  • Bloomsbury Auctions London, 9th December Western Manuscripts
    Bloomsbury Dec 9: Lot 19, Extracts from various authors on demons<br>and demonology, [France, 13th c.] Est.: £3,000-5,000
    Bloomsbury Dec 9: Lot 3, Leaf from an illuminated monastic Missal, [southern Germany, 10th c.]<br>Est.: £3,000–5,000
    Bloomsbury Dec 9: Lot 23, Large cutting from an extremely early <br>copy of Gratian's <i>Decretum</i> [northern France or Low Countries, 12th c.] Est.: £2,000-3,000
    Bloomsbury Dec 9: Lot 47, Christ holding a book and blessing, within a mandorla supported by two angels, [northern France, 11th c.]<br>Est.: £25,000-35,000
    Bloomsbury Auctions London, 9th December Western Manuscripts
    Bloomsbury Dec 9: Lot 56, Animal initial with a bear and a griffon,<br>from a monumental illuminated manuscript Bible [France, 12th c.]<br>Est.: £8,000-12,000
    Bloomsbury Dec 9: Lot 57, Animal initial with two dogs, from a monu-<br>mental illuminated manuscript Bible [France, 12th c.] Est.: £7,000-9,000
    Bloomsbury Dec 9: Lot 61, Cutting showing the murder of a youth, [northern France (Paris, 14thc.]<br>Est.: £6,000-8,000
    Bloomsbury Dec 9: Lot 74, Leaf<br>from a finely illuminated manuscript Missal with an almost nude man and two men's heads [Italy, c.1290]<br>Est.: £4,000-6,000
    Bloomsbury Auctions London, 9th December Western Manuscripts
    Bloomsbury Dec 9: Lot 105, Fragment of a Sefer Torah (Genesis 28:7-47:3), [Sephard (perhaps c.1300)] Est.: £30,000-50,000
    Bloomsbury Dec 9: Lot 115, Bernard of Botone, <i>Glossa ordinaria</i> on the Decretals of Gregory IX, [Italy, c. 1300] Est.: £30,000-50,000
    Bloomsbury Dec 9: Lot 125, The Hours of Gabrielle d'Estrées, Use of Paris, [northern France, c. 1480]<br>Est.: £8,000-12,000
    Bloomsbury Dec 9: Lot 118,<br> The Astronomical Compendium of San Cristoforo, Turin, including Regiomontanus, Calendarium [northern Italy, (perhaps c. 1474)] Est.: £40,000-60,000
  • <b>Christie's London, December 1: Valuable Books & Manuscripts</b>
    <b>Christie's London Dec 1: </b> Lot 144. BLOCH, Marcus Elieser. [Allgemeine Naturgeschichte der Fische:] 12 parts in 9 volumes, comprising 6 <br>text vols. Est. £40,000-£60,000 .
    <b>Christie's London Dec 1: </b> Lot 77. JOYCE, James (1882-1941). <i>Ulysses</i>. Paris: Shakespeare and Company, 1922. Est. £50,000-£80,000.
    <b>Christie's London Dec 1: </b> Lot 1. THE THREE MARYS AT THE SEPULCHRE and THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. Est. £150,000-£200,000.
    <b>Christie's London, December 1: Valuable Books & Manuscripts</b>
    <b>Christie's London Dec 1: </b> Lot 164. VALTURIUS, Robertus (1413-84). <br><i>De re militari</i>. Edited by Paulus Ramusius, Junior. Verona... <br>Est. £35,000-£45,000.
    <b>Christie's London Dec 1: </b> Lot 171. [POTTER, Beatrix (1866-1943), illustrator]. Frederic E. WEATHERLY. <i><br>A Happy Pair...Illustrated by H.B.P.</i><br> Est. £5,000-£8,000.
    <b>Christie's London Dec 1: </b> Lot 181. CAO, Junyi (fl. 1644). <i>Tianxia jiubian fenyie renji lucheng quantu.</i><br>Est. £300,000-£500,000.
    Arader Nov 21: Lot 93. A Mapp of Ye Improved Parts of Pennsylvania in America... Description: Thomas Holme (1624-1695). Est: $15,000-$20,000
  • <b>Bonhams Dec 9th: </b> Lot 113. EINSTEIN, ALBERT. 1879-1955. Autograph Manuscript Signed<br>("A. Einstein") on final page.<br>US$ 80,000-120,000
    <b>Bonhams Dec 9th: </b> Lot 10. BURNS, ROBERT. 1759-1796. Autograph Revised Manuscript, <i>Monody on Maria<br>R._________</i> US$ 10,000-15,000
    <b>Bonhams Dec 9th: </b> Lot 100. WOOLF, VIRGINIA. 1882-1941. Autograph Letter Signed ("AVS"), 4 pp recto and verso, 8vo. US$ 10,000-15,000
    <b>Bonhams Dec 9th: </b> Lot 28. DICKINSON, EMILY. 1830-1886. Autograph Note Signed ("Emily"). US$ 10,000-15,000
    <b>Bonhams Dec 9th: </b> Lot 79. REVERE, PAUL. 1735-1818. Autograph Note Signed ("Paul Revere"), 1 p, oblong 16mo. US$ 10,000-15,000
    <b>Bonhams Dec 9th: </b> Lot 22. DARWIN, CHARLES. 1809-1882. Autograph Letter Signed ("C. Darwin"), 2-1/2 pp, 8vo. US$ 8,000-12,000
    <b>Bonhams Dec 9th: </b> Lot 58. OYCE, JAMES. 1882-1941. Autograph Letter Signed ("James Joyce"), December 5, 1920. US$ 8,000-12,000
    <b>Bonhams Dec 9th: </b> Lot 249. MATISSE, HENRI. 1869-1954. MALLARMÉ, STEPHANE. Poésies. Lausanne: Albert Skira, 1932. US$ 40,000-60,000
    <b>Bonhams Dec 9th: </b> Lot 229. STOKER, BRAM. 1847-1912. Dracula, 1899. <i>First American edition, inscribed by the author</i>. US$ 12,000-18,000
    <b>Bonhams Dec 9th: </b> Lot 241. GAUGUIN, PAUL. 1848-1903. [Noa Noa, Vojage de Tahiti. 1893-1894.] US$ 15,000-25,000
    <b>Bonhams Dec 9th: </b> Lot 233. CHAGALL, MARC. 1887-1985. Poémes. Geneva: Cramer Éditeur, 1968. 124 pp. Poems. US$ 20,000-30,000
    <b>Bonhams Dec 9th: </b> Lot 20. CUMMINGS, EDWARD ESTLIN. 1894-1962. Autograph Manuscript Signed ("E.E. Cummings"), headed "Poem". US$ 5,000-8,000
  • Sotheby's NY Dec 2-4: Davies, John, of Hereford. <i>Wittes Pilgrimage</i>. London, [1605?]. $10,000-15,000
    Sotheby's NY Dec 2-4: Rowley, Samuel. <i>When you See Me, You know Mee</i>. London, 1632. $3,000-5,000
    Sotheby's NY Dec 2-4: <br>Ariosto, Lodovico (John Harington, trans.). <i>Orlando Furioso in English Heroical Verse</i>. (London, 1591). $90,000-120,000
    Sotheby's NY Dec 2-4: Marlowe, Christopher. <i>The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Jew of Malta</i>. London, 1633. $40,000-60,000
    Sotheby's NY Dec 2-4: Caius, Joannes. <i>Of Englishe Dogges</i>. London, 1576. $30,000-50,000
    Sotheby's NY Dec 2-4: Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan, <i>Or The Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-Wealth</i>. London, 1651. $25,000-35,000
    Sotheby's NY Dec 2-4: Missal, Use of Sarum. <i>Missale ad usu[m] insignis ac preclare ecclesie Sar[um]</i>. London, [1512]. $15,000-20,000
    Sotheby's NY Dec 2-4: Bacon, Sir Francis. <i>Instauratio Magna [Novum Organum]</i>. London, 1620. <br>$20,000-30,000
    Sotheby's NY Dec 2-4: Walton, Izaak. <i>The Compleat Angler or the Contemplative man's Recreation</i>. London, 1653. $70,000-100,000
    Sotheby's NY December 2-4:<br>Milton, John. <i>Poems</i>. London, 1645. $25,000-35,000
    Sotheby's NY Dec 2-4: Baldwin, William. <i>A Myrroure for Magistrates</i>. London, 1559. $100,000-$150,000
    Sotheby's NY Dec 2-4: Newton, Isaac. <i>Opticks</i>. London, 1704. Presentation copy given by the author to Edmund Halley. $400,000-600,000
    Sotheby's NY Dec 2-4: Shakespeare, William. <i>Poems</i>. London, 1640. $150,000-200,000
    Sotheby's NY Dec 2-4: Chaucer, Geoffrey. <i>Canterbury Tales</i>. London, 1526. $200,000-$300,000
    Sotheby's NY Dec 2-4: Donne, John. Autograph letter signed to Lord Chancellor Ellesmere, presenting a first edition of <i>Pseudo-Martyr</i>, London, 1610. $150,000-200,000

Rare Book Monthly

Articles - March - 2014 Issue

Recent Book and Paper Fairs in California

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The Book Bin at Pasadena was busy selling the unexpected

Book Fairs on the West Coast

 

Recently, on February 1st and 2nd there was a book and ephemera fair in San Francisco at Fort Mason, on the water on the north side of the city.  The weather was cold and rainy and deterred some no doubt from attending the two-day event.  The following weekend the ABAA held its premier west coast show of 2014 over 3 days at Pasadena at the well-lighted and spacious convention center.  Both fairs would attract portions of the same audience but end up being very different events.

 

The San Francisco fair, organized for the second time by Nancy Johnson of Nancy Johnson Events Management LLC, was open to anyone interested to exhibit.  If you could pay the exposition fee and the additional cost for sundries you were in.  In Pasadena only ILAB and ABAA members could participate in the better-known and more widely publicized fair that set back exhibitors double what the San Francisco fair cost.   This set up a sartorial comparison, the San Francisco more blue jeans than designer jeans, the Pasadena fair suits with discrete designer labels. 

 

Many exhibitors in San Francisco are frequent exhibitors at weekend events.  In some cases they do a fair a month and offer not only different items but also different categories such as postcards, objects and antiques.  For them books is one of the inventories they sell and they don’t bring them to every show.  Generally they and the other exhibitors did better with ephemera - in part because the sweet spot in the busy booths was $50 to $200 and that price range better suited to ephemera.  More expensive material sold but the crowds were in the perceived bargain categories. 

 

This is not to suggest that the top of the line wasn’t represented and exhibiting.  The William Reese Company brought a fair approximation of a premier and extensive library, of course to sell books but also to convey the stature of the material they handle.  Bauman Rare Books was also there as were Peter Harrington and Donald Heald, Maggs Brothers, John Windle and Phillip J. Pirages to name only a few.  The list of serious booksellers exhibiting was long.  But so too were the dealers measuring their successes in ephemera, postcards and comics and at the end of the weekend it appears the less expensive material, post cards and comic books were where buyer interest focused.  

 

David Lilburne of Antipodean Books, Maps and Prints summed it up very well.  “I’ll suggest to the Ephemera Society they hold a fair here.  Their members will do very well.”  San Francisco, for this weekend, was simply more interested in paper than books.

 

Over the next weekend many of the same dealers moved on to Pasadena.

 

The Pasadena fair was quite different, the venue, the Pasadena Convention Center, simply a marvelous setting.  Well lit, spacious, and adorned with creature comforts such as carpeting and conversation areas I suspect everyone liked the facilities.  So what if the show cost roughly double what the San Francisco fair cost, it turned out the difference was inconsequential to the calculus of exhibitor finances; $3,000 versus $1,500 [including counters, partitions, and additional lighting].   Add in the much better weather in Pasadena and the Rose Bowl city won the comparison in a romp.

 

Dan Whitmore, of Whitmore Rare Books, who did both the SF Fair and the Pasadena event said, “I did well enough at both but if forced to choose one over the other I’d choose the ABAA fair at Pasadena.  The more pleasant environment easily offset the higher costs.  We are all in the business of building rapport and the ambiance was terrific.”  It didn’t help he had to sidestep occasional drips from a leaky ceiling in San Francisco.

 

So Pasadena won hands down except for one factor:  sales.  In neither location were sales exceptional but San Francisco, because they opened their doors to independent exhibitors, had more eclectic less expensive material and plenty of cost aware browsers, probably was better as a mechanism for encouraging new collectors. Though there could have been more, those who came spent more of their time and most of their money in the booths that were stocked with less expensive possibilities and sent almost everyone who showcased such material home happy.  

 

And what does this suggest?  Less expensive paper collectibles did well at both fairs although San Francisco offered more opportunities and somewhat lower prices.  And these sales did something else.  They provided a ramp up to the more complex collecting that top-tier dealers make a career of defining, explaining and selling.  In other words, as has been suggested before, we have to first engage the nascent collector and then over time educate them to the possibilities of collecting seriously.  Seen in this light the San Francisco fair was particularly effective.

 

Duncan McLaren of Lord Dunham Rare Books who has exhibited at both types of fairs, feels the greater opportunity to engage new collectors is at the independent fairs where there is not a long line of serious booksellers.  McLaren is exhibiting this year at more antique shows based on his 2013 experiences.  “Many of the items we are handling are physical historical artifacts and they are fresh in the antiques market.” 

 

The two sides of the same coin, the serious rare books and the entry level comics and ephemera very visible in San Francisco and somewhat visible in Pasadena, actually set very well together, permitting the newbie to buy inexpensive material today while casting an eye on what and from whom they could hope to be buying in the years ahead.  I found the differences compelling – almost a visual primer of what collecting can become through time.  For conveying this impression both fairs deserve praise.

 

As to next year when the ABAA-ILAB fair returns to the Bay Area, the decision has already been taken on a 4 to 3 vote to have the 2015 fair in Oakland, just across the Bay Bridge from San Francisco.  About this decision I asked many people how they felt and their enthusiasm was lukewarm.  The net of everything I heard was “the ABAA councils have made good decisions before, they will make a good decision this time.”  And it should work out subject to two caveats:

 

That the change in venue is widely advertised and well explained.  The lack of the clarity about this year’s San Francisco Book and Ephemera Show’s move to Fort Mason led the news to get lost in the weeds and it affected attendance.

 

That the currently every other year SFB&E fair does not step into the gap created by the ABAA’s move across the Oakland Bay Bridge to Oakland, and take over Fort Mason to run their event in direct competition with the ABAA fair.  Many exhibitors would prefer to stay in San Francisco.  Set up as an ephemera and book fair [emphasis ephemera] that show should do very well.  It will help of course if the weather is better, the roof not leaking and if aisle carpets soften the concrete floor.  Running simultaneously the two fairs would create a mega weekend event but probably diminish support for the move to Oakland even as the combined event becomes the largest collectible paper event in the world.

 

Whatever the outcome the fairs are always interesting.  I bought one book and an archive of Hudson valley material at the SF fair and purchased, in Pasadena, a Fishkill broadside and made notes to consider another possible purchase.

 

Such events are always worthwhile.

 

Rare Book Monthly

  • <b>Swann Auction Galleries Nov 24:<br>Art, Press & Illustrated Books</b>
    Swann Auction Galleries Nov 24: Kelmscott Press, <i>The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer now newly<br>imprinted</i>, Hammersmith, 1896. $45,000 to $60,000.
    Swann Auction Galleries Nov 24: Marcel Schwob, <i>Vies Imaginaires</i>,<br>with illustrations by George Barbier & F.L. Schmied, Paris, 1929.<br>$20,000 to $30,000.
    Swann Auction Galleries Nov 24: Marc Chagall, <i>Psaumes de David</i>, signed first edition, Geneva, 1979. $10,000 to $15,000.
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries Nov 24:<br>Art, Press & Illustrated Books</b>
    Swann Auction Galleries Nov 24: Collection of 84 Weimar-era book jackets, including designs by<br>George Grosz, Moholy-Nagy, et. al., Berlin,1926-32. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Swann Auction Galleries Nov 24: Antoni Tàpies, <i>Llull-Tàpies</i>, 75 of 105 copies signed in an edition of 165, Paris and Barcelona, 1985.<br>$7,000 to $10,000.
    Swann Auction Galleries Nov 24: Black Sun Press, Harry Crosby, <i>Shadows of the Sun</i>, first edition<br>in 3 volumes, Paris, 1928-30.<br>$5,000 to $7,500.
    Swann Auction Galleries Nov 24:<br>Earl of Rochester [John Wilmot], Sodom: <i>Ein Spiel</i>, illustrated by<br>Julius Klinger, folio, Leipzig, 1909.<br>$3,500 to $5,000.
    Swann Auction Galleries Nov 24: Herbert Matter, <i>Trademarks and Symbols</i>, 2 volumes, California, 1960s. $3,000 to $4,000.
    Swann Auction Galleries Nov 24:<br>H. Boylston Dummer, <i>The Robin<br>Book</i>, 14 typed pages with water-<br>color illustrations, string-bound & hand-painted, Rockport, c. 1925.<br>$300 to $400.
  • Pierre Bergé & Associates in Collaboration with Sotheby's, Personal library of Pierre Bergé, <br>11 Dec 2015.
    Pierre Bergé & Associates in Collaboration with Sotheby's, Personal library of Pierre Bergé, <br>11 Dec 2015.
    Pierre Bergé & Associates in Collaboration with Sotheby's, Personal library of Pierre Bergé, <br>11 Dec 2015.
    Pierre Bergé & Associates in Collaboration with Sotheby's, Personal library of Pierre Bergé, <br>11 Dec 2015.
    Pierre Bergé & Associates in Collaboration with Sotheby's, Personal library of Pierre Bergé, <br>11 Dec 2015.
    Pierre Bergé & Associates in Collaboration with Sotheby's, Personal library of Pierre Bergé, <br>11 Dec 2015.
    Pierre Bergé & Associates in Collaboration with Sotheby's, Personal library of Pierre Bergé, <br>11 Dec 2015.
    Pierre Bergé & Associates in Collaboration with Sotheby's, Personal library of Pierre Bergé, <br>11 Dec 2015.
    Pierre Bergé & Associates in Collaboration with Sotheby's, Personal library of Pierre Bergé, <br>11 Dec 2015.
    Pierre Bergé & Associates in Collaboration with Sotheby's, Personal library of Pierre Bergé, <br>11 Dec 2015.
    Pierre Bergé & Associates in Collaboration with Sotheby's, Personal library of Pierre Bergé, <br>11 Dec 2015.
    Pierre Bergé & Associates in Collaboration with Sotheby's, Personal library of Pierre Bergé, <br>11 Dec 2015.
  • <b>19th Century Shop.</b> A patriot who fought with George Washington Superb Daguerreotype of Baltus<br>Stone at age 101 (1846).
    <b>19th Century Shop.</b> Edward Curtis portrait of Honovi, Walpi Snake Priest "Honovi was one of the author's principal informants" (1910).
    <b>19th Century Shop.</b> The Execution of the Lincoln Assassination Conspirators by Alexander Gardner (1865).
    <b>19th Century Shop.</b> Harriet Beecher Stowe, Catharine Beecher, Henry Ward Beecher, and the other siblings with their father Lyman Beecher. By Mathew Brady (1850s).
    <b>19th Century Shop.</b> From Slaves to World-Famous Entertainers Millie-Christine, "The Two-Headed Nightingale" (c. 1868-71)
    <b>19th Century Shop.</b> Goldfield, Nevada Photograph Collection Fabled Western Mining Boomtown (1905-1906)
    <b>19th Century Shop.</b> Tycoon-Collector Benjamin Richardson poses with his great-grandson as appeared in parade.
    <b>19th Century Shop.</b> Alexander Gardner portrait of Lincoln the only known copy, ex-John Hay (1863).
    <b>19th Century Shop.</b> Magnificent Niagara Falls album with a strong provenance (1867).
    <b>19th Century Shop.</b> Spectacular American West Album From Yosemite to Salt Lake City to San Francisco.
  • <b>Whitmore Rare Books.</b> Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn. A lovely copy of Twain’s masterpiece.
    <b>Whitmore Rare Books.</b> Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and <br>the Sea. A pristine copy of this American classic.
    <b>Whitmore Rare Books.</b> Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland. A high-spot of children’s literature.
    <b>Whitmore Rare Books.</b> Actively seeking famous works of literature.
    <b>Whitmore Rare Books.</b> Cotton Mather, Triumphs of the Reformed Religion, in America. A rare family association copy.
    <b>Whitmore Rare Books.</b> Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged. An inscribed first edition of Rand’s magnum opus.
    <b>Whitmore Rare Books.</b> John K. Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces. Easily the most hilarious Pulitzer Prize Winner.
    <b>Whitmore Rare Books.</b> Click here to view our latest catalogues.
    <b>Whitmore Rare Books.</b> Ian Fleming, Casino Royale. First American in the exceptionally rare 1st issue jacket.
    <b>Whitmore Rare Books.</b> John Donne, Poems. One of the great 17th century works of poetry.
    <b>Whitmore Rare Books.</b> Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to <br>the Galaxy. Inscribed first edition.
    <b>Whitmore Rare Books.</b> Seeking to purchase exceptional books.
    <b>Whitmore Rare Books.</b> Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian. Most important work of American fiction from the 1980s.
    <b>Whitmore Rare Books.</b> Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are.<br>A lovely first edition.
    <b>Whitmore Rare Books.</b> Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Basis for the beloved 1971 film.
    <b>Whitmore Rare Books.</b> Click here to view our latest catalogues.

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