News | February 28, 2019

Seattle -- Celebrating readers of all types, this week ThriftBooks announced the top-selling books by state for 2018. This is the third year the online used book retailer has released the results, which revealed a move from non-fiction with a slant toward self-help to fiction.

The data found only one state had the same top-selling book two years running. California was the closest with “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” in 2016 and “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens” from the same franchise in 2017. Many states found an entirely new favorite for 2017.

ThriftBooks CEO Mike Ward said, “It was interesting to see reader choices changing by region. The West Coast is focused on self-improvement, with books from the “Seven Habits” franchise and author Malcolm Gladwell topping lists. This could be influenced by the tech and start-up cultures in those states. Whereas, the next generation of Harry Potter fans looks to be in the Northeast.”

KEY FACTS: 
All 50 states were included for 2018 seeing 20% more books shipped than in 2017.
Dystopian classics continued to be popular in 2018 with “Animal Farm” being the most popular book in Nevada, “1984” in Colorado, “Fahrenheit 451” in Massachusetts, and “Brave New World” in Wyoming.
The Book Thief was the top book in Utah two years in a row.
There was an increase in states where Alcoholics Anonymous was the top author. By book, “Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions” was the top in Delaware, “Alcoholics Anonymous” in Oregon. 
Books written by J.K. Rowling were the most popular books in 7 states,
The full list of top books by state can be found at https://www.thriftbooks.com/b/most-popular-books-by-state/

 

Auctions | February 28, 2019

Dallas, TX - Original comic cover art by legendary artist Frank Frazetta soared beyond its pre-auction estimate, claiming top-lot honors and leading Heritage Auctions’ Comics & Comic Art auction to $9,432,650 Feb. 21-23 in Dallas. The auction boasted sell-through rates of 99.5 percent by value and 99.6 percent by lots sold through the world’s largest comics auctioneer.

Frank Frazetta Famous Funnies #209 Cover Original Art (Eastern Color, 1953) drew bids from two dozen hopeful collectors before it closed at $552,000, surpassing its pre-auction estimate of $300,000 by 84 percent. One of just eight Famous Funnies covers the famed artist ever did, it features Buck Rogers and his trusty Sonic Ray Gun, and Wilma Deering, Rogers' equally smart and assertive adventurer, facing certain peril by space goons blocking the only exit from a cave. The image is considered one of the most jaw-droopingly beautiful and graceful full-figure images of a woman ever to grace a comic book cover. The image justified and cemented Frazetta's legendary status as one of the greatest artists of the female form of all time.

“The results of this auction are a reflection of not just the exceptional quality of lots we offer, but also the clients’ base of knowledge,” Heritage Auctions Vice President Todd Hignite said. “That the exceptional lots inspired so many to bid aggressively came as no surprise, and that surge of bidding goes a long way toward explaining these results.”

Similarly competitive bidding also drove Superman #1 (DC, 1939) CGC VG+ 4.5 Cream to off-white pages beyond its estimate before it sold for $336,000. An exceptionally popular issue, it is the first in one of the most popular titles in comic history; this copy is a rarity in exceptionally high demand because it is one of few known copies that has not undergone any restoration. This issue marked the first time a character created for comic books was given his own title.

Unique in the fact that it was both penciled AND inked by Steve Ditko, Strange Tales #117 Splash Page 1 Doctor Strange Original Art (Marvel, 1964) more than doubled its $100,000 pre-auction estimate when it finished at $228,000. Like several of the other top lots, it was heavily pursued, with 33 collectors submitting bids. The issue features Doctor Strange and his own Astral Projection, adding to the demand among collectors.

More than 30 collectors made a play for Dave Gibbons Watchmen #1 Cover Original Art (DC, 1986) before it finally brought $228,000. The cover of the first Watchmen issue remains one of the most recognizable images in the series, in part because the drip of blood on the smiley face button is reminiscent of the hands of a clock striking 12; “time running out” was a recurring theme throughout the series.

An extraordinary copy of the second-most valuable Silver Age issue, The Incredible Hulk #1 (Marvel, 1962) CGC VF/NM 9.0 Off-white to white pages sparked more than 20 bids before it realized $216,000. An absolute rarity in this grade, this issue features the origin and first appearance of the Hulk and supporting characters Rick Jones, Betty Ross and Thunderbolt Ross, with art and cover by Jack Kirby.

Other top lots included, but were not limited to:

Journey Into Mystery #83 (Marvel, 1962) CGC NM 9.4 Off-white to white pages: $144,000
Robert Crumb Help! #24 "Fred the Teen-Age Girl Pigeon" Complete 2-Page Story Original Art (Warren Publishing, 1965): $120,000
Amazing Fantasy #15 (Marvel, 1962) CGC VF- 7.5 Off-white pages: $120,000
John Romita Sr. Amazing Spider-Man Annual #7 Cover Original Art (Marvel, 1970): $87,000
Steve Ditko Strange Tales #117 Story Page 3 Doctor Strange Original Art (Marvel, 1964): $78,000
Pokémon First Edition Base Set Sealed Booster Box (Wizards of the Coast, 1999): $78,000

Auctions | February 28, 2019

Chicago—Potter and Potter Auctions' highly anticipated midwinter sale delivered outstanding temptations as well as sales results.  After a long and exciting day, 80 lots realized $1,000-5,000, 16 lots made $5,001-$9,999, and four lots broke the $10,000 mark!  Prices noted include the company's 20% buyer's premium. 

Early 20th magic apparatus caught the eye and imagination of global buyers. One of the top lots in this category - as well as the sale - was #56, Carter the Great’s c. 1910 carved gold leaf wooden table. This item was the centerpiece for many of the magician’s tricks in his illusion show.  It was accompanied by photograph of Carter and Evelyn Maxwell beside the table and a letter of provenance from Carter biographer Mike Caveney. Estimated at $6,000-8,000, it made $10,200.  Lot #16, Harry Blackstone's c. 1930 production screen illusion was estimated at $1,500-2,600 and sold for $8,400. This self-contained trick was made up of a large four-fold black screen with decorative panels accented with flowers and birds; a girl can be produced or vanished from the folds of the screen. And lot #122, a pair of framed Harry Houdini owned Bean Giant handcuffs more than doubled their low estimate to change hands at $9,600.  

Midcentury and contemporary magicana was also well represented in this sale. Collectors were game over lot #159, a handsomely detailed c. 1952 club sized checker cabinet by Okito.  This apparatus enabled the magical transposition of a stack of checkers and a glass full of rice. Estimated at $8,000-12,000, it sold for $13,200. Lot #201, Virgil’s c. 1950 Weird Execution on Mars Space Gun made by Petrie & Lewis topped its high estimate more than five time over to land at $10,800.  In performance, a ribbon fired from this specially modified rifle pierced through the midsection of an assistant’s body without harming her, with a bullet lodging in the target behind her.  Lot #141, Billy McComb’s Whiskey Egg Bag from 1965 significantly beat its $150-250 estimate, selling for $1,440.  This grouping included a cloth bag, three small glasses, a golf ball, and a photograph of the Irish magician using the bag. And lot #54, a c. 2005 jumbo Okito Card Restoration by Dale Pfiester  made $9,000 - six times its low estimate.  This as new apparatus was based on the Willmann/Okito card restorations built in the first quarter of the twentieth century.

This sale dazzled enthusiasts with nearly 100 lots of vintage magic props and materials by legacy manufacturers Thayer and Owen. Lot #296, a 1930s-1940s collection of 130 original cloth “negatives” used to create the famous master blueprints sold through the company's catalogs was estimated at $5,000-7,000 and sold for $13,200. The illusions explained and diagrammed include many of the firm's most famous tricks, including the Mummy Case, Buzz Saw, and Morritt Cage. The devil was in the details with lot #264, a c. 1928 Thayer Satanic Genii Tube. This early, all wooden model with art deco butterfly stencils was estimated at $500-750 and soared to $2,280. And lot #251, a c. 1930s flap die box, was estimated at $200-300 and made $1,020. This round, mahogany box allowed a magician to control the  numbers on the two dice inside even when the box is shaken.  This example, the only one known with this feature, was possibly a prototype or a custom-ordered item. It was most likely turned by Floyd Thayer himself, given the quality of the workmanship. It was owned at one time by The Great Virgil. 

Now let's focus on a few noteworthy ephemera highlights from this sale.  Magician related images and autographs were headliners here.  Lot #369, a full-length, framed and inscribed image of  Alexander (Claude Alexander Conlin) - The Man Who Knows - in costume sold for $2,400 on its $500-750 estimate. Lot #445, a 1948 hand colored, half portrait of Okito (Tobias Bamberg) inscribed and signed to Litzka Raymond made $2,040, over four times its high estimate.  Lot #390, an autographed Confucius quotation in the hand of Chung Ling Soo (William Ellsworth Robinson) realized $2,640 on its $500-700 estimate. Lot #395, a 1930s-40s signed real photo postcard of Arnold De Biere delivered $840 on its presale estimate of $150-250. And lot #460, Howard Thurston's c. 1920 stage and trap plot blueprint secured $900.  

Potter & Potter's midwinter magic event came full circle with world class selections of books, posters and broadsides, and other important magic related rarities.  Lot #475, a c. 1908 framed Chung Ling Soo broadside titled From the Land of the Peacock made $8,400 on its $4,000-6,000 estimate.  It was stunningly decorated with a bust portrait of the magician, a Chinese lantern, and a peacock, all surrounded by Chinese trappings and a black border.  Lot #360, a 1929, inscribed and signed first edition Howard Thurston's My Life of Magic was estimated at $400-600 and sold for $1,920.  Lot #5, an as new, c. 2010 bird themed automaton called Le Petit Automate by artist Mike Michaels was estimated at $2,600-3,500 but came to nest at $8,400. And its case closed with lot #497, a leather travel trunk that belonged to Doug Henning. Estimated at $400-600, it took off to $5,280. This well-worn treasure retained its original Eastern Airlines luggage tags bearing Henning’s name and his address in an unknown hand.  

According to Gabe Fajuri, President at Potter & Potter Auctions, "This is a sign of good things to come when we look down the calendar at the next three sales from Jim's amazing collection. There are plenty more surprises in store, and I expect each successive sale to be just as balanced and exciting as this, the first. We were pleased to see spirited bidding in every category in the sale." 

Recent Publications | February 28, 2019

London—This superb two-volume set, limited to just 500 hand-numbered copies, replicates Gustave Doré’s masterpiece, hundreds of illustrations for François Rabelais’s seminal text and comic work of genius Gargantua and Pantagruel. All five books are published in two volumes, with a brilliant English translation integrated with the illustrations for the first time. The edition also features a specially commissioned introduction by Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Greenblatt and a revised essay by Milan Kundera.

These tales of the giants Gargantua and his son Pantagruel are the greatest prose narrative of 16th-century France. Attacked as obscene by the Sorbonne, Rabelais’s works were nevertheless to be found in the libraries of kings and cardinals. A champion of Renaissance humanism, influenced by Erasmus, Rabelais’s feast of rhetoric offers profound and complex comedy. It parodies scripture, the law and tales of chivalry, and glories in obscenity and bawdy humour. Each book has a distinct personality, but throughout there is a delight in language, an absence of moral censure and an exuberant sense of fun. These are books of ideas told with much merriment and an extravagant freedom that were crucial in the development of Western literature.

Doré’s illustrations are the definitive images for Rabelais’s humanist classic, but the whole body of work, completed over two decades, is rarely seen and has never before been available in its entirety with the text in English. First published in 2006, this renowned translation by Professor M. A. Screech perfectly captures Rabelais’s sublime mastery of language.

Limited to 500 hand-numbered copies ????UK £495 US $795 Can $995 Aus $1,095 

Auctions | February 28, 2019

Dallas, TX - A collection of 50 extraordinary photographs by Norman Seeff of some of the most important figures in pop culture, entertainment and sports is being offered in Heritage Auctions’ Vintage Photographs by Norman Seeff Online Auction March 13.

Online bidding, which is presented in conjunction with the Norman Seeff Archive and Artsy, beginsFeb. 26 on HA.com, and the images will be available for viewing at Heritage Auctions’ Beverly Hills gallery (9478 West Olympic, First Floor, Beverly Hills, Calif., 90212) from Feb. 29 through March 8.

Among the iconic personalities featured in the auction: artist Andy Warhol, actors John Belushi, Dennis Hopper, Jodie Foster and Steve Martin, musicians James Taylor, Ray Charles, Whitney Houston and the Rolling Stones, and athletes like former boxer Ken Norton and former New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath.

“Heritage Auctions is very excited to have our first single-owner online photographs auction in cooperation with the Norman Seeff Archive and Artsy,” Heritage Auctions Photographs Director Nigel Russell said. “The online format gives us the flexibility to host this collection of amazing portraits of 20th century music and entertainment icons.”

For 50 years, Seeff has been the man behind some of the recognizable images of the 20th century. The lots offered  are comprised of these music and pop culture icons encompassing some of Seeff’s most memorable sessions, including works featured on album covers and their outtakes, such as Stage Fright by The Band, Frank Zappa’s Strictly Commercial, Carly Simon’s “Playing Possum” and The Rolling Stones, Exile on Main Street.

“I never fixate on a shot,” Seeff said. “It’s always about a spontaneous unfolding experience. I discovered early on that if I aimed for a particular outcome or goal, the emotional authenticity was lost. Every shot is a one-time moment and then the next one happens spontaneously, so I end up with hundreds of shots that document a chronological sequence of events to when I am able to say ‘we’ve got it, we’re done.’”

The vintage gelatin silver prints, most of which are black-and-white prints, have estimates ranging from $2,000-5,000. Each work is unique and comes directly from Seeff’s archive.

Seeff moved from his native South Africa to New York City in 1968. His photos of people on the streets of Manhattan were discovered by art director and graphic designer Bob Cato, who became a mentor to Seeff and gave him his first major assignment: to produce images for The Band’s 1969 Stage Fright album. The results were so successful that he earned immediate recognition and launched his career as a “rock photographer.”

He relocated in 1971 to Los Angeles, where he became creative director at United Artists Records and soon opened an independent studio on the Sunset Strip, where he created many of his most remarkable images. It wasn’t until the late 1990s, when an assistant went to retrieve film assets from Seeff’s  studio in Studio City, that his archive of gelatin silver prints - overlooked for years due to Seeff’s abounding roster of projects - were rediscovered.

Auctions | February 28, 2019

New York — Walt Whitman’s astonishing copy of Leaves of Grass highlights Bonhams sale of Extraordinary Books and Manuscripts on March 12 (estimate: $200,000-300,000). This is the first editition, first issue, and signed by Whitman in block letters on the title page, as it was presented by Whitman to William Linton. Leaves of Grass is the only work of modern literature included in Printing and the Mind of Man--the landmark catalogue of the most influential printed works in history--where it is justly called “America's second Declaration of Independence.”

Very few signed copies of the first edition exist, and this copy, attested to as Whitman's personal cloth-bound copy and called his “working copy” by one of the great collectors of the 20th century is unique among them, not only for its provenance and block-lettered signature, but also for being in the first-state of the binding. The provenance is remarkable: given from Whitman to William James Linton, the noted English artist who engraved Whitman’s portrait for the 1876 edition of Leaves, to Frederick W. Skiff, the great bibiliophile and Americana expert, who then sold this copy and in 1942 to Estelle Doheny, the greatest female book collector of the 20th century.  
 
Additional highlights include:


Sir Isaac Newton’s copy of John Greaves Pyramidographia, which was published in London 1646 (estimate: $50,000-70,000). This was an important book on measurement from the Library of Isaac Newton - used by Newton in his investigations of gravity. 


The first Western typographical printing of the I-Ching in any language printed in Stuttgart and Tubingen: J.G. Cotta, 1834-1839 (estimate: $40,000-60,000). This is a pristine, uncut copy of a Chinese classic - a cornerstone of both Taoism and Confucianism.

A fascinating archive of artwork and letters from Harper Lee (1926-2016), with an inscribed first edition of To Kill a Mockingbird (estimate: $20,000-30,000). The archive includes rare caricutures by the famed author, the first Harper Lee artwork offered at auction - a rare glimpe of the writer pre-Mockingbird, and traverses the years to a searing letter on the monetization of Mockingbird in Monroeville, 1993.

Auctions | February 28, 2019

Los Angeles - John Lennon’s fascination with aliens and UFOs has been well documented throughout his life. As a member of one of the most famous bands of all time, The Beatles, Lennon often talked about his belief in alien life and even wrote about it. From his earlier years with wife Cynthia to his sighting in New York over the East River in 1974, the Beatles member continued to be mesmerized with life in space, even as much as to site visitations from aliens when he was with Yoko Ono.  On March 30, 2019, Kruse GWS Auctions will offer an extraordinary collection of John Lennon’s personal drawings and Sci-Fi magazines, long collected by an old friend who shared his passion.
 
On July 6, 1957, a fellow Liverpoolian befriended Lennon when he was performing as part of the Quarrymen, the group that eventually evolved into The Beatles. The band appeared in Woolten Village in Liverpool.
 
The young man shared a fascination with space and would strike up a conversation with John who was looking through a UFO magazine. From there on, the friendship would continue on for decades and John and the gentleman exchanged letters, drawings, opinions, and magazines about UFOs, space and all things extraterrestrial.  During this time, John Lennon would send his new friend drawings and some of his personal science fiction books and magazines, all of which was kept throughout the gentlemen’s life and even after Lennon moved to the U.S.  The drawings and magazines to be auctioned for the very first time are now being offered by the man’s stepson who has also chronicled the story of the unlikely friendship.
 
There are four drawings done in crayon and pencil and date to the 1950s and early 1960s. The drawings along with the collection of personal sci-fi books and magazines represent a passion of a member of the world’s most famous band - The Beatles.
 
Two of the pieces being offered are in red crayon, early examples of his characteristic line drawings. One appears to be someone smoking a marijuana joint, while the back side features a character possessing an excessively large nose and sad face.  The other captures two inversed smiling faces, a kind of yin and yang, staring at each other. The other two drawings are done in pencil and apparently drew inspiration from his first wife, Cynthia. In one drawing a UFO is seen flying above her head and the the word “Cyn” on it and John’s initials ‘JL’ incorporated into the illustration.
 
The second pencil drawing again captures Cynthia, and this time, displays John's full initials of 'JWL’ (John Winston Lennon).  Lennon’s personal Sci-Fi magazine collection includes Science Fiction Analog and New Worlds Science Fiction. Each drawing will be accompanied by a copy of the letter received from the stepson describing the two’s lifelong friendship.
 
As the flying saucer drawing and science fiction collection attest, Lennon had long been obsessed with aliens and outer space fantasies. His fixation on ET visits and claims of alien abduction culminated in his most infamous sighting, when he saw a UFO from his balcony fly over the East River on August 23, 1974.
 
In 1974, John and his lover May Pang (during his separation from Yoko) were living in an apartment overlooking New York’s East River, when John saw what he described as a UFO.  Lennon went on to describe it along with its path and May Pang has been noted as saying John screamed out the window “wait - take me with you.”
 
The drawings will be offered in museum quality glass and frames and sold individually, and the sci-fi collection will be sold in one lot. The crayon drawings measure 4.5" x 3" and 4" x 3.25" and the pencil pieces are 8.5" x 6" and 5.5" x 3.5."
 
To register or for more info, please visit: www.gwsauctions.com

Book Fairs | February 26, 2019

New York — These are the voices of a new generation of young, contemporary artists who are bringing fresh vision to the creation of artists’ books. At the upcoming New York City Book & Ephemera Fair, March 9 & 10 at the Sheraton Central Park/Times Square Hotel, the work of these and over 40 other gifted artists and artists’ groups, will be featured in the premiere of the annual Booklyn Artists’ Book Fair, new fair-within-a-fair section devoted to artists’ books and zines. 

It is the first fair of its kind in Manhattan to provide a cutting-edge alternative to the coinciding Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America Book Fair and to other art fairs happening during Manhattan’s Rare Book Week. The exhibition is curated and organized by Marshall Weber, co-founder of Booklyn, a non-profit artists’-run organization based in Brooklyn, that publishes, distributes and promotes artists’ books and zines. Booklyn actively maintains an exhibition program of prints and works on paper that addresses current social issues. All of the exhibiting artists are members of this organization.

Chilean-born, New York based artist, Maria Veronica San Martin, a studio artist at the Whitney Museum in 2017 &’18, evokes the urgency of history through its capacity to fade in memory. A major work, “In Their Memory: Human Rights Violations in Chile, 1973-1990, documents the erosion of memory deeply connected to the disappearance of War Victims in the Pinochet era. Her books take the form of sculptural memorials and spaces depicting absence, reflection and resistance. It is a protest, a cry from the heart, that asks us to remember, above all, and keep this urgent history with us as we fight against violence inherent in dictatorships today.  

Pop-up artist, Colette Fu, creates exuberant, often very large, intensely colorful collapsible artists’ books that combine her own photography and paper engineering to tell a story. Fu was the recipient of a Fulbright Research Fellowship that enabled her to travel throughout China for six months, immersing herself in local regional cultures. “We are Tiger Dragon People” is a series of pop-up books that focus on the ethnic diversity of minority communities in Southwest China’s Yunan Province. Fu also explored the mountainous Yi landscape - a part of her own cultural heritage. An acquaintance from this region told her that there is an old saying, “although an eagle flies far into the distance, its wings are folded back.” This means that one essential goal in life is to find the path of your ancestors. And Fu has done just that! 

Distinguished artist, Xu Bing, the recipient of the U.S. Department of State’s Medal of Arts Award for promoting U.S. and China cultural exchange, is known to surprise and at times, shock the viewer. He creates a feeling of purity and serenity in his work. However, when looking more closely, the viewer is bewildered to realize that all is not as originally believed. His “A Book from the Sky,” is an ambitious example that made the artist famous when it was installed at the National Art Museum of China in 1989. A set of four hand-printed books--carved from wood blocks and bound in book form with delicate, thread binding-- hold a subtle surprise. The symbols making up the text are not real. Rather the artist invented 4,000 individual meaningless glyphs, laboriously carved into the woodblocks, that have no meaning. Reality is not always as it appears.

Book artist and poet, Rick Black, fell in love with the poetry of Yehuda Amichai, while working for the Associated Press and the New York Times in Jerusalem, where he resided for six years He particularly loved Amichai’s poems that dealt with family love and war. He spent ten years creating a limited-edition artist’s book, “The Amichai Windows,” of the poet’s work. The poems are letter pressed, and embossed, with some designs highlighted in gold-leaf. One memorable papercut shows the view from Amichai’s terrace, located in an old historic Jerusalem neighborhood called Talpiyat. 

The fair also showcases a provocative new work from premiere cult zinester, Sofia Szamosi, called “#Me too On Instagram: One Year Later” and socially politically engaged publications from Interference Archive, and Justseeds Artists Cooperative. Swarthmore College’s “Friends, Peace and Sanctuary” will premiere collaborations between American artist bookmakers and artists, poets and artisans from the Syrian and Iraqi refugee community in Philadelphia. Booklyn will also represent the work of: Wolfgang Buchta, Ken Campbell, FLY, Candace Hicks, OccupyWall Street/Occuprint, David Sandlin, Maria Veronica San Martin, Veronika Schäpers, Beldan Sezen, Robbin Ami Silverberg, Re:Surgo, Sofia Szamosi, Brian D. Tripp, Marshall Weber, Sam Winston, among others. 

Auctions | February 26, 2019

Los Angeles - Three scarce British pamphlets ranging from 1936 to 1946 will be auctioned by Nate D. Sanders Auctions on June 28, 2018.

British Air Force Booklet

In 1936, the British Air Force published a booklet entitled, “Notes on Tactical Lessons of the Palestine Rebellion.”  The booklet was published in Jerusalem and was marked secret. It was a response to the 1936 Arab Revolt due to the perceived response by the British government to the early insurgency. The 18-page booklet gives tactical directives to British pilots in response to the uprising, described as ''armed bands and saboteurs in hill country and rural districts, directed against the civil organization, armed forces, Jewish interests and road, rail and telegraph communications.'' Air tactics are presented including how to locate and hit the enemy with machine gun and bomb attacks. The last section of the booklet outlines various attacks by Arab groups in Palestine during the summer of 1936.

Bidding begins at $1,750.

Additional Information can be found at https://natedsanders.com/British_Air_Force_Booklet_Written_in_Response_to_t-LOT51492.aspx

White Paper of 1939 Booklet

The booklet being auctioned is an original printing of the White Paper of 1939- Britain’s controversial policy towards Palestine from 1939 until the United Nations took over in 1948. The 12-page booklet was “Presented by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to Parliament.” The Palestine Statement of Policy was heavily influenced not only by the three-year-long Arab revolt in Palestine but more recently by the failed London Conference between Arabs and Jews in March 1939. Within the White Paper, the intention of creating ''a national home for the Jewish people'' is stated, with an independent Palestine to be established within ten years governed jointly by Arabs and Jews. Jewish immigration is also delineated, limited to 75,000 over five years, with subsequent numbers dependent upon Arab consent. The policy, officially adopted by the British government on May 23, 1939, was almost immediately rejected by both Arab and Jewish groups.

Bidding begins at $3,000.

Additional information can be found at https://natedsanders.com/__White_Paper_of_1939______Original_Printing_of_th-LOT51494.aspx

Rare 1946 British Counter-Terrorism Pamphlet for Palestine 

This pamphlet was published by the British ''Headquarters, Chief Engineer, Palestine and Transjordan'' in December 1946 and was entitled, “Palestine Pamphlet / Terrorist Methods With Mines and Booby Traps.” The 38-page booklet is both an instruction manual on how to detonate various types of mines and booby traps, and also a history of terrorist activity in 1946 undertaken by Jewish groups. Plates of multiple attacks are included, such as the partially destroyed King David Hotel in July 1946, and the demolished building in the David Quarter, Jerusalem, bombed in November 1946. Of that attack, the booklet reads, ''This incident is included for its illustration of the extreme methods which Jewish Terrorists may employ when planning deliberate murder.'' All seven plates are present, including the frontispiece showing a British soldier ''Disarming a Jewish Wooden Box Mine.''

Bidding begins at $2,800.

Additional information on the booklet can be found at 
https://natedsanders.com/Rare_British_Counter_Terrorism_Pamphlet_for_Palest-LOT51493.aspx

Book Fairs | February 26, 2019

Peter Harrington, one of the world’s largest rare booksellers, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, and is attending The New York International Antiquarian Book Fair in March, with a selection of rare books and manuscripts, each of which has a fascinating history. 

Highlights include:

  • An inscribed first US edition of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain ($195,000);
  • A remarkably rare first edition of the paper Ada Lovelace, the first computer programer, wrote, which belonged to her maths tutor, who has extensively annotated it ($325,000);
  • The original typescript of Fleming's last Bond novel, The Man with the Golden Gun, with his corrections and those of his posthumous editor Kingsley Amis ($230,000);
  • A first edition of Brighton Rock by Graham Greene in its exceedingly rare dust jacket ($115,000);
  • An excellent first edition of Gulliver’s Travel by Jonathan Swift in a contemporary binding ($162,500).

Pom Harrington, the owner of Peter Harrington, says “We are bringing with us close to one hundred fascinating rare books and manuscripts specially selected to be of interest to visitors to the Fair. Our selection includes remarkable works by Mark Twain, Jane Austen, Ian Fleming, Graham Greene and Jonathan Swift. Do come and visit us and see these unique books if you can.” 

The New York Book Fair is being held at Park Avenue Armory, 643 Park Avenue, New York, between 66/67 Streets. It is open from noon-8pm on Friday March 8th, noon-7pm on Saturday March 9thand noon-5pm on Sunday March 10th. The Preview will take place on Thursday March 7thfrom 5pm-9pm. Peter Harrington will be on Stand D17.

Peter Harrington Rare Books is a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association and offers an ‘unconditional guarantee’for each item it sells on its authenticity and completeness, as described.