessinateur. Duhayon binding, 1948.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 1303. Regards sur Paris. Braque, Picasso, Masson, 1962.

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