• Swann, June 17: Lot 13: Arthur Rackham, Candlelight, pen and ink, circa 1900.
    Swann, June 17: Lot 28: Harold Von Schmidt, "I Asked Jim If He Wanted To Accompany Us To Teach The Hanneseys A Lesson.", oil on canvas, 1957.
    Swann, June 17: Lot 96: Arthur Szyk, Thumbelina, gouache and pencil, 1945.
    Swann, June 17: Lot 101: D.R. Sexton, The White Rabbit And Bill The Lizard, watercolor and gouache, 1932.
    Swann, June 17: Lot 127: Miguel Covarrubias, Bradypus Tridactilus. Three-Toed Sloth, gouache, circa 1953.
    Swann, June 17: Lot 132: William Pène Du Bois, 2 Illustrations: Balloon Merry Go Round On The Ground And In The Air, pen and ink and wash, 1947.
    Swann, June 17: Lot 137: Lee Lorenz, Confetti Hourglass, mixed media, 1973.
    Swann, June 17: Lot 181: Norman Rockwell, Portrait Of Floyd Jerome Patten (Editor At Boy's Life Magazine), charcoal, circa 1915.
    Swann, June 17: Lot 188: Ludwig Bemelmans, Rue De Buci, Paris, casein, watercolor, ink and gouache, 1955.
    Swann, June 17: Lot 263: Maurice Sendak, Sundance Childrens Theater Poster Preliminary Sketch, pencil, 1988.
  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
  • Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 567. One of the Earliest & Most Desirable Printed Maps of Arabia - by Holle/Germanus (1482) Est. $55,000 - $65,000
    Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 681. Zatta's Complete Atlas with 218 Maps in Full Contemporary Color (1779) Est. $27,500 - $35,000
    Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 347. MacDonald Gill's Landmark "Wonderground Map" of London (1914) Est. $1,800 - $2,100
    Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 1. Fries' "Modern" World Map with Portraits of Five Kings (1525) Est. $4,000 - $4,750
    Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 539. Ortelius' Superb, Decorative Map of Cyprus in Full Contemporary Color (1573) Est. $1,100 - $1,400
    Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 51. Mercator's Foundation Map for the Americas in Full Contemporary Color (1630) Est. $3,250 - $4,000
    Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 667. Manuscript Bible Leaf with Image of Mary and Baby Jesus (1450) Est. $1,900 - $2,200
    Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 226. "A Powerful Example of Color Used to Make a Point" (1895) Est. $400 - $600
    Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 290. One of the Most Decorative Early Maps of South America - from Linschoten's "Itinerario" (1596) Est. $7,000 - $8,500
    Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 62. Coronelli's Influential Map of North America with the Island of California (1688) Est. $10,000 - $12,000
    Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 589. The First European-Printed Map of China - by Ortelius (1584) Est. $4,000 - $5,000
  • Forum Auctions
    A Sixth Selection of 16th and 17th Century English Books from the Fox Pointe Manor Library
    19th June 2025
    Forum, June 19: Euclid. The Elements of Geometrie, first edition in English of the first complete translation, [1570]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum, June 19: Nicolay (Nicolas de). The Navigations, peregrinations and voyages, made into Turkie, first edition in English, 1585. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, June 19: Shakespeare source book.- Montemayor (Jorge de). Diana of George of Montemayor, first edition in English, 1598. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, June 19: Livius (Titus). The Romane Historie, first edition in English, translated by Philemon Holland, Adam Islip, 1600. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum Auctions
    A Sixth Selection of 16th and 17th Century English Books from the Fox Pointe Manor Library
    19th June 2025
    Forum, June 19: Robert Molesworth's copy.- Montaigne (Michel de). The Essayes Or Morall, Politike and Millitarie Discourses, first edition in English, 1603. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, June 19: Shakespeare (William). The Tempest [&] The Two Gentlemen of Verona, from the Second Folio, [Printed by Thomas Cotes], 1632. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, June 19: Boyle (Robert). Medicina Hydrostatica: or, Hydrostaticks Applyed to the Materia Medica, first edition, for Samuel Smith, 1690. £2,500 to £3,500.
    Forum, June 19: Locke (John). An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding in Four Books, first edition, second issue, 1690. £8,00 to £12,000.

Rare Book Monthly

Articles - September - 2023 Issue

Rare Book Hub: at 21

It's been a privilege to play a role

It's been a privilege to play a role

It has been an extraordinary privilege to play a part in the growth and development of the market for collectible paper over these past 21 years.  A field that has been resolutely transitioning over the past 250 years, has been coming into full flower over the past two decades as the Internet brought the rare book community together.

 

While the Internet has been a positive force for many, for others it’s been tough.  Listing sites have exposed the huge inventories of old and used books and for many, sales have been unrewarding for common material while much of the desirable material has been gravitating to the auction rooms.  It’s been efficient but somewhere there needs to be a balance.

 

While the future for the auctions is assured, we all have long relied on dealer catalogues  to seduce the mildly interested, converting them into life-long devotees.  For that the field owes them a debt of thanks and all need to support them.  For our part we would love to see more of their catalogues arriving for review.

 

As dealers continue to transition into the Internet I believe some of the responsibility to introduce the next generation of collectors is being necessarily embraced by libraries, knowing many of their future strongest supporters will learn about book collecting from them.  

 

Simply stated, the future of the field depends on a well-educated and motivated audience.  We all need to work together.

 

In closing, for these past 21 years we have worked to provide clarity.  To do that, we have depended on memberships and we remember who purchased the very first one, the William S. Reese Company.  Bill and his team supported us when we were just a fledgling. And now as we are providing more than 13 million records, as the market continues to transition, we will provide help to the field in the same spirit Bill offered it to us.

 

With gratitude,

 

Bruce McKinney

Managing Partner


Posted On: 2023-09-09 20:47
User Name: laurelle

Bruce,

As usual, your bias towards the auction houses is quite evident. I have seen many prices realized at auction well above what could have been acquired from a dealer.

Jeff


Posted On: 2023-09-10 19:47
User Name: brixton1977

For old guys like me, books led to books. The connective tissue of my knowledge about books is -- just more books. With walls and walls of books, I get ideas about books from -- books. Younger collectors today find a book from the internet, which then leads back to the internet and then maybe to the next book from the internet. The connective tissue supporting their knowledge of books is the internet.

I think this is why auction houses will do well. The attention of internet-based book collectors is increasingly directed by the internet -- rather than by books themselves. So, I think this means good prices for books with high internet visibility -- and a continued atrophy of book knowledge among book collectors. The completist collector/bibliographer type is dying off.

So, going forward, it's high spots, shinny objects, and whatever is trending online.


Rare Book Monthly

  • Finarte
    Books, Autographs & Prints
    June 24 & 25, 2025
    Finarte, June 24-25: ALIGHIERI, DANTE / LANDINO, CRISTOFORO. Comento di Christophoro Landino Fiorentino sopra la Comedia di Danthe Alighieri poeta fiorentino, 1481. €40,000 to €50,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: ALIGHIERI, DANTE. La Commedia [Commento di Christophorus Landinus]. Aggiunta: Marsilius Ficinus, Ad Dantem gratulatio [in latino e Italiano], 1487. €40,000 to €60,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: ALIGHIERI, DANTE. Il Convivio, 1490. €20,000 to €25,000.
    Finarte
    Books, Autographs & Prints
    June 24 & 25, 2025
    Finarte, June 24-25: BANDELLO, MATTEO. La prima [-quarta] parte de le nouelle del Bandello, 1554. €7,000 to €9,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: LEGATURA – PLUTARCO. Le vies des hommes illustres, grecs et romaines translates, 1567. €10,000 to €12,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: TOLOMEO, CLAUDIO. Ptolemeo La Geografia di Claudio Ptolemeo Alessandrino, Con alcuni comenti…, 1548. €4,000 to €6,000.
    Finarte
    Books, Autographs & Prints
    June 24 & 25, 2025
    Finarte, June 24-25: FESTE - COPPOLA, GIOVANNI CARLO. Le nozze degli Dei, favola [...] rappresentata in musica in Firenze…, 1637. €6,000 to €8,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: SPINOZA, BARUCH. Opera posthuma, 1677. €8,000 to €12,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: PUSHKIN, ALEXANDER. Borus Godunov, 1831. €30,000 to €50,000.
    Finarte
    Books, Autographs & Prints
    June 24 & 25, 2025
    Finarte, June 24-25: LIBRO D'ARTISTA - LECUIRE, PIERRE. Ballets-minute, 1954. €35,000 to €40,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: LIBRO D'ARTISTA - MAJAKOVSKIJ, VLADIMIR / LISSITZKY, LAZAR MARKOVICH. Dlia Golosa, 1923. €7,000 to €10,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: LIBRO D'ARTISTA - MATISSE, HENRI / MONTHERLANT, HENRY DE. Pasiphaé. Chant de Minos., 1944. €22,000 to €24,000.
  • ALDE, June 18: CHAPPE D'AUTEROCHE (JEAN). Voyage en Sibérie fait par ordre du Roi en 1761 contenant les mœurs…, Paris, 1768. €4,000 to €5,000.
    ALDE, June 18: HENNEPIN (LOUIS). Description de la Louisiane nouvellement découverte au Sud-Ouest de la Nouvelle France…, Paris, 1688. €3,000 to €4,000.
    ALDE, June 18: LA BOULLAYE-LE GOUZ (FRANÇOIS DE). Les Voyages et Observations, Paris, 1653. €1,500 to €2,000.
    ALDE, June 18: LE BRUN (CORNELIS DE BRUYN DIT CORNEILLE). Voyage au Levant, c'est à dire dans les principaux endroits de l'Asie mineure..., Delft, 1700. €6,000 to €8,000.
    ALDE, June 18: SAINT-NON (J.-CL. RICHARD, ABBÉ DE). Voyage pittoresque ou description du royaume de Naples et de Sicile, Paris, 1781-1786. €3,500 to €5,000.
    ALDE, June 18: (CALVIN JEAN). SÉNÈQUE. Annei Senecae..., Paris, 1532. €2,000 to €3,000.
    ALDE, June 18: ADRIEN LE CHARTREUX. De remediis utriusque fortunæ, [Cologne, vers 1470]. €5,000 to €6,000.
    ALDE, June 18: GAZA (THÉODORE). [...] Introductivæ grammatices libri quatuor. Ejusdem de mensibus opusculum sanequampulchrum, Venise, 1495. €8,000 to €10,000.
    ALDE, June 18: LACTANCE. De divinis institutionibus. De ira Dei. De opificio Dei. De phoenice carmen, Rome, 1468. €30,000 to €40,000.
    ALDE, June 18: LUTHER (MARTIN). Der Erste [– Achte und letze] Teil aller Bücher und Schrifften des thewren, seligen Mans Doct. Mart. Lutheri, Iéna, 1555-1568. €5,000 to €6,000.
    ALDE, June 18: POLITIEN (ANGE). Omnia opera, et alia quædam lectu Digna, Venise, 1498. €8,000 to €10,000.
    ALDE, June 18: SIDOINE APOLLINAIRE. Poema aureum ejusdemque Epistole, Milan, 1498. €3,000 to €4,000.
  • Sotheby's
    Bibliothèque Jacques Dauchez - Autour de Dubuffet
    5-19 June
    Sotheby’s, June 5-19: Bissière, Roger. Cantique à notre frère soleil de saint François. 1954. 1,000 - 1,500 EUR
    Sotheby’s, June 5-19: Céline, Louis-Ferdinand. La vie & l’œuvre de Philippe Ignace Semmelweis. 1924. Rare édition originale, avec envoi. Joint : La Quinine en thérapeutique, 1925. 4,000 - 6,000 EUR
    Sotheby’s, June 5-19: Céline, Louis-Ferdinand. Mort à crédit. 1936. Édition originale. Bel exemplaire sur Hollande. 2,500 - 3,500 EUR
    Sotheby's
    Bibliothèque Jacques Dauchez - Autour de Dubuffet
    5-19 June
    Sotheby’s, June 5-19: Chillida, Eduardo ─ Emil Cioran. Face aux instants. 1985. Un des 100 exemplaires sur Arches. Eau-forte signée. 600 - 800 EUR
    Sotheby’s, June 5-19: Dubuffet, Jean. Ler dla canpane. L’Art Brut, 1948. Édition originale. 3,000 - 5,000 EUR
    Sotheby’s, June 5-19: Dubuffet, Jean. L'Herne Jean Dubuffet. 1973. Un des 100 exemplaires du tirage de luxe avec une sérigraphie originale en couleurs. 1,000 - 1,500 EUR

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