Susan Heller: A life with books
Susan Heller, retired rare book dealer, slipped away on October 8, leaving her shelves bare. She was 90. Born in 1933, Susan lived in Beachwood, Ohio and began life as a teacher but slowly succumbed to the magic of being a book dealer. The very idea of browsing garage sales, bidding at auction, going to book fairs, and dropping in to see what book shops were offering, these activities were never work for her, they were pure pleasure. The possibility to find unappreciated gems made life exciting. In 1982 she became a member of the ABAA.
Her husband, H...
We are constantly bombarded with warnings of all sorts of grave risks. Some new disease we never heard of seems to perfectly fit the symptoms of some problem we think we have. Or, maybe there is so...
Esther Inglis, an accomplished Renaissance calligrapher, painter, book-artist, and miniaturist, is the subject of special events this season in Edinburgh, Scotland, and Washington, DC.
Commemo...
Digitizing Ancient and Fragile Materials is the subject of a recent report by Primary Research Group (PRG), a New York City firm specializing in data analysis related to libraries, higher education...
In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue and “discovered” America. It was a big rock, with some inhabitants but not many by today's standards. That was the last time America was “discovered.” Ever s...
Once again, bibliophiles have an opportunity to be in the same room with the leading dealers who handle collectible paper when the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair opens to the public on ...
MW Book Fairs, a collaboration between Wiggins Fine Books ABAA, SNEAB and Richard Mori Books, is pleased to announce that 40 outstanding antiquarian book, ephemera and photo dealers have signed on ...
I’m new to the Belle da Costa Greene fan club, but I can assure you I’m going to be one of its most enthusiastic members.
That’s Belle, who in 1905 became financier JP Morgan’s personal librari...
An attempt to denigrate a book if not hide it in Texas has been reversed, at least for the time being. In this era of increasing censorship of libraries, every victory adds a ray of hope that the f...
The Folger Shakespeare Library recently opened its inaugural exhibition in its new gallery. The exhibition title is Imprints in Time, items from the amazing collection of Stuart and Mimi Rose of Da...
Maggs Bros., announces.
We write with news from 48 Bedford Square, where the antiquarian booksellers Maggs Bros Ltd., have appointed Fuchsia Voremberg as Managing Director. She has been with th...
Found a copy of Le Vrai et ancien usage des duels... /Of The True and Ancient Use of Duels (Paris, 1617) that looks like it’s been through a few fights itself during the last 400 years. It wear...
There has been a changing of the guard at the Antiquarian Book School Foundation (ABSF). Lorne Bair has been elected the new President. Bair has been a bookseller since the 1990s, specializing in A...
Old books are being preserved at Japan's oldest school and perhaps oldest library in a manner I had not seen before. The founding dates of the school and library are unknown, but it is believed tha...
The election is on November 5th. Please vote. Democracy is on the ballot.
If you are following the rare book and collectible auctions, pay attention. The volume of sales and lots has soared whi...
This month we review four new dealer catalogues. Dr. Jörn Günther presents one of the most impressive catalogues I have ever seen, though you will need to be strong to lift it. The subject is Renai...
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 28th May 2026
Forum, May 28: Book of Hours.- Heures de nostre dame a l'usaige de Romme, Paris, Antoine Chappiel pour Germain Hardouin, [1504]. £6,000-8,000
Forum, May 28: Colonna (Francesco). La Hypnerotomachia di Poliphilo, second edition, Venice, Sons of Aldus Manutius, 1545. £15,000-20,000
Forum, May 28:The Christ Child holding a crystal orb and surrounded by banderoles with devotional exhortations, on a leaf most probably from a Book of Hours, [Southern Netherlands, last decades of the fifteenth century]. £2,000-3,000
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 28th May 2026
Forum, May 28: Jackson (Shirley). The Haunting of Hill House, first English edition, signed presentation inscription from the author to Claude Fredericks, 1960. £2,000-3,000
Forum, May 28: Lennon (John). In His Own Write, first edition, first impression, signed by the author, 1964. £3,000-4,000
Forum, May 28: Doves Press.- Keats (John). [Poems], one of 200 copies on paper, Doves Press, 1914. £5,000-7,000
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 28th May 2026
Forum, May 28: Rodrigues (João Barbosa). Sertum Palmarum Brasiliensium, 2 vol., first and only edition, Brussels, 1903. £8,000-12,000
Forum, May 28: Newton (Sir Isaac). Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica…editio ultima, auctior et emendatior, Amsterdam, Sumptibus Societatis, 1714. £8,000-12,000
Forum, May 28: Kepler (Johannes). Ad Vitellionem paralipomena, wuibus astronomiae pars optica traditur, first edition, Frankfurt am Main, 1604. £5,000-7,000
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 28th May 2026
Forum, May 28: Tagliacozzi (Gaspare). De Curtorum Chirurgia per insitionem, libri duo, first edition, Venice, Gasparo Bindoni, 1597. £7,000-10,000
Forum, May 28: Lootsman (Jacobsz). The Lightning Colomne, or Sea-Mirrour, containing the Sea-Coasts of the Northern, Eastern and Western Navigation..., 1670. £8,000-12,000
Forum, May 28: Ribelles y Helip (José), Attributed to. An album comprising 33 finely executed watercolours of Spanish costume, bull-fighting scenes, and other genre subjects, [circa 1830]. £10,000-15,000
