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Leland Little, May 21: Signed Artist Proof of the Monumental G.O.A.T.: A Tribute to Muhammad Ali.Leland Little, May 21: Assorted Rare Publications Related to H.P. Lovecraft, Including The Recluse Signed by Vincent Starrett.Leland Little, May 21: Two Issues of The Vagrant, Including the First Appearance of H.P. Lovecraft's "Dagon" in Number Eleven.Leland Little, May 21: Rare First Printing of Anne of Green Gables, With ALS from the Author.Leland Little, May 21: First Edition of Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, In First Issue Jacket.Leland Little, May 21: The Limited Paumanok Edition of The Complete Writings of Walt Whitman.Leland Little, May 21: Beautifully Bound Limited Flaubert Edition of The Works of Guy de Maupassant.Leland Little, May 21: First Edition of Bonaparte's Celebrated American Ornithology, With Spectacular Hand-Colored Plates.Leland Little, May 21: A Rare Complete Set of Jardine's The Naturalist's Library, With Hand-Colored Plates.Leland Little, May 21: Invitation to the Lincoln-Johnson National Inaugural Ball, March 4th, 1865.Leland Little, May 21: A Scarce Inscribed First Edition of James Baldwin's Nobody Knows My Name.Leland Little, May 21: Picasso's Le Goût du Bonheur, Limited Edition. -
Sotheby's
Bibliothèque Jacques Dauchez - Autour de Dubuffet
5-19 JuneSotheby’s, June 5-19: Bissière, Roger. Cantique à notre frère soleil de saint François. 1954. 1,000 - 1,500 EURSotheby’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 EURSotheby’s, June 5-19: Céline, Louis-Ferdinand. Mort à crédit. 1936. Édition originale. Bel exemplaire sur Hollande. 2,500 - 3,500 EURSotheby's
Bibliothèque Jacques Dauchez - Autour de Dubuffet
5-19 JuneSotheby’s, June 5-19: Chillida, Eduardo ─ Emil Cioran. Face aux instants. 1985. Un des 100 exemplaires sur Arches. Eau-forte signée. 600 - 800 EURSotheby’s, June 5-19: Dubuffet, Jean. Ler dla canpane. L’Art Brut, 1948. Édition originale. 3,000 - 5,000 EURSotheby’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 -
Jeschke Jádi
Rare Book Auction 155
Saturday April 26, 2025Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 962. Baird. United States Exploring Expedition. Philadelphia 1858.Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 772. Edith Holland Norton. Brazilian Flowers. Coombe Croft 1893.Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 49. Petrarca. Das Gluecksbuch, Augsburg 1536.Jeschke Jádi
Rare Book Auction 155
Saturday April 26, 2025Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 1496. Jacob / Picasso. Chronique des Temps, 1956.Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 8. Augustinus. De moribus ecclesie. Cologne 1480.Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 17. Heures a lusaige de Noyon. Paris 1504.Jeschke Jádi
Rare Book Auction 155
Saturday April 26, 2025Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 13. Schedel. Buch der Chronicken. Nürnberg 1493.Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 957. Donovan. Insects of China. London 1798.Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 123. A holy martyr. Tuscany, Florence, mid-14th century.Jeschke Jádi
Rare Book Auction 155
Saturday April 26, 2025Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 438. Dante. La Divine Comédie. Paris 1963.Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 602. Firdausi. Histoire de Minoutchehr. Paris 1919Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 994. Westwood. Oriental Entomology. London 1848. -
![<b>Forum, May 29:</b> Gill (Eric). Eve, number 1 of 50, hand-coloured wood-engraving, signed at foot in pencil, [1926]. £6,000 to £8,000.](https://pjupgrade-qadev.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/100a7a2f-6873-4f71-b65c-b0da14061a3a.png "<b>Forum, May 29:</b> Gill (Eric). Eve, number 1 of 50, hand-coloured wood-engraving, signed at foot in pencil, [1926]. £6,000 to £8,000.")
Forum Auctions
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
29th May 2025Forum, May 29: Darwin (Charles). On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, first edition, John Murray, 1859. £50,000 to £70,000.Forum, May 29: Astronomy.- Apianus (Petrus). Cosmographicus Liber a Petro Apiano Mathematico Studiose Collectus., first edition, Landshut, 1524. £40,000 to £60,000.Forum, May 29: Bound for Jean Grolier.- Negri Stefano. Stephani Nigri Elegantissime è Graeco authorum subditorum translationes, uidelicet., first edition, first issue, Milan, 1521. £15,000 to £20,000.Forum, May 29: Gill (Eric). Eve, number 1 of 50, hand-coloured wood-engraving, signed at foot in pencil, [1926]. £6,000 to £8,000.Forum Auctions
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
29th May 2025Forum, May 29: America.- Warre (Capt. Henry James). Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory, first edition, Dickinson & Co., 1848. £25,000 to £35,000.Forum, May 29: Wodehouse (P.G.) Psmith USA, autograph manuscript of his novel "Psmith Journalist", signed and dated at end and dated "11 November 1909, Hotel Earle, 103 Waverley Place". £15,000 to £20,000.Forum, May 29: Women.- Wollstonecraft (Mary). A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, first edition, uncut in original boards, 1792. £6,000 to £8,000.Forum, May 29: Mathematics.- Whitehead (Alfred North) and Bertrand Russell. Principia Mathematica, 3 vol., first editions, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1910-13. £20,000 to £30,000.
Rare Book Monthly
Articles - August - 2006 Issue
A Visit To the Oldest Bookstore in the World
Sotheran's, Britain, and perhaps the world's, oldest bookstore.
By Carl Burnham
While in London I had a chance to visit some of the many bookstores which line the streets of the old city where bookselling began. The jewel of these is Sotheran's. Located just a few blocks from the famed Piccadilly Circus in London's West End, Sotheran's has the distinction of being the oldest bookstore in operation in Great Britain and "quite probably the world."
Sotheran's actually started in York back in 1761 under the name Todd & Sootheran (the family name was soon changed to Sotheran). I was able to acquire a photocopy of one of the earliest records for items that the company sold while in York, which dates to 1762, and included handwritten notations for sales of several volumes of Voltaire's Works, issues of Imperials Magazine, fine writing papers, and "2 bottles of Japan Ink". One of the Sotheran's, Thomas and his wife Maria moved to London in 1816 to start a trade there, which would flourish after his son Henry took on the business and began publishing a catalogue to describe the rare book collections the company held. Some of the notable collections that have been represented include the complete libraries of Laurence Sterne, Charles Dickens, Bishop Gott, Sir James Stirling, John Rylands (now a library in Manchester), including books from Sir Winston Churchill's library, and early works of Shakespeare among others. Compared to today's market, several rare books were sold for ridiculously low prices. For example, when the library of Charles Dickens was represented in 1870, many books signed by famous authors and Dickens himself or with his bookplate were sold for £1 to £2!
With large, captivating, window displays of rarities, the shop at Sackville Street brings in a steady stream of new and regular customers daily through their double fronted doors. One would expect an historic marker in front of the shop to note the significance (me being an American, where a sign is posted for anything remotely historic), but then again this is London, one of the oldest cities in the world.