• Bonhams, Nov. 3-13: Presentation Copy of a Whitman "Holy Grail." Whitman, Walt. $10,000-$15,000.
    Bonhams, Nov. 3-13: Endymion in Original Boards. Keats, John. $8,000-
    Bonhams, Nov. 3-13: Association Copy of the Privately Printed Edition of The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Potter, Beatrix. $8,000-$12,000
    Bonhams, Nov. 3-13: Christina Rossetti's Own Copy of Her First Book. Rossetti, Christina G. $8,000-$12,000
    Bonhams, Nov. 3-13: The Borden Copy of The Life of Merlin in an Elaborate Binding by Riviere. Heywood, Thomas, Translator. $6,000-$8,000
    Bonhams, Nov. 3-13: Arion Press. Whitman, Walt, Leaves of Grass. $4,000-$6,000
    Bonhams, Nov. 3-13: Call It Sleep in the First State Jacket. Roth, Henry. $2,000-$3,000
    Bonhams, Nov. 3-13: Steinbeck's Best-Known Work. Steinbeck, John. $2,000-$3,000
    Bonhams, Nov. 3-13: A Fine Jewelled Binding Signed by Sangorski & Sutcliffe. Sangorski, Francis. $40,000-$60,000
    Bonhams, Nov. 3-13: The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter: A Complete Set of First Editions. Potter, Beatrix. $2,000-$3,000
    Bonhams, Nov. 3-13: Kelmscott Shelley. Shelley, Percy Bysshe. The Poetical Works. $3,000-$5,000
    Bonhams, Nov. 3-13: Inscribed by Martin Luther King Jr. King, Martin Luther, Jr. $3,000-$5,000
  • 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
  • University Archives
    Rare Autographs, Manuscripts & Books
    Now through Nov. 19
    University Archives, Nov. 19:
    Lot 308 - Bob Dylan Handwritten & Signed Lyrics to "Just Like a Woman" With Jeff Rosen & JSA Authentication
    University Archives, Nov. 19:
    Lot 455 - Isaac Newton Admiration For Judaism & Moral Continuity With Christianity! 350+ Words in his Hand - Extraordinary Content!
    University Archives, Nov. 19:
    Lot 219 - 371g Moon Meteorite, Incredible Find - Laâyoune 002
    University Archives
    Rare Autographs, Manuscripts & Books
    Now through Nov. 19
    University Archives, Nov. 19:
    Lot 448 - Scarce Einstein AM on Unified Field Theory, 180+ Words & 11 Equations in His Hand! From His Published Article, "A Generalization of the Relativistic Theory of Gravitation"
    University Archives, Nov. 19:
    Lot 159 - Woodrow Wilson Baseball Signed for WWI Red Cross Fundraiser, Ex. Forbes & PSA Authentic - Finest Known!
    University Archives, Nov. 19:
    Lot 84 - Lee Harvey Oswald ALS to Brother, Trying Desperately to Get out of Russia! Highly Important
    University Archives
    Rare Autographs, Manuscripts & Books
    Now through Nov. 19
    University Archives, Nov. 19:
    Lot 152 - George Washington Signed Discharge for MA Soldier Whose Regiment Was at Bunker Hill!
    University Archives, Nov. 19:
    Lot 88 - Abraham Lincoln Fully Signed Military Appointment for Mexican War Vet & Respected Cavalryman
    University Archives, Nov. 19:
    Lot 188 - Apollo XI Astronauts & Their Wives Signed Photo, Plus Crew Signed Cover, From Apollo XI Presidential Goodwill Tour Era, Pre-Cert Zarelli
    University Archives
    Rare Autographs, Manuscripts & Books
    Now through Nov. 19
    University Archives, Nov. 19:
    Lot 265 - Martin Luther King, Jr. TLS Re: "Stride Toward Freedom" Film Rights To Literary Agent Marie Rodell
    University Archives, Nov. 19:
    Lot 324 - John Lennon Signed Apple Records Check, PSA GEM MT 10! Possibly Finest Known
    University Archives, Nov. 19:
    Lot 79 - John & Jacqueline Kennedy Signed WH 1963 Christmas Gift Inscribed to Close Friend Joan Braden, PSA Authentic
  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!

Rare Book Monthly Articles - October - 2024 Issue

Adam Weinberger, Rare Book Buyer

Adam Weinberger, Rare Book Buyer

Rare Book Hub has long been a go-to resource for collectors and dealers of antiquarian books, manuscripts, maps, and ephemera. When readers dive into Rare Book Monthly or explore Transactions+, they approach it from different angles: collectors often seek price validation, while dealers focus on provenance, comparable sales, and rarity in the marketplace. The distinctions between these two perspectives are crucial, but a large database with numerous records can satisfy the diverse needs of researchers, dealers, and collectors alike.   Between collectors and dealers lies the true market, w...

David Szewczyk:  One foot in the past, one foot in the future

David Szewczyk: One foot in the past, one foot in the future

The field of rare books and manuscripts lost a good friend.  David Szewczyk, who partnered with Cynthia Buffington, slipped away after a hard fight.  David was trained as a library man who focused ...

Another Theory to Explain the Meaning of the Mysterious Voynich Manuscript

Another Theory to Explain the Meaning of the Mysterious Voynich Manuscript

Another attempt was recently made to unravel the long-standing mystery that is the Voynich Manuscript. It has been identified by carbon dating as coming from 1408-1438. However, its existence was u...

One of A Kind Collectibles:  An Auction on this 17th

One of A Kind Collectibles: An Auction on this 17th

One of A Kind Collectibles, a division of Gindy Auctions, are specialists in collectible paper in its many forms.  For the past 17 years the firm has been offering rare and collectible material at ...

The Bancroft Library Considers Changing Its Name.

The Bancroft Library Considers Changing Its Name.

We are living in a time when some buildings, monuments and places are having their names changed. They are structures and places named in another era for the notable persons of their time. They wer...

Four Book Collectors and Sellers Share Their Passion for Collecting

Four Book Collectors and Sellers Share Their Passion for Collecting

The world is filled with readers who love books and who are sort-of collectors in that they place the books they have read on their shelves and keep them there, perhaps forever. Still, they may not...

A New Fine Press, Fablelistik Editions, has been launched by Macmillan Publishers

A New Fine Press, Fablelistik Editions, has been launched by Macmillan Publishers

A new fine press is launching today (October 1) with one of the best-known publishers behind it. Its name is Fablelistik Editions and its a new venture for a publisher that goes back long before th...

Major Collection of American Publishers’ Bindings Gifted to Delaware Art Museum by Sawyer Family

Major Collection of American Publishers’ Bindings Gifted to Delaware Art Museum by Sawyer Family

The Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington is the recipient of an extensive collection of American publishers' bindings assembled by Mary Sawyer, as well as many illustrated books from the Brandywine Sc...

A Rare Early Printing of the United States Constitution to sell October 9th

A Rare Early Printing of the United States Constitution to sell October 9th

Fireworks at Brunk Auctions: The United States Constitution   On October 9th, Brunk Auctions will sell “the only located privately held Official Signed Ratification Copy of the United States Cons...

Three-Fingered Jack, the Terror of Jamaica!

Three-Fingered Jack, the Terror of Jamaica!

Not exactly a book, rather a booklet—28 pages, printed on a cheap paper with small fonts—peddling stuff—a B movie poster trying to lure you in with a lengthy title loaded with superlatives: The Won...

The Internet Archive Loses Legal Appeal. 500,000 books Will No Longer Be Available Free to the Public

The Internet Archive Loses Legal Appeal. 500,000 books Will No Longer Be Available Free to the Public

The Internet Archive has lost its appeal of a successful lawsuit brought against it by a group of book publishers. The subject was the IA's Free Digital Library. The Free Digital Library loans elec...

William L. Parkinson is offering the Mello Collection at auction on October 12th

William L. Parkinson is offering the Mello Collection at auction on October 12th

William L. Parkinson, Books, long time dealer and occasional auctioneer, is offering The Robert A. Mello Collection at auction on October 12th.  Highlights fall into three categories: Americana, Ve...

Old World Auctions Celebrates its 200th Auction with an Auction of Just 5 Rare, Important Lots, October 10

Old World Auctions Celebrates its 200th Auction with an Auction of Just 5 Rare, Important Lots, October 10

RICHMOND, Va. – To celebrate its 200th auction, Old World Auctions is offering five of the most coveted maps of the last 500 years. Auction #200: Cartographic Treasures is an Internet-only auction ...

Doyle:  our goal is your satisfaction

Doyle: our goal is your satisfaction

Doyle is finding the world a welcoming place.   We are excited for the future at DOYLE!   It is easy to focus solely on data, markets, and technology, but it is essential to keep in mind the pe...

Floodwater Rages Through Smithtown, New York, Library

Floodwater Rages Through Smithtown, New York, Library

On the night of August 18-19, torrential rains hit parts of northern Suffolk County on the north side of New York's Long Island. According to the Suffolk County website, “more than 11 inches of rai...

“History and Future of the Book” a hands-on class at Colorado College

“History and Future of the Book” a hands-on class at Colorado College

In an age that’s gone mostly digital and will soon use AI to remove the human touch entirely, it’s reassuring to know that at least one school is still teaching the “History and Future of the Book....

17th Century Book of Feminist Literature Outsells a King’s Autograph at Auction

17th Century Book of Feminist Literature Outsells a King’s Autograph at Auction

A 17th century book regarded as the first piece of English feminist literature and a gory gothic novel owned by one of the UK’s largest female landowners have out-sold a King’s autograph at auction...

Freeman's Hindman Offering Pre-Civil War Photograph of Interracial Couple – Perhaps the First

Freeman's Hindman Offering Pre-Civil War Photograph of Interracial Couple – Perhaps the First

CINCINNATI – On October 26, Freeman’s | Hindman will bring to auction what is believed to be the first American photograph of a romantically posed interracial couple. The anonymous ninth plate dagu...

Four New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

Four New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

This month seems to be devoted to collections of Americana. I don't know why, but all of the new catalogues we received were about that land in the northern and western hemispheres. We have four ne...

Rare Book Monthly

  • 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.
  • Dominic Winter
    Printed Books & Maps, Geology & Charles Darwin
    5th November, 2025
    Dominic Winter, Nov. 5: Darwin (Charles). Geological Observations on the Volcanic Islands, 1st edition, 1844. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Dominic Winter, Nov. 5: Rashleigh (Philip). Specimens of British Minerals, 2 parts in 1, 1797 & 1802. £3,000 to £5,000.
    Dominic Winter, Nov. 5: Murchison (Roderick Impey). The Silurian System, 1st edition, 1839. £3,000 to £5,000.
    Dominic Winter
    Printed Books & Maps, Geology & Charles Darwin
    5th November, 2025
    Dominic Winter, Nov. 5: Darwin (Charles). The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs, 1st edition, 1842. £3,000 to £5,000.
    Dominic Winter, Nov. 5: Darwin (Charles). Geological Observations on South America, 1st edition, 1846. £3,000 to £5,000.
    Dominic Winter, Nov. 5: Sowerby (James). The Mineral Conchology of Great Britain, 6 volumes, 1812-29. £2,000 to £3,000.
    Dominic Winter
    Printed Books & Maps, Geology & Charles Darwin
    5th November, 2025
    Dominic Winter, Nov. 5: Emerson (William). Cyclomathesis: or an Easy Introduction to ... Mathematics, 10 vols. in 9, 1770. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Dominic Winter, Nov. 5: Robinson (Thomas). New observations on the Natural History of This World of Matter, 1696. £800 to £1,200.
    Dominic Winter, Nov. 5: Aquinas (Thomas). [Summa Theologica], Secunda Parte, Venice, 1496. £700 to £1,000.
    Dominic Winter
    Printed Books & Maps, Geology & Charles Darwin
    5th November, 2025
    Dominic Winter, Nov. 5: Parfit (Cliff). Tesuki Washi. Handmade Papers of Japan, 1981-1988. £400 to £600.
    Dominic Winter, Nov. 5: Herbert (Thomas). A Relation of some yeares Travaile... Into Afrique and the greater Asia, 1634. £800 to £1,200.
    Dominic Winter, Nov. 5: Lindbergh (Charles A.). The Spirit of St. Louis, 1955, signed. £200 to £300.
  • Swann
    Autographs
    November 6, 2025
    Swann, Nov. 6: Lot 93: Autograph album containing 29 autograph letters signed by each president from Washington to Coolidge, 1785-1945.
    Swann, Nov. 6: Lot 166: Franz Schubert, Autograph Musical Manuscript, fragment from Die Taucher, 1813.
    Swann, Nov. 6: Lot 111: Thomas Jefferson, holograph plat drawing: map of field near Monticello, 1790s.
    Swann
    Autographs
    November 6, 2025
    Swann, Nov. 6: Lot 208: George Sand, Autograph Manuscript Signed, draft of her one-act play, Francia, ca. 1872.
    Swann, Nov. 6: Lot 218: Walt Whitman, Manuscript Signed, draft of three complete poems from Leaves of Grass, 1891.
    Swann, Nov. 6: Lot 8: James Dean, Photograph Signed and Inscribed, still from Giant, 1955.
    Swann
    Autographs
    November 6, 2025
    Swann, Nov. 6: Lot 20: John Lennon, Typescript Signed, interview discussing Paul, Linda, and Yoko, 1971.
    Swann, Nov. 6: Lot 215: Mark Twain, engraved portrait Signed, "Mark Twain / SL. Clemens," 1890s.
    Swann, Nov. 6: Lot 81: Vaslav Nijinsky, reproduction of an artwork by Léon Bakst Inscribed and Signed, 1916.
    Swann
    Autographs
    November 6, 2025
    Swann, Nov. 6: Lot 73: Malcolm X, The Harvard Crimson Signed and Inscribed: his street address and phone number, 1961.
    Swann, Nov. 6: Lot 11: Lou Gehrig, Photograph Signed and Inscribed, ca. 1939.
    Swann, Nov. 6: Lot 153: George Gershwin, Photograph Signed and Inscribed, portrait by Renato Toppo.
  • 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.
  • Doyle
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    November 25
    Doyle
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    November 25
    Doyle
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    November 25
    Doyle
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    November 25
    Doyle
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    November 25
    Doyle
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    November 25
    Doyle
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    November 25
    Doyle
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    November 25

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