Mural in oil on canvas depicting the First Continental Congress (1774) by Allyn Cox
The Restoration of a 1774 Congressional Pamphlet Found in a Paper Bag
In October 2014, while waiting for the light rail, I ducked into a bookstore to get out of the rain…

The Fine Books Blog

January 25, 2021
Rare Books &c. at Auction This Week
Here are the sales I'll be watching this week: Il Ponte Auctions sells Books and Manuscripts on Tuesday, January 26, in 170 lots. Some interesting…
January 22, 2021
Video Fridays: Inaugural Poet Amanda Gorman
For book lovers, the highlight of the presidential inauguration earlier this week was easily Amanda Gorman’s reading of her poem, “The Hill We Climb…
January 21, 2021
Collecting the History of Magazines
If your stack of unread New Yorkers gives you anxiety, consider the stacks owned by Dr. Steven Lomazow, whose collection of historic magazines…
January 20, 2021
Saving the Art of Bookbinding in the UK
Bookbinding education in the UK has been given a welcome boost by The Clothworkers’ Company in London. The suspension in 2020 of the Queen’s Bindery…
January 19, 2021
Original N.C. Wyeth Illustrations for Longfellow’s “Courtship” Head to Auction
Although N.C. Wyeth was born the same year that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow died, 1882, the two turned out to be perfect collaborators on the 1920…
January 18, 2021
Rare Books &c. at Auction This Week
Quite a busy week coming up! Here's what I'll be watching.
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From the Pages of Fine Books & Collections
Winter 2021
Winter 2021
‘Democratized’ Book, Map, and Manuscript Auctions Promise Finds in All Price Ranges
Since its founding in 2008, Catawiki—an international online auction platform...
Maps in the Time of Cholera
In the late summer of 1854, an eerie silence descended over Soho in London’s...
Arsenic and Old Books
In spring 2019, Dr. Melissa Tedone was working to restore an 1857 second...
Autumn 2020
Election Ephemera
In 2008, when Alicia Yin Cheng stumbled across an article in the New Yorker...
A Hollywood Filmmaker’s Beguiling and Inspiring Collection
It began with Begotten, filmmaker E. Elias Merhige’s 1989 black-and-white...
The Wide World of Collegiate Book Collecting
There’s a pervasive notion that young people, screen in hand, do not enjoy...
Summer 2020
García Márquez’s Global Reach
When Whitman College sociology professor Álvaro Santana-Acuña was in high...
Acute Bibliomania
Reflections on the writing of "A Gentle Madness," twenty-five years after its...
The Shakespeare Society of America struggles to preserve its historic collection
William Shakespeare made some rounds in his time, and many, many more rounds...
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Thomas Eckert letter and portrait
The Huntington Acquires Telegraph History Archive
San Marino, California — In a move that deepens its collections in the history of science and…

In The News

January 26, 2021
Swann to Offer Curated Sale on the Artists of the WPA
New York — On Thursday, February 4 Swann Galleries will offer the auction: The Artists of the WPA. The multi-departmental sale will feature paintings…
January 25, 2021
Turgenev Letter to be Auctioned
Los Angeles – A letter from 19th Century Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev first  referring to his upcoming short story, likely ''King Lear of the…
January 25, 2021
“Declaration” Sells at Christie’s Americana Week for $990,000
New York — Christie’s week of Americana sales totaled $9,202,500 and established five auction records. A rare contemporary 1776 broadside edition of…
January 22, 2021
ILAB Breslauer Prize for Bibliography: Call for Submissions
Submissions are open for the prestigious 18th ILAB Breslauer Prize for Bibliography, to be awarded in May 2022 for new bibliographical publications…
January 21, 2021
YCBA Chief Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts, Elisabeth Fairman, to Retire
New Haven, CT — Elisabeth Fairman, Chief Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts, will retire from the Yale Center for British Art on January 30, 2021…
January 20, 2021
The Winter Show, Online Edition, Runs January 22-31
New York – The Winter Show 2021 takes place on an immersive online platform, on view from January 22-31, 2021 with VIP Preview Access on January 19–…
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