Source : Dora Hood

Source Title Dora Rideout Hood Bookseller
Description

Dora Rideout Hood was one of the most notable booksellers Canada ever produced. She was born in 1885 and married physician Frederick Hood in 1918. Dr. Hood died in 1927, so Dora purchased a small mail order book business to supplement her income in 1928. The following year, she began producing catalogues, listings from which are shown under her name in this database.

Dora operated her dealership from her home at 730 Spadina Avenue in Toronto. Her specialties were Canadiana and Americana. She sold to collectors, large and small, libraries and institutions. She was a charter member of the Canadian Booksellers Association. In 1954, she sold the "Book Room," as her business was known, to Dr. William S. Wallace, retired Chief Librarian at the University of Toronto. The business changed hands several more times before it finally closed in 1982, while Mrs. Hood died in 1974.

Dora Hood wrote a book about her experiences in the book world, entitled The side door: twenty six years in my Book Room, published in 1958. It provides stories and anecdotes about notable authors and collectors and her own life as a bookseller.
Scope of Text

Contained in this listing are catalogues produced by Dora Hood's Book Room from 1929-1963.
Total Records in AED 85126
  • Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 14: The "Hatfield" Apple-1 Computer in working condition, signed by Steve Wozniak with a letter signed by Steve Jobs. Estimate: $500,000-800,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 14: REICHARDT, JASIA; curator. Cybernetic Serendipity: The computer and the Arts. Portfolio and Catalogue. Estimate: $5,000-8,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 14: An Apple Lisa 1 Microcomputer. Estimate: $50,000-70,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 14: A rare Apple Paladin "All-In-One" computer prototype. Estimate: $40,000-60,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 14: 30th Anniversary "White OC" Edition Asus ROG Nvidia Astral Gegorce RTX 5090 signed by Jensen Huang. Estimate: $10,000-15,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 14: A clear plastic prototype Apple Macintosh Portable. Estimate: $10,000-15,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 14: An Apple Jolly Roger pirate flag. Estimate: $4,000-6,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 14: An Apple Newton messagepad engineering development notebook. Estimate: $4,000-6,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 14: A rare 1839 Jacquard-woven silk portrait of Joseph-Marie Jacquard. Estimate: $4,000-6,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 14: A clear plastic prototype Apple Macintosh Powerbook Duo dock with an Apple Powerbook Duo 280. Estimate: $3,000-4,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 14: A clear plastic prototype Macintosh 'Apollo' Classic II. Estimate: $3,000-5,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 14: WEIZENBAUM. Computer Power and Human Reason. 1976. Estimate: $1,500-2,500
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 14: An Apple Newton Messagepad with marketing display. Estimate: $1,000 - 1,500
  • Sotheby’s
    Reason and Revolution:
    Extraordinary Works from a Distinguished Private Collection
    Part I
    Live Sale 20 October
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 20: Copernicus, Nicolaus. De revolutionibus orbium colestium, Nuremberg, 1543, first edition.
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 20: Newton, Isaac, Sir. Autograph manuscript worksheet, Cambridge, probably May 1694.
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 20: Euclid. Praeclarissimus Liber Elementorum in Artem Geometrie, Venice, Ratdolt, 25 May 1482, first edition of the first substantial mathematical work to appear in print, Durazzo copy.
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 20: Galilei, Galileo. Sidereus nuncius …, Venice, 1610, first edition of the foundation of modern astronomy.
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 20: Kepler, Johannes. Astronomia nova aitiologitos …, Prague or Heidelberg, 1609, first edition, contemporary vellum, the Chasles copy.
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 20: Cellarius, Andreas. Harmonia macrocosmica seu atlas universalis et novus ..., Amsterdam, Jan Jansson, 1661, brilliantly handcolored.
  • Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair
    October 24-25, 2026
    Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair
    October 24-25, 2026
  • Gonnelli: Auction 72 Books, Autographs & Manuscripts October 6th-8th 2026
    Gonnelli: Document bearing Napoleon's autograph signature. 1797. Starting bid € 900
    Gonnelli: Manuscript Libro de giustitiati nella città di Ferrara. 1441-1717. Starting bid € 9.000
    Gonnelli: Anonymous Jewish Siddur in Hebrew. Germany, 15th century. Starting bid € 1.200
    Gonnelli: Auction 72 Books, Autographs & Manuscripts October 6th-8th 2026
    Gonnelli: Chagall, Drawings for the Bible. 1960 Starting bid € 1.200
    Gonnelli: Duchamp, Le Surrealisme en 1947. Starting bid € 2.600
    Gonnelli: Valturio, [De re militari]. 1483. Important provenance. Starting bid € 15.000
    Gonnelli: Auction 72 Books, Autographs & Manuscripts October 6th-8th 2026
    Gonnelli: Ketham, Fasciculus medicine. 1500. Starting bid € 10.000
    Gonnelli: Ketham, Fasciculus medicie. 1522. Starting bid € 10.000
    Gonnelli: Kepler, Harmonices mundi libri V. 1619. Starting bid € 15.000
    Gonnelli: Auction 72 Books, Autographs & Manuscripts October 6th-8th 2026
    Gonnelli: Kepler, Tabulae Rudolphinae. 1627. Starting bid € 8.000
    Gonnelli: Kondakov, ISTORIYA I PAMYATNIKI VIZANTIISKOI EMALI. [Histoire et monuments des emaux byzantins]. 1892. Starting price € 5.000
    Gonnelli: Strada, Imperatorum Romanorum. 1559. Starting bid € 12.000
  • Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 15: TASSO. La Gerusalemme Liberata. 1745. Estimate: $15,000-25,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 15: SAVAGE. Practical Hints on Decorative Printing... 1822. Estimate: $8,000-12,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 15: BEWICK. The Works... [1805-]1822. Estimate: $8.000-12,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 15: RÖSEL VON ROSENHOF. De natuurlyke historie der insecten... [1765–1788]. Estimate: $8.000-12,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 15: BOYS. Picturesque Architecture in Paris, Ghent, Antwerp, Rouen, etc. [1839]. Estimate: $8,000-12,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 15: HOLBEIN. Imitations of Original Drawings by Hans Holbein... 1792[-1800]. Estimate: $8.000-12,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 15: CRANACH PRESS. — SHAKESPEARE. Hamlet. 1928. Estimate: $7,000-10,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 15: SGRILLI. Descrizione della regia vila... 1742. Estimate: $6,000-9,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 15: The Coronation of King Louis XV. Le Sacre de Louis XV... 1731. Estimate: $6,000-9,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 15: NONESUCH PRESS. — DICKENS. The Works. 1937-8. Estimate: $6,000-9,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 15: CRAIG. Gordon Craig's Book of Penny Toys. 1899. Estimate: $5,000-8,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 15: FOULIS PRESS. — HOMER. The Iliad & The Odyssey. 1756-8. Estimate: $5,000-7,000
    Bonhams, Now thru Oct. 15: LA FONTAINE. Fables choises... 1755-1759. Estimate: $5,000-7,000