Rare Book Monthly Articles - November - 2012 Issue

A Hard Sell:  The Alexander J. Jemal Collection of Joyce Carol Oates Material

A Hard Sell:  The Alexander J. Jemal Collection of Joyce Carol Oates Material

Earlier this year Alex Jemal, a Michigan lawyer now in his 80’s, approached me.  He had built a collection of the writings of and as homage to Joyce Carol Oates, the later 20th century prolific.  Over her career Ms. Oates has written more than fifty novels and innumerable other pieces.  She was busy and popular at a time when reading books as a hobby was peaking and has since continued to write as cable television, the internet, iPods and iPads have elbowed books aside as sources of casual entertainment.  She continues today even as books, not so long ago our stalwart companions on planes, ...

Forged Signatures from an eBay Seller Leads to Conviction

Forged Signatures from an eBay Seller Leads to Conviction

There is always a great temptation to go around dealers and other experts to buy significant works on paper. Prices are lower on eBay and from amateurs. Sometimes, cheaper doesn't always work out. ...

Graham Arader on the sell-side at Auction

Graham Arader on the sell-side at Auction

W. Graham Arader is a businessman with a communicable appreciation and love of maps, and watercolors.  He admits to have created the modern market for collectible maps and barely acknowledges that ...

Collecting the Counter Culture - Maggs’ Carl Williams pays a visit to Harvard’s Houghton Library

Collecting the Counter Culture - Maggs’ Carl Williams pays a visit to Harvard’s Houghton Library

Carl Williams is “stoked” to be speaking at Harvard. The London based Maggs Bros. specialist is making a visit to Houghton Library on Wed., November 14 to give a talk on collecting the counter cu...

What May Be the Largest Book Theft in Decades Unravels

What May Be the Largest Book Theft in Decades Unravels

It's the story that keeps getting worse. A massive book heist in Italy apparently has ensnared thousands of books, millions of dollars, and made some important people look very foolish, and others ...

Auctions in November

Auctions in November

Heading into November 115 auction events are scheduled.  This compares with 91 in November 2011.  Through August this year 179,000 lots have been archived, a 29.7% increase from the 138,000 offered...

Book Fairs in November and December

The numbers of book fairs have been declining but they are great fun and worth supporting.  The widespread closing of bookshops adds to their importance for they are now more than ever, the best an...

Hundreds of Thousand of Books Win a Reprieve... for Now

Hundreds of Thousand of Books Win a Reprieve... for Now

Hundreds of thousands of books headed for destruction by the Manchester (U.K.) libraries have won a reprieve, the result of a campaign by various English literary and academic figures. Their ultima...

Who Legally Owns This Signed Photograph?

Who Legally Owns This Signed Photograph?

The New York Times recently reported on an ownership dispute in the works on paper field, in this case a signed photograph. It pitted the family of the individual who was originally given the photo...

The Gutenberg of clear thinking traced to Poughkeepsie

The Gutenberg of clear thinking traced to Poughkeepsie

The engaging book L I A R S published by F. W. Wilson of Poughkeepsie in 1911 is a remarkable condemnation and defense of lying.  The author, whose name is not disclosed perhaps for reasons of pers...

Ian Fleming: The Bibliography

Ian Fleming: The Bibliography

He will never be confused with Shakespeare. “Serious” literature was not the calling card of Ian Fleming. Excitement and intrigue? That is another story. While a few other books emerged from his pe...

Oak Knoll at 300

Oak Knoll at 300

Bob Fleck, the founder of Oak Knoll Books in New Castle, Delaware recently passed by one of those milestones you cannot quickly reach, the issuance of his 300th catalogue.  Few houses get this far ...

Another Settlement in the Google Books Case... Probably No More Meaningful than the Others

Another Settlement in the Google Books Case... Probably No More Meaningful than the Others

A new settlement has been reached in the 7-year-old Google Books (now known as Google Library Project) controversy, albeit a vague and probably minor one. This battle and its related lawsuits could...

The Trinity College Library Obtains Some Classic Books on “Medicine”

The Trinity College Library Obtains Some Classic Books on “Medicine”

We recently received a copy of the first electronic bulletin from the Watkinson Library at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. It is necessary to spell out which Trinity College as there are ...

12 New Catalogues Reviewed

12 New Catalogues Reviewed

For November, we received 12 new bookseller catalogues. We review a spectacular catalogue of newspapers that shaped the world from Timothy Hughes Rare Early Newspapers. From England, we take a loo...

Rare Book Monthly

  • Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    27th March 2025
    Forum, Mar. 27: Dürer (Albrecht) Hierin sind begriffen vier bücher von menschlicher Proportion, 4 parts in 1, first edition, Nuremberg, Hieronymus Andreae for Agnes Dürer, 1528. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum, Mar. 27: Book of Hours, Use of Rome, illuminated manuscript in Latin, on vellum, 26 fine hand-painted miniatures, 17th century dark brown morocco, [Lyon], [c. 1475 and later c. 1490-1500]. £25,000 to £35,000.
    Forum, Mar. 27: Brontë (Emily) The North Wind, watercolour, [1842]. £15,000 to £20,000.
    Forum, Mar. 27: Titanic.- Mudd (Thomas Cupper, one of the youngest victims of the sinking of the Titanic, 1895-1912) Autograph Letter signed on board RMS Titanic to his mother, April 11th 1912. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    27th March 2025
    Forum, Mar. 27: [Austen (Jane)] Emma: A Novel, 3 vol., first edition, for John Murray, 1816. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, Mar. 27: Picasso (Pablo).- Ovid. Les Metamorphoses, one of 95 copies, signed by the artist, Lausanne, Albert Skira, 1931. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, Mar. 27: America.- Ogilby (John) America: Being the Latest, and Most Accurate Description of the New World..., all maps with vibrant hand-colouring in outline, probably by an early hand, 1671. £15,000 to £25,000.
    Forum, Mar. 27: Iceland.- Geological exploration.- Bright (Dr. Richard )and Edward Bird. Collection of twenty original drawings from travels in Iceland with Henry Holland and George Mackenzie, watercolours, [1810]. £20,000 to £30,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    The Library of Barry Humphries
    26th March 2025
    Forum, Mar. 26: Beckford (William) [Vathek] An Arabian Tale, first (but unauthorised) edition, Lady Caroline Lamb's copy with her signature and notes, 1786. £2,000 to £3,000.
    Forum, Mar. 26: Baudelaire (Charles) Les Fleurs du Mal, first edition containing the 6 suppressed poems, first issue, contemporary half black morocco, Paris, 1857. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, Mar. 26: Beardsley (Aubrey).- Pope (Alexander) The Rape of the Lock, one of 25 copies on Japanese vellum, Leonard Smithers, 1896. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, Mar. 26: Douglas (Lord Alfred) Sonnets, first edition, the dedication copy, with signed presentation inscription from the author to his wife Olive Custance, The Academy, 1909. £2,000 to £3,000.
    Forum Auctions
    The Library of Barry Humphries
    26th March 2025
    Forum, Mar. 26: Crowley (Aleister) The Works..., 3 vol. in 1 (as issued)"Essay Competition" issue on India paper, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1905-07. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum, Mar. 26: Rodin (Auguste).- Mirbeau (Octave) Le Jardin des Supplices, one of 30 copies on chine with an additional suite, bound in dark purple goatskin, Paris, 1902. £3,000 to £4,000.
    Forum, Mar. 26: Pellar (Hans) Eight original book illustrations for 'Der verliebte Flamingo' [together with] a published copy of the first edition of the book, 1923. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, Mar. 26: Cretté (Georges, binder).- Louÿs (Pierre) Les Aventures du Roi Pausole, 2 vol., one of 99 copies, with 2 original drawings, superbly bound in blue goatskin, gilt, Paris, 1930. £3,000 to £4,000.
  • 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
  • Swann
    Printed & Manuscript African Americana
    March 20, 2025
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 7: Thomas Fisher, The Negro's Memorial or Abolitionist's Catechism, London, 1825. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 78: Victor H. Green, The Negro Travelers' Green Book, New York, 1958. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 99: Rosa Parks, Hand-written recollection of her first meeting with Martin Luther King Jr., autograph manuscript, Detroit, c. 1990s. $30,000 to $40,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 154: Frederick Douglass, Autograph statement on voting rights, signed manuscript, 1866. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 164: W.E.B. Du Bois, What the Negro Has Done for the United States and Texas, Washington, circa 1936. $3,000 to $4,000.
    Swann
    Printed & Manuscript African Americana
    March 20, 2025
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 263: Susan Paul, Memoir of James Jackson, Boston, 1835. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 267: Langston Hughes, Gypsy Ballads, signed translation of García Lorca's poetry, Madrid, 1937. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 274: Malcolm X, Collection from Alex Haley's estate, 38 items, 1963-1971. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 367: Solomon Northup, Twelve Years a Slave, Auburn, NY, 1853. $2,500 to $3,500.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 402: Anna Julia Cooper, A Voice from the South, Xenia, OH, 1892. $2,000 to $3,000.
  • Koller, Mar. 26: Wit, Frederick de. Atlas. Amsterdam, de Wit, [1680]. CHF 20,000 to 30,000
    Koller, Mar. 26: Merian, Maria Sibylla. Der Raupen wunderbare Verwandelung, und sonderbare Blumennahrung. Nürnberg, 1679; Frankfurt a. M. und Leipzig, 1683. CHF 20,000 to 30,000
    Koller, Mar. 26: GOETHE, JOHANN WOLFGANG VON. Faust. Ein Fragment. Von Goethe. Ächte Ausgabe. Leipzig, G. J. Göschen, 1790. CHF 7,000 to 10,000
    Koller, Mar. 26: Hieronymus. [Das hochwirdig leben der außerwoelten freünde gotes der heiligen altuaeter]. Augsburg, Johann Schönsperger d. Ä., 9. Juni 1497. CHF 40,000 to 60,000.
    Koller, Mar. 26: BIBLIA GERMANICA - Neunte deutsche Bibel. Nürnberg, A. Koberger, 17. Feb. 1483. CHF 40,000 to 60,000
    Koller, Mar. 26: HORAE B.M.V. - Stundenbuch. Lateinische Handschrift auf Pergament, Kalendarium französisch. Nordfrankreich (Rouen?). CHF 25,000 to 40,000

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