By Bruce McKinney

Copies of the United States Constitution printed in the Pennsylvania Packet and Daily Advertiser on September 19, 1787, have been raising eyebrows for most of the 20th century. On November 19th at Freeman they also raised the record for a copy sold at auction running well beyond Freeman's $80,000 to $120,000 estimate to reach $180,000 hammer and $207,225 all in. This item has not always done so well.

In ...more

By Bruce McKinney

An interesting collection of rare Los Angeles imprints and ephemera comes to market on December 2nd in a sale organized by Johns' Western Gallery of San Francisco. The official title is Los Angeles Imprints: 1843 - 1873. This material was accumulated over a lifetime by Glen Dawson of Dawson Books, the firm that recently celebrated its one hundredth anniversary. For fussy collectors of obscuranta this is ...more

By Bruce McKinney

If we could close our eyes and wake up with one printed item in the attic, closet or under the Christmas tree it might well be the eight volume Audubon elephant folio "The Birds of America; from Original Drawings" and printed in parts between 1827 and 1838. This monumental set includes "435 hand-colored, etched and aquatinted plates, by William H. Lizars [Edinburgh], Robert Havell, Sr and Robert Havell ...more

By Bruce McKinney

We get our information in myriad ways: through books, the internet, television and conversation to name some. We see movies on television, occasionally online and of course in theatres. With books we tend to take in words and sometimes images. Unless we mouth the words information enters our brains almost exclusively through the eyes. Movies offer a different paradigm: seeing and hearing. In some theatres ...more

by Renée Magriel Roberts

I don't know how many of you remember "Colossus: The Forbin Project" on the big screen. Released in 1970, this movie was the progenitor of all computers-run-amok-and-destroy-the-planet flicks. The basic plot is this: Forbin, a scientist working for the United States government, creates an expensive super-computer capable of running the country's strategic missile system. More intelligent than any ...more

By Michael Stillman

Abebooks announced this past month the purchase of book meta-search engine BookFinder.com. BookFinder searches the listings of dozens of online sites, including Abebooks and its numerous competitors, such Alibris, Biblio, Amazon, Half.com, and a couple of dozen smaller sites. All are treated equally. In operation since 1997 (antiquity for the internet), it is a very helpful and well-respected site among ...more

By Michael Stillman

Alibris announced a step last week to eliminate some of its smallest merchants, or "hobby sellers." Interestingly, it was a reversal of a recent step designed to encourage this group of very small dealers. Not surprisingly, the news was greeted negatively by the hobby sellers, but positively by many of those for whom bookselling is a more significant business.

The program Alibris eliminated was ...more

By Michael Stillman

ILAB recently completed a major overhaul of its website, which gives us an opportunity to look at this book dealers' organization and its bookselling website. ILAB stands for the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, and it is the largest such group in existence today. Formed in 1947, it includes members of twenty different national associations. The largest is America's ABAA, The Antiquarian ...more

By Michael Stillman

The 36th catalogue of Martyan Lan of New York contains 246 rare books from the 15th to 19th centuries. Most of these works are European in origin, very old, and of considerable significance. Severable are incunables.

The catalogue is divided into sections suitable for different types of collections. The first topic is travel, geography and voyages, followed by the history ...more

By Michael Stillman

We have received the 39th catalogue from Americana specialist Michael Brown Rare Books. First an aside. This is not the Michael Brown of FEMA fame. This is the bookselling Michael Brown, and he does his job quite competently. The title of catalogue 39 is Printed and Manuscript Americana including Black Americana. That emphasis reflects the fact that almost 100 of the 231 items pertain to African ...more

By Michael Stillman

Bernard Shapero Rare Books takes us into what was a mostly unknown continent to the West a few generations ago with their latest catalogue, Africa 2005. While the continent was undoubtedly well known to those who lived there, Europeans in the 19th century rarely penetrated deeply into its interior. Modern means of transportation were virtually nonexistent, making travel extremely difficult and dangerous ...more

By Michael Stillman

This month we review our first catalogue from English booksellers Reg and Philip Remington. The Remingtons are a father and son team with over eight decades experience in the book trade. Reg Remington has been in the business for over half a century, spending most of his first three decades with the legendary original Francis Edwards Ltd. When the Edwards family, after well over a century in business, ...more

By Michael Stillman

He is one of the more difficult figures to describe. Few depict his as a "renaissance man," though he was a poet, artist, engraver, printer, and spiritualist. He was something of an oddball. At least, that is how many of his contemporaries viewed him. Looking back, the description still fits, though he was certainly a most accomplished eccentric. However, he was not particularly appreciated in his time, ...more

By Michael Stillman

You might think a collection of religious material from the 17th through 19th centuries would be rather boring. We've all heard that fire and brimstone stuff too many times before. You would be very wrong if that's what you thought. The William Reese Company has issued its 243rd catalogue, Early American Religion. It is an absolutely fascinating look at early America, and the values and beliefs ...more

By Michael Stillman

We have received the most recent electronic update to the catalogues published by The Manhattan Rare Book Company. For those not familiar, Manhattan Rare Book is a New York dealer offering titles in a wide range of subjects. Included among its many fields are science and technology, pre-1900 literature, modern firsts, history and politics, Americana, art, medicine, and children's books. The common ...more

By Michael Stillman

Libreria de Antano has released its latest catalogue electronically, in conjunction with the recently held book show in Madrid. Libreria de Antano is located in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and, as might be expected, there is a Spanish/Latin American influence to the material they carry. However, as you will see, that is not a requirement, so while those who collect Latin American material will be particularly ...more

By Michael Stillman

King and Queen Books of Pensacola, Florida, has released its 46th catalogue: Florida -- Books, Pamphlets, Maps, and Other Imprints Relating to the Sunshine State. This catalogue will bring you back to the old days, when Florida was known more for its sunshine than its hurricanes or elections. To the outside world, Florida was always a paradise of endless summers, where younger tourists played in ...more

By Michael Stillman

Those familiar with the 19th Century Shop know that they offer extraordinarily important signed and manuscript material. Their recently issued catalogue 107 is no exception. The handwritten and signed items herein cover leaders in politics, science, arts and sports from the past few centuries. Here are just a few of the people who wrote or signed the material in this latest catalogue: Abraham Lincoln, ...more

By Michael Stillman

We have received from Schoyer's Antiquarian Books of Berkeley, California, their catalogue number 119 of Western Americana. This catalogue of the West is described as featuring works pertaining to exploration, the fur trade, the California Gold Rush, including many works printed at the famed Grabhorn Press of San Francisco, and many titles from the Zamorano Eighty. The latter is a group of eighty ...more

By Michael Stillman

We have just received The Arthur H. Clark Company's 923rd catalogue featuring Americana and the American West. The Arthur Clark Company has been selling and publishing books for over a century, and this Spokane, Washington, firm remains one of the best at finding titles of interest to those who collect or study the Old West. Their selection includes both older material suitable for collecting, and ...more

By Michael Stillman

James Cummins Bookseller offers a varied selection of items in his latest catalogue, number 93. Among the specific topics covered are literature, bibliography, and thirteen items which are printed on velum. Then there is "miscellaneous," which is to say you may find anything not covered by those headings in here as well. In other words, the catalogue is worth a look by any type of collector. Here are a few ...more

By Michael Stillman

Gene W. Baade Books On The West has released their catalogue #1105 just in time for the holidays. Not that there is any particular connection between this collection and the holidays other than if you are looking for an excuse to give yourself a gift, Baade has provided one. Fortunately, his prices will leave you plenty of room to buy gifts for persons other than yourself. There are many fascinating stories ...more

By Michael Stillman

Americana collectors cannot help but look forward to the latest offerings from David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books. Lesser always presents an intriguing assortment, primarily items from the mid-18th to the late 19th century. Many concern the Revolutionary and Civil War periods, or the troubling times which led up to those confrontations. These were the days which shaped the nation, and Lesser manages ...more