Some short takes for June from the world of books.
School’s out, summer’s right around the corner. Time to kick back a little and browse through some of the interesting bookish news and information that is floating around the web. Here are a few of my picks.
>>Book Blogs- Important – to actually see the site click on the little chain link iconright next to the word “follow” in blue. Click anywhere else and you’ll get a promo message from Feed Spot with a pitch for subscription for their service. This list is by no means comprehensive and it’s coming from a website that wants to sell you info and data on niche markets. Still it provides a pretty wide assortment of individuals, institutions and dealers and it comes with some metrics info too. You could do worse. If you click the link - which is recommended and why we’re putting it first, you are still likely to get a follow up email offering data services, but most of the 30+ blog sites they’ve chosen are well worth a visit.
>> Print is dead or is it?Haven’t you heard no one reads, much less buys books any more? Here’s the rebuttal that ran recently in SlateIt says there are lots of creative ways to use statistics that might tend to be misleading, especially if you’re a party to a big lawsuit in a publishing merger. Plenty of data, nicely presented.
>> Reddit anyone?I confess to being a Reddit junkie, love it for all the odd bits of first hand news and information that gets mixed together on a daily basis. While it’s heavy on internet gamers and ageist sentiments (i.e. everything bad is the fault of old people, die already and give us your stuff) there is a staggering amount ofbook related subsinr/bookswith an aggregate membership of 24 million. All three of these links are a little different, so if you are not currently browsing Reddit suggest you click through on the trio.
Warning:Reddit is addictive and a lot of it is, shall we say, strange. There’s lots of youthful internet slang that I have to look up such as NSFW (not suitable for work), AITA? (Am I the a**hole?) and AMA (Ask me anything). It can be fun and informative, or it can be a huge doom scroll.
>> Movie star turned book recommender: Unbeknownst to some of us in the more esoteric reaches of bookish lore the actress Reese Witherspoon has become influential in book clubcircles. So who knew? Here’s a gift article to get you around the NY Times paywall to find out what’s hot in book club land.
>>> Tattered Coverthe legendary Denver book shop goes on the bankruptcy block this month. June 10th is the bid deadline for the auction which will be held June 12. The article says there are eight prospective bidders.
>>> And in other news from bookstores, Paul Yamazakihead buyer from City Lights in San Francisco shares some of his thoughts and literary tastes with the NY Times. Again, it’s another gift article so presumably you’ll be able to access the site.
Koller, Mar. 25: KAFKA, FRANZ, SCHRIFTSTELLER. Eigenh. Brief mit Unterschrift. Prag, 20. Oktober [19]15. CHF 30,000-40,000.
Koller, Mar. 25: EINSTEIN, ALBERT. Zwei eigenhändige Briefe an Ernst Gabor Straus, unterschrieben "A.E" bzw. "A. Einstein". [Princeton], [19]45. und [1950]. CHF 30,000-40,000.
Koller, Mar. 25: HORTENSE DE BEAUHARNAIS, MUTTER VON NAPOLEON III. Album aus ihrem Besitz mit 69 Aquarellen und Pinselzeichnungen in Sepia oder Grau… CHF 14,000-18,000.
Koller, Mar. 25: ZOOLOGIE - ORNITHOLOGIE - Seligmann, Johann Michael. Verzameling van uitlandsche en zeldzaame Vogelen. Teile 1-8 (von 9) in 2 Bänden. Mit 421 prächtig altkolorierten Kupfertafeln. CHF 14,000-20,000
Koller, Mar. 25: BOTANIK - Berlèse, Lorenzo und Johann Jakob Jung. Iconographie du genre camellia... 3 Bände. Mit 300 Farbstichtafeln "a la poupée.” Paris, [1839-]1841-1843. CHF 12,000-18,000.
Forum Auctions Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026 25 March 2026
Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- Andrews (H.C.) Coloured Engravings of Heaths, 4 vol. in 2, first edition, [1710,--94]-1802-1809-[1830]. £10,000 - £15,000.
Forum, Mar. 25: Butterflies.- Cramer (Pierre) and Caspar Stoll. De Uitlandsche Kapellen voorkomende in de drie Waereld-Deelen…,, 5 vol., Amsterdam & Utrecht, 1779-91. £8,000 - £12,000.
Forum, Mar. 25: Voyages.- Darwin (Charles) and others. Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle, 3 vol. in 4, including Appendix to vol.2, first edition, 1839. £8,000 - £12,000.
Forum, Mar. 25: Butterflies.- de Graaf (Willem Diederik Vincent). [Inlandsche Kapellen in beeld], 170 fine original watercolours, [Enkhuizen], [1800-40]. £8,000 - £12,000.
Forum Auctions Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026 25 March 2026
Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Dresser (Henry Eeles). A History of the Birds of Europe, 9 vol., including supplement, first edition, by the author, 1871-96. £6,000 - £8,000.
Forum, Mar. 25: Zoology.- Felines.- Elliot (Daniel Giraud). A Monograph of the Felidæ or Family of the Cats, first edition, for the Subscribers, by the Author, [1878]-1883. £25,000 - £30,000.
Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Frisch (Johann Leonard). Vorstellung der Vögel Deutschlandes, 2 vol., first edition, Berlin, Friedr. Wilhelm Birnsteil, [1736]-1763. £40,000 - £60,000.
Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Gould (John). The Birds of Great Britain, 5 vol., first edition, by the author, 1862-1873. £30,000 - £40,000.
Forum Auctions Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026 25 March 2026
Forum, Mar. 25: Pomology.- France.- Poiteau (A.) Pomologie Française. Recueil des Plus Beaux Fruits cultivés en France, 4 vol., Paris, 1846. £30,000 - £40,000.
Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- [Robin (Jean)]. Histoire des Plantes, nouvellement trouvées en l'Isle Virgine…,, 1620; with Geoffrey Linocier L'Histoire des plantes, second edition, 1619-20. £3,000 - £4,000.
Forum, Mar. 25: Asia.- Japan.- Siebold (P.F. von). Nippon. Archiv zur Beschreibung von Japan, 7 parts in 6 vol., first edition, Leyden, [1832]-1852. £35,000 - £45,000.
Forum, Mar. 25: Asia.- Valentijn (Francois). Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën..., 5 vol. in 8, first edition, Dordrecht [&] Amsterdam, 1724-26. £8,000 - £12,000.
Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- Australia.- Redouté (P.J.).- Ventenat (Étienne Pierre). Jardin de la Malmaison, 2 vol.,, Paris, 1803-04[-05]. £30,000 - £40,000.
![<b>Forum, Mar. 25:</b> Botany.- [Robin (Jean)]. <i>Histoire des Plantes, nouv...](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/9a2a2dbe-8edf-4091-9a08-800f7aba747e.jpg "<b>Forum, Mar. 25:</b> Botany.- [Robin (Jean)]. <i>Histoire des Plantes, nouvellement trouvées en l'Isle Virgine…,</i>, 1620; with Geoffrey Linocier <i>L'Histoire des plantes,</i> second edition, 1619-20. £3,000 - £4,000.")
