Books & Periodicals

The Bodleian Library in Oxford has bought the historic customer ledgers of venerable Oxford shoemaker Ducker & Son.

Privately printed and distributed in Exeter in 1787, probably in quite small numbers, a copy of John Grave Simcoe’s ‘Journal of the Operations of the Queen’s Rangers, from the End of the Year 1777, to the Conclusion of the Late American War’ drew strong interest at a Bonhams New York sale earlier this month.

An auction house which sold a 1937 handwritten letter by Beatrix Potter is offering another fascinating collection related to the children’s author just over two months later.

A signed limited edition copy of ‘The Wind in the Willows’ is among the books on offer at the upcoming Edinburgh Book Fair.

Bound together some 200 years ago, rare copies of two Elizabethan satires that were first condemned and then burned will be among the books offered by Bonhams at the Glyn Cywarch sale later this month.

The International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) has launched a mentoring programme to help encourage the next generation of book dealers.

Letters from the late Princess Diana surfaced at auction earlier this year in Cambridge and now another set is being offered in Gloucestershire.

A comic picture book issued by Fores in 1842 and titled ‘The Brother to the Moon’s Visit to the Court of Queen Vic’ would appear to be a great rarity, and a copy offered by Cheffins of Cambridge on February 22 made a much higher than predicted £1900.

This sturdy-looking ‘stagecoach trunk’ accompanied the great American writer Mark Twain on a great many of his travels. It will be offered for sale at Heritage Auctions in New York on March 8 where the starting bid is $25,000.

A French collection comprising 70-lots documenting historical attempts at achieving flight will be offered at Bonhams on March 1.

THESE days climbing Everest is a bit old hat. Don’t get me wrong – people still die in the attempt and it is a massive achievement – but more than 4000 people have climbed the world’s highest mountain since it was first conquered in 1953 by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.

The antiquarian book trade has suffered one of its biggest-ever thefts after an audacious robbery in west London.

A rare copy of the first book printed in Antarctica has sold for £55,000 at Bonhams.

Daniel Crouch Rare Books opened launched its New York City premises on Wednesday with a Burns Night celebration.

The Antiquarian Booksellers Association will participate in its first BADA fair as it gears up for its summer festival of old and rare books later this year.

It was the end of an era in Oxford when Ducker & Son, the bespoke shoemaker and home of the Oxford brogue, sadly closed down last November. The venerable 6 Turl Street store had traded in the centre of the city since 1898.

An auction of 3000 items from the estate of the late antiquarian book dealer Thomas Schuster is big news for fans of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

The beautiful Beatrix Potter children’s books are highly collectable in themselves but the author’s world provides a far wider and very popular collecting scene.