Archives

Alice and the Beats

Plenty of highlights in the 4th March PBA Galleries Sale, with fine books available in all areas of literature – Children and Beat. Among the highlights: Carroll, Lewis. Alice in Wonderland. One of only 25 copies with 11 original etchings by the late Argentinean artist, Alicia Scavino. Estimate [...]

Super Record

  A superb price of $1m (£650,000) was achieved for a 1938 copy of ‘Action Comics No.1’, smashing the previous record for a comic book of $317,200 in 2009. The comic, originally sold for 10c back in the day, features the superhero Superman. But does this really account for why it made a million!?   Stephen Fishler, co-owner of the US [...]

Temple of Books

This year, the Shedd-Porter Memorial Library - one of New Hampshire’s landmarks -  is celebrating its centennial.   The granite building, which resembles a Greek temple, first opened its doors in 25 August 1910. It has since remained standing while other buildings around it burned down or were swept away in the 2005 floods.   Librarian, Barbara Davis, has been arranging numerous events [...]

Triumph of a Library

  Back in the 1940s, when playwright Somerset Maugham visited a small town in India, he was surprised by the vast collection of books covering a range of world classic and other literature. Particularly, when he found his own works amongst the titles. The playwright wrote in the visitors’ book that he was both ‘pleased’ and ‘flattered.’   The Trivandrum Public Library, [...]

Bonham’s Book

This is what you can expect to find on offer tomorrow at Bonhams Oxford book sale:   A fascinating archive of prints and books from the Marxist art historian F.D. Klingender that survived his widow’s recent death. In this extensive collection, you’ll find manuscripts and photographs of the Klingenders in Germany; copies of published works by Klingender in books, journals and [...]

Bookmarks: Online Convention

On February 20 and 21, 2010, for the first time ever, an online bookmark convention will be held for collectors of this curious craft.     For 24 hours, bookmark collectors from all over the world will meet to attend and give seminars, view galleries, shop, swap, and socialise with other collectors and enthusiasts.   For many collectors, this will be [...]

Roos’ new adventure

  “Suddenly I was in search of the great new adventure” – Michael Roos   In rather spontaneous fashion, Michael Roos sold his share of Asher Rare Books and retired as director of the company.   Roos’ new adventure has turned out to be managing the firm in cooperation with Laurens Hesselink (Antiquariaat Forum).   Speaking about his new decision, Roos said: “The [...]

Second Tome Round

Not the most merry Christmas for book thief William Jacques, the notorious “Tome Raider” who clearly did not learn his lesson on tome many occasions.    Tens years ago, Jacques began removing books from libraries, including the Cambridge and British Library. He brought them to numerous auction houses in Britain, which soon raised red flags. He never attempted to sell his [...]

Marriage of Allegiance

Bloomsbury Auctions and Dreweatts Forge Alliance with Germany’s Hermann Historica   The brilliant new affiliation between Bloomsbury Auctions, Dreweatts and Hermann Historica offers HH a permanent presence in Bloomsbury Auctions’ Mayfair premises in Maddox Street, as well as representative offices in both New York and Rome,   Dreweatts will establish a branch in HH Munich headquarters with the intention of developing a strong [...]

The Big Picture

Last week, Alby Ball of Harrow, won the Daily Telegraph’s “Big Picture” competition for his picture of a well-stocked bookshop in Shiraz, Iran. The memories of when all English second-hand bookshops were like this!

What the Dickens!

A fine set of 35 letters written by Charles Dickens has been added permanently to the Huntington Library’s collection. The letters, penned between 1838 – 1869, address a variety of people including John Leech and Hablot Knight Browne who were both illustrators for Dicken’s books, and Robert Lytton, Charles Ollier and Mary Nichols. The collection was built by a [...]

The Man Who…

  The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett reviewed by R M Healey   The notorious book thief William Jacques was arrested on Christmas Day 2009 after two years on the run. He had been caught walking out of the Lindley Library with £50,000 worth of rare horticultural books under his jacket. Earlier in the decade he had [...]

Shakespeare in San Fran

An exceptional copy of the Shakespeare’s second folio will go under the hammer at PBA Galleries on February 8, 2010.   The “tall” well-margined edition was rebound in full morocco in the middle of the 19th century by the firm of J. Leighton for the owner, Robert Curzon, who was the 14th Baron Zouche, a noted traveller, scholar and collector.   The [...]

Value in the Old and Rare?

“New England homes are treasure-troves for old and rare books that have increased in value over the years,” said Gloss. “We invite the public to bring any volumes they want to know about to the lecture for a free verbal appraisal.”   Today the Friends of the Fitchburg Public Library tackle the pertinent question “Is There Value In Your Old and [...]

A Pocketful of Dealers

  This weekend the Stratford upon Avon Book Fair will pool together 22 local book dealers to offer the visiting trade a large variety of affordable and quirky material.   There will also be a book launch by dealer, Phillip Robbins, who has recently produced his first book "A Pocketful of Acorns" for the John Moore Society. This is an [...]