Rare Book Monthly Articles - August - 2025 Issue

Are Books Subject to the New Tariffs?

Are Books Subject to the New Tariffs?

Are books purchased in America, shipped from a foreign country, subject to tariffs? Not long ago, the easy answer was “no.” Now it's “I don't know.” The tariff situation is so confusing and changing day to day that it is hard to know. The President undoubtedly always tells the truth, but he does change his mind a lot. Add to that the incomprehensible legalese that envelopes everything that comes out of Washington and we have a problem. What nations and which goods are subject to tariffs?   There is something called the Harmonized Tariff Schedule which lists various goods. Then there is so...

Our Weekly Auction Updates have Additional Top 25s

Our Weekly Auction Updates have Additional Top 25s

Our Weekly Auction Updates are becoming more robust.  As the auction market has broadened, it has become practical to provide more versions of Top 25s on a weekly basis. This week we have added Map...

We need to know, even if we don’t like it

We need to know, even if we don’t like it

Auctions are a window on human experience. Strong feelings fade with time. When we accept what happened, we tend to wax philosophical, it wasn’t us, the world was different.  Auction lots have long...

I’m getting old, I want to sell my collection, but I don’t know how……

I’m getting old, I want to sell my collection, but I don’t know how……

At Rare Book Hub this is a refrain we hear frequently as collectors in their 70s and 80s, struggle to make decisions about what to do with their books. These are decisions they have put off for far...

Are Book Reviews Always Honest, Does the Internet Tell the Truth? Tammy the Tooth Fairy Leads Us on a Strange Journey Down the Internet.

Are Book Reviews Always Honest, Does the Internet Tell the Truth? Tammy the Tooth Fairy Leads Us on a Strange Journey Down the Internet.

Do you believe in the tooth fairy? A recent press release for a new book really got my attention. The press release announced, “new childrens' book series makes dental care fun, easy and magical fo...

Every Book has a Story. This one is a mystery

Every Book has a Story. This one is a mystery

Two book collecting friends from Detroit and Santa Fe were recently in town (San Francisco) and spent an easy hour talking about how books are treating us. Ryan M. Place (Detroit) spoke about his c...

Book and Paper Events during August-September

Book and Paper Events during August-September

There are some interesting possibilities to visit book fairs during August and September. For those on Cape Cod, August quickly starts with the Martha’s Vineyard Book Festival on August 1-3rd, on S...

Father Duchesene, for f...’s sake!

Father Duchesene, for f...’s sake!

Le Père Duchesne, or Father Duchesne, is a straightforward and cocky character invented by the French satirists of the 18th century. In 1790, René-Jacques Hébert entitled his revolutionary journal ...

Thousand-Year-Old Library dealing with “Bookworm” Infestation

Thousand-Year-Old Library dealing with “Bookworm” Infestation

The Thousand-year-old Pannonhalma Archabbey Library in Hungary has been struck by a pest older than the library itself. They are dealing with an infestation of bookworms. Actually there is no such ...

Maillet Sale at Christie’s Realizes Strong Prices for Rare Early Daguerreotypes

Maillet Sale at Christie’s Realizes Strong Prices for Rare Early Daguerreotypes

Nineteenth century photography prices got a healthy boost and a major increase in interest with the recent auction of the Maillet Daguerreotype Collection at Christie’s on June 26. The sale feature...

During August, the market will hum

During August, the market will hum

Once upon a time collectible paper auctions were unusual and well-spaced out. In the past, when there was a quiet month, auction houses took opportunities to have siestas. Anymore, quiet months are...

Fablelistik Editions Issues a Fine Press Edition of Fourth Wing

Fablelistik Editions Issues a Fine Press Edition of Fourth Wing

Fablelistik Editions, the fine press of Macmillan Publishers, launched last October, has announced the publication of their fifth book. The first was a classic, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, reminis...

Dr. Jorn Gunther Rare Books is Bringing Some Amazing Works to Frieze Masters

Dr. Jorn Gunther Rare Books is Bringing Some Amazing Works to Frieze Masters

Frieze Masters is one of the great shows and gatherings. However, it is devoted to art, not books. But... Dr. Jorn Gunther Rare Books is attending Frieze Masters 2025 in October. Maybe most books a...

Joel Munsell is back in the spotlight

Joel Munsell is back in the spotlight

Joel Munsell, the mid-19th century Albany, New York printer has recently reappeared thanks to the keen eyes of De Wolfe and Wood, of Alfred, Maine.  In their recent offers were imprints associated ...

Protecting Books and Other Cultural Assets in Time of War

Protecting Books and Other Cultural Assets in Time of War

These are dangerous times in which we live. War is again in the air. America mostly feels distance, our only recent experience being a one-sided thrashing of Iran from the air. We are far enough aw...

One New Catalogue Reviewed This Month

One New Catalogue Reviewed This Month

It's summertime and the living is easy... for catalogue writers. Only one new dealer catalogue arrived in our mailbox this month. Hordern House presents the Whitmont Collection of Australiana and r...

Rare Book Monthly

  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
  • Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: These are the Times that Try Men's Souls, Thomas Paine. $80,000-$120,000
    Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: Manuscrpit from Aboard The Discovery, Signed by George Vancouver. $80,000-$120,000
    Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: Exceedingly Rare Holograph Fragment of James Cook's Logbook. $80,000-$120,000
    Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: Colonial America: The Collection of William Nesheim: Thomas Lechford: Important First-Hand Account of Life in New England. $40,000-$60,000
    Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: The First Expanded Edition of Common Sense, Thomas Paine. $30,000-$50,000
    Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: California! The Gold Rush Collection of Bruce Maclin: Album of Exceptional California Lettersheets. $20,000-$30,000
    Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: California! The Gold Rush Collection of Bruce Maclin: An Exceptional Group of Gold Rush Letters, c. 1849-1850. $20,000-$30,000
    Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: Colonial America: The Collection of William Nesheim: Mather's King Phillips War Tract 1639-1723. $15,000-$25,000
    Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: Colonial America: The Collection of William Nesheim: The First Contemporaneous Account of the Salem Witch Trials, Cotton Mather. $15,000-$25,000
    Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: Poor Richard's Almanack 1749, Benjamin Franklin. $15,000-$20,000
    Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: California! The Gold Rush Collection of Bruce Maclin: Fruits of Mormonism by Nelson Slater. $15,000-$25,000
    Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: California! The Gold Rush Collection of Bruce Maclin, Across the Plains in '49 by Emanuel Goughnour. $12,000-$18,000
  • Rare Map, Book, and Autograph Fair
    17 and 18 Oct
    Rare Map, Book, and Autograph Fair
    17 and 18 Oct
    Rare Map, Book, and Autograph Fair
    17 and 18 Oct
  • Sotheby’s
    By a Lady
    1-15 October 2025
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15: Queen Elizabeth I. A queen’s defense of the realm, and the birth of the British Empire. $500,000 to $700,000.
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15: Vanessa Bell — [Virginia Woolf]. An exceptional encapsulation of the Bloomsbury Group. A striking tile created by Vanesa Bell for her sister, Virginia Woolf, ca. Christmas 1926. $25,000 to $35,000.
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15: Austen, Jane. A long and intimate autograph letter signed ("JA"), to Cassandra Austen. $300,000 to $400,000.
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15: Austen, Jane. “Lines on Maria Beckford,” autograph manuscript signed ("Jane Austen"). $100,000 to $150,000.
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15: [Austen, Jane]. Emma, the extraordinary Edgeworth-Butler copy. $250,000 to $350,000.

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