Rare Book Monthly Articles - January - 2020 Issue

Time for the Annual Rare Book Hub Top 500 Prices at Auction for 2019

Another year has come to an end, meaning it is time to look back at the the annual Rare Book Hub Top 500 prices achieved at auction during the previous year. We cover sales of books, manuscripts, and various other sorts of works on paper. For an explanation of what sort is in and which is out for this list, please see the explanation at the end of this article.   What we have noticed over the years, and the trend continues, is more high dollar purchases of paper outside the realm of traditional books and manuscripts. Here are two that jump out – comic books (including their original artwo...

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The Pie is getting Larger

It’s difficult to be older in a world that is less certain but there is some good news!   No, you aren’t getting younger but there is evidence of an increase in the number of auction buyers in th...

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Publishing and Bookselling Data going into the New Decade

Going into the new decade here is a collection of interesting data condensed from a variety of recent sources that indicates where books and bookselling may be headed and to a lesser extent how tha...

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A Complete Audubon Comes to Graham Arader

At the Sotheby’s sale in New York on 18 December, 2019   John James Audubon:  The Birds of America; from Original Drawings by John James Audubon.  London:  Published by the Author, 1827-1838   ...

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Financially Squeezed College Is Selling Its Shakespeare First Folio

The Oakland Raiders aren't the only cherished institution leaving Oakland. A much older one is also on its way out. William Shakespeare, or at least his most important book, is also bidding adieu t...

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AbeBooks' Top 12 Prices for 2019

AbeBooks, the world's largest used and rare book selling website, has compiled their list of the highest prices achieved on their site for the year 2019. There are 11 books and one letter in the to...

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We'll let the wine age . . .

There is a time to harvest and a time to wait.  The new version of Rare Book Hub will be delayed.  Its complexities are such that several months will be needed to make sure everything is right.  We...

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In Original Color

Last summer I wrote Recently I was offered a second edition of Wade Croome’s Panorama of the Hudson River, printed in 1846.  I look to understand the evolving waterfront of the Hudson River during...

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Richard Blome, Mapping Jamaica And Other Territories

Richard Blome’s Description of Jamaica; with the other Isles and Territories in America to Which the English Are Related... (London, 1672) is a book of exception. Although a long time Jamaica speci...

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Americana is a Creed

The Clements Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan, founded in 1923 at the University of Michigan holds collections of print and manuscript materials on the history of North America and the Caribbean, wit...

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To Fine or Not to Fine – That Is the Question (But What Is the Answer?)

A hallowed tradition of library science could become an endangered species. We are talking about the ubiquitous practice of leveling overdue book fines on borrowers who do not return their books by...

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Thirteen New Catalogues Reviewed to Start the New Year

We start the new year with 13 new catalogues to review. The Great American Cattle Co. offers the works of western/cowboy author and artist Will James. His western tales were based on personal exper...

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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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