The book market has long bubbled along with the underlying economy. Rivers were our first highways, advances in transportation made it possible to bring food and fuel to support cities. With population concentration, universal education was needed to facilitate inventions and manufacturing advances. Step by step the printed word became the connective tissue to build societies. Books, which had been the property of the well to do, were now finding their place with the emerging green sprouts of what would become the middle class.
As both printing and papermaking became more efficient and...
A lost, or unknown short story by Jack Kerouac was recently discovered among the artifacts of a Mafia crime boss who died 40 years ago. Too bad Kerouac isn't here to write this story as he could ha...
MatchMaker Saves Time and avoids Missed Opportunities
Buying and Selling online has been quickly evolving.
These days the number of auctions continues to increase. Ninety a month is common....
It seems like Brian Cassidy, 53, has been on my radar forever. Sure enough, when I looked in the files I found emails going back to 2010. In those days he was Brian Cassidy Bookseller, his own firm...
Fire isn't the only thing that doesn't mix with water. As any librarian will tell you, another is books. No one wants a leaky roof, but librarians are particularly averse. This issue has come to th...
eCatalogues on Rare Book Hub: Are they part of your future?
Rare Book Hub is used to follow the world-wide collectible paper auction market. As a sidebar, we now provide a side-by-side eCatalog...
When the last day of the month is a Sunday, we include a brief announcement in Rare Book Monthly about our just to be released Weekly Auction Update. Today is one of those occasions.
This week’...
A 1914 Babe Ruth rookie baseball card sold a few weeks ago for an astronomical price of $4,026,000. You might think the seller was very happy with that, but probably not. That price represented a $...
It was preordained this one was going to break all records. If there was a surprise, it was by just how much. Comic books are highly collectible items, with prices in recent years reaching astronom...
Fewer than ten Latin Gospels of the 10th century or earlier have been offered at auction in the past hundred years—and none have been connected to a women’s scriptorium. That changes this December,...
Amidst a very busy December schedule for Sotheby’s global Books and Manuscripts Department, “The Library of Bary Yampol: A First Selection” stands out as the highlight of the month. Barry Yampol (1...
Portrait of a misdated political book that portrays a fake and bigger than life bandit!
Les Amours de Cartouche...
Louis-Dominique Cartouche was the 1st French public enemy. The rich feare...
One Bookstore, 3 Sisters and 100 Years
A Midtown Manhattan anomaly, the Argosy Book Store continues to thrive thanks to the dedication of the three women who have presided over it for decades. A p...
When a periodical closes down, it's generally not sufficiently newsworthy to mention. A lot of newspapers have closed down recently. But, how about when one that has been in continuous publication ...
Jeffrey Ying of Fremont, California, has pleaded guilty to a charge of stealing a historical Chinese document from the East Asian Library at UCLA (University of California Los Angeles). Actually, h...
For December, we have reviewed three new dealer catalogues. Kenston Rare Books presents a selection of books on Texas and the American West. The Kelmscott Bookshop features artists' books, private ...
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.
Books & Autographs Wednesday 25 March
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.
![<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.")
