Old World Auctions (Nov 12): Lot 75. The Second Printed Map of the North American Continent - Full Contemporary Color (1593) Est. $35,000 - $40,000
Old World Auctions (Nov 12): Lot 37. Schedel's Ancient World Map with Fantastic Humanoid Creatures (1493) Est. $16,000 - $18,000
Old World Auctions (Nov 12): Lot 104. Important Revolutionary War Plan of Battle of Quebec in Contemporary Color (1776) Est. $4,000 - $4,750
Old World Auctions (Nov 12): Lot 43. Mercator's Map of the North Pole - the First Printed Map Devoted to the Arctic (1606) Est. $2,750 - $3,500
Old World Auctions (Nov 12): Lot 237. Rare and Striking Bird's-Eye View of Lawrence, Kansas (1880) Est. $2,000 - $2,500
Old World Auctions (Nov 12): Lot 10. Rare Map from Atlas Maior with Representations of the Seasons in Contemporary Color (1662) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
Old World Auctions (Nov 12): Lot 374. Bunting's Map of Europe Depicted as the Queen of the World (1589) Est. $2,000 - $2,400
Old World Auctions (Nov 12): Lot 590. Willem Blaeu's Magnificent Carte-a-Figures Map of Asia (1634) Est. $2,750 - $3,500
Old World Auctions (Nov 12): Lot 647. The Earliest and Most Decorative Map of the East Coast of Africa (1596) Est. $3,000 - $3,750
Old World Auctions (Nov 12): Lot 710. Ruscelli's Complete, Third Edition Atlas with 65 Maps (1574) Est. $9,500 - $11,000
Old World Auctions (Nov 12): Lot 696. Superb Hand-Colored Image of the Adoration of the Shepherds (1502) Est. $800 - $950
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Doyle, Nov. 5: The Director's copy of the first edition of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, inscribed by Beckett. $7,000 to $10,000.
Doyle, Nov. 5: Don McLean's personal test pressing of American Pie before mass production, gifted in 1971. $8,000 to $12,000.
Doyle, Nov. 5: The important and extensive archive of original fashion photographs of model Dorothy Rice, 1945-58. $20,000 to $30,000.
Doyle, Nov. 5: A Charles Adams theater advertisement. $8,000 to $12,000.
Doyle, Nov. 5: A Small Patinated Bronze Bust of Marlene Dietrich. $800 to $1,200.
Doyle, Nov. 5: Marlene Dietrich Studio Photograph. $100 to $200.
Doyle, Nov. 5: The very large and uncommon British Quad for Hitchcock's The Birds. $500 to $800.
Doyle, Nov. 5: An Original Crystal "Sputnik" from the 1966 Met Opera Chandelier. $3,000 to $5,000.
Doyle, Nov. 5: The rare poster from the first American performances of Endgame, 1958. $1,000 to $1,500.
Doyle, Nov. 5: The original Coconut Grove Playhouse poster for Waiting for Godot, possibly unique. $3,000 to $5,000.
Sotheby's Fine Books, Manuscripts & More Available for Immediate Purchase
Sotheby’s: William Shakespeare. The Temple Shakespeare. Housed in Custom Bookcase. $6,365.
Sotheby’s: Frederick Douglass. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Boston: Anti-Slavery Office, 1845. $14,000.
Sotheby’s: Charles Dickens. A Christmas Carol. London: William Heinemann, 1915. $2,900.
Sotheby’s: F. Scott Fitzgerald. First Edition Set, Including This Side of Paradise, The Great Gatsby, and others. Charles Scribner's Sons. 1920 – 1941. $24,180.
Sotheby’s: Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], John Tenniel. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland First Edition. Macmillan & Co., 1866. $15,000.
June 30, 2025. As I write this note the ALA’s (American Library Association) annual fair is wrapping up in Philadelphia. Soon visitors and exhibitors will make their high-speed descent down the escalators at the Philadelphia Convention Center back into the real world. For Rare Book Hub, this has been our first appearance. We enjoyed meeting hundreds of librarians. They are overwhelmingly women, and interesting people. They are their community’s interface between the everyday world and the printed word. They provide vital, necessary and needed alternatives to the internet and television.
Books have long been the standard solution for ignorance. These days the internet broadcasts predigested opinions embedded with memory triggering commonplaces, encouraging hate, disrespect, and disregard. When you read, you absorb ideas in your left brain and it encourages you to think, and better understand the greys. When you absorb pre-digested crap in your right brain, you often feel emotions that tend to be negative. Bingo, you remember every slight, every perceived crime. Oh gosh, you’re a victim!
Research suggests that the human brain shrinks when you hate.
The solution: turn off your social media. Read a book every month. Go to your library or nearby bookstores.
Does it matter? Your children learn from you.
Your children and your children’s children will thank you.
My hat's off to the ALA. Democracy lives in our libraries.