Books & Periodicals

Manuscript ‘sold in 1776’ at forerunner of Sotheby’s emerges in New York sale

Published between 1750-73, Plantae selectae quarum imagines ad exemplaria naturalia Londini in hortis curiosorum (‘A selection of plants from natural specimens nurtured in London’s curious gardens’) is considered the most important botanical work ever printed in Germany.

Owen Simmons was a bit of a bread fan, it is fair to say. A lecturer at the National Bakery School in London, he produced the lavish book shown here.

The Science, Medicine & Early Technology auction at Flints (25% buyer’s premium) in Thatcham, Berkshire on May 1 was led by a complete seven-volume set of The Mineral Conchology of Great Britain by James Sowerby (1757-1822).

Cryptoryptomentyces et Cryptographiae has been described as ‘arguably the most complete tome on esoteric cryptography ever published’, an esoteric claim to fame in itself.

Our regular listing of UK and Irish books and works on paper auctions

This miniature 17th century psalter in a contemporary pierced and engraved openwork silver binding is priced at £15,000 by Bernard Quaritch at Firsts: London’s Rare Book Fair.

Remarkably, although a very successful and popular artist, no accounts of the work of the Georgian caricaturist James Gillray (1756-1815) were published in England during his lifetime.

A letter from Ernest Shackleton to a supporter, written from South Georgia on the eve of his final departure on the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, was offered at Charles Miller’s (24% buyer’s premium) latest Maritime and Scientific Models, Instruments & Art sale.

Rupert Powell of Forum Auctions reflects on a busy year in the ‘stage-play’ of rare books

A wide range of dealers are set to offer a variety of items at upcoming fairs

First editions are not always the be-all and end-all for collecting

A selection of stand-out lots coming up at a variety of auctions

Our regular listing of books and works on paper sales

Based on his own experiences and those of his clients, a seasoned rare books buyer offers advice on getting the most from the collecting journey

ATG meets Jeffrey Johnson, whose collection of classic ‘Whodunnits’ was recently on public display at the Grolier Club in New York

Small books have long been objects of wonder. The history of tiny type can be traced back to the smallest cuneiform clay tablets of ancient Mesopotamia or the diminutive papyrus codices treasured by Christians in Roman Egypt.

The first ‘Thumb Bibles’, paraphrased or abridged versions of the good book, were published in the early 17th century – the London printer John Weever offering his 128- page An Agnus Dei, measuring just over 1in, in 1601.

Ladies and gentlemen of the Georgian period carried not only prayer books and bibles, but also books of poems and the annual miniature almanacs containing practical information on everything from the phases of the moon to the currency exchange rates of Europe.