Rare Book Monthly

Articles - August - 2024 Issue

Short Takes For August

A first edition of Mary Shelley’s 1818 “Frankenstein: or The Modern Prometheus” in the original pink boards brought a monster price of $843,750 at a recent Heritage Auction sale. (PC Heritage)

A first edition of Mary Shelley’s 1818 “Frankenstein: or The Modern Prometheus” in the original pink boards brought a monster price of $843,750 at a recent Heritage Auction sale. (PC Heritage)

FRANKENSTEIN BRINGS A MONSTER PRICE AT HERITAGE 

What’s not to like about an auction that brings together three of the great works of fiction and gets top dollar for them all. Here’s a brief report from antiquetrader.com noting “a first edition copy of Mary Shelley’s 1818 Frankenstein: or The Modern Prometheus” rampaged through Heritage Auctions recently, selling for $843,750. The sale was part of The William A. Strutz Library, Part I, Rare Books Signature Auction that totaled $5,655,439. Two other standouts in the sale were The Great Gatsby inscribed by F. Scott Fitzgerald that realized $425,000 and a presentation copy of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit that went for $300,000. Check out the links for additional photos.



NY Times Best Books of the 21st Century (so far)

In July the New York Times announced a list of what they say their panel of experts are calling the Best Books of the 21st Century (so far)


Here are the authors and titles of the Top 10 “as voted on by 503 novelists, nonfiction writers, poets, critics and other book lovers — with a little help from the staff of The New York Times Book Review.”

The NYT’s Top 10

1. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante; trans. by Ann Goldstein 2012

2. The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson 2010

3. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel 2009

4. The Known World by Edward P. Jones 2003

5. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen 2001

6. 2666 by Roberto Bolaño; trans by Natasha Wimmer 2008

7. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead 2016

8. Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald; translated by Anthea Bell 2001

9. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro 2005

10. Gilead By Marilynne Robinson 2004



Everyone's a Critic

Here’s a critique of the NYT’s choices by Lincoln Michel; it ran in Substack and asks the questions: Where are the young writers? Why so much fiction, and autobiographical fiction at that? And what happened to the genre-benders? Some good points raised here. Read it for yourself and see if you agree?



The NY Times Readers Have Their Own Opinions

The Times also did a reprise when a little later in July they published a second list showcasing their Readers’ Pick of the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century (so far). Here are the top 10 on the 2nd list. The editors said that there were 39 items on both lists and 61 that only appear on the Readers’ Picks. Here are the Top 10.

The Readers’ Top 10

1. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. No. 61 on the Book Review’s list

2. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

3. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

4. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. No. 46 on the Book Review’s list

5. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. No. 15 on the Book Review’s list

6. Educated by Tara Westover

7. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. No. 76 on the Book Review’s list

8. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante; trans.by Ann Goldstein. No. 1 on the Book Review’s list

9. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. No. 9 on the Book Review’s list

10. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. No. 93 on the Book Review’s list

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HILLBILLY ELEGY SHOOTS TO #1 ON AMAZON on news that its author, J.D Vance, was selected as the GOP nominee for Vice President of the United States. Opinion seems to be divided whether the 2016 memoir of Appalachian life and values is a good book, but for sure it’s this month’s hot title. Got an extra 11:32? Check out  YouTube to hear what "White Trash" historian Nancy Isenberg has to say about Vance, his book and class in America.



AUGUST NOT HOT ENOUGH FOR YOU? Just wait till September when Banned Book Week comes up from the 22nd–28th. The theme for 2024 is Freed between the lines.” In advance of the occasion the Delaware Division of Libraries posted a list of Top 13 most frequently challenged books.



Rare Book Monthly

  • High Bids Win
    Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines
    and Machine Manuals
    December 24 to January 9
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Ellis Smith Prints unsigned. 20” by 16”.
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: United typothetae of America presidents. Pictures of 37 UTA presidents 46th annual convention United typothetae of America Cincinnati 1932.
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec signed Paper Impressionism Art Prints. MayMilton 9 1/2” by 13” Reine de Joie 9 1/2” by 13”.
    High Bids Win
    Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines
    and Machine Manuals
    December 24 to January 9
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Aberle’ Ballet editions. 108th triumph, American season spring and summer 1944.
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Puss ‘n Boots. 1994 Charles Perrult All four are signed by Andreas Deja
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Specimen book of type faces. Job composition department, Philadelphia gazette publishing company .
    High Bids Win
    Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines
    and Machine Manuals
    December 24 to January 9
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: An exhibit of printed books, Bridwell library.
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur Court By Mark Twain 1889.
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: 1963 Philadelphia Eagles official program.
    High Bids Win
    Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines
    and Machine Manuals
    December 24 to January 9
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: 8 - Esquire the magazine for men 1954.
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: The American printer, July 1910.
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Leaves of grass 1855 by Walt Whitman.
  • Sotheby's
    Fine Books, Manuscripts & More
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s: William Shakespeare.
    The Poems and Sonnets of William Shakespeare, 1960. 7,210 USD
    Sotheby’s: Charles Dickens.
    A Christmas Carol, First Edition, 1843. 17,500 USD
    Sotheby’s: William Golding.
    Lord of the Flies, First Edition, 1954. 5,400 USD
    Sotheby's
    Fine Books, Manuscripts & More
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s: Lewis Carroll.
    Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, Inscribed First Edition, 1872. 25,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: J.R.R. Tolkien.
    The Hobbit, First Edition, 1937. 12,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: John Milton.
    Paradise Lost, 1759. 5,400 USD

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