Rare Books Blog by Calix Books

What Makes a Rare Book, Rare?

What makes a rare book, rare? Good question and here are some hints as to finding out just how rare your book might be. Rare books are not always about price, odd as that may sound. You can have a modern first edition signed by Rowling that will sell for $30,000 and a First Edition Incunabula printed in 1478 selling for $15,000. Nearly 420 plus years of age difference but yet the more rare incunabula may be priced well below the modern first edition. Happens all the time. So the bottom line is that price does not always indicate 'rareness'.

Here are some ways you can find out about the price of your rare book and get some indication as to its rarity. There are a number of very good bookseller associations that provide online searching for free, mainly because it is a form of advertising for booksellers to you, the potential book buyer and customer. The booksellers that are members all must have stores where there books, especially their rare books and rare ephemera can be purchased by the 'walk in trade' or their rare books are sold online. Why? Well many of the world's libraries are connected to ILAB, ABE and Alibris so when a librarian does a search on the global database of books owned by all the libraries, they have the option of clicking one of these links and finding out if the book is availble, from whom and how much the rare book sells for and how many copies are availble of this rare book online. Whether the book is a first edition, signed Rowling book selling for $30,000 or a rare incunabula, selling for $15,000. You will be using the same databases that rare book rooms in libraries use to acquire books in the open market.

Just click on these links and a new page will open up for you.

They are:

Advanced Book Exchange

Alibris

Biblion (UK)

International League of Antiquarian Booksellers

Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America

You will notice that on all the sites there is an advanced search option, I suggest that you use this and provide a description of the book such as author, title (if the title is too long, shorten it), year of publication (usually from when to when dates) and then finally publisher. If your book doesn't show up, don't fret and it doesn't mean that it is rare, it only means that none of the dealers have the books in stock.

So what makes a rare book rare? An incunabula (printed before 1500), where there may only be a handfull of copies in the world can actually sell well below the price of a modern first edition. Again, price does NOT an indicator of Rarity of a Book. Booksellers and rare book dealers tend to specialize in areas of interest and some focus on building an expertise in particular rare book areas of collecting, selling and buying. A combination of demand, limited supply and book quality all make up the condition known as a 'rare book'. So don't just put your book up for auction on eBay, if you think you have a rare book, ask someone to give you an appraisal or if you want to sell it, ask a dealer to sell it for you!

Rare Books Navy Ships 1549

Rare books and ephemera sold only on line in our eBay bookstore are up for auction! We have some very high quality items in the auction that are already reasonably reserved to market! Check it out or forward to a friend who is a book collector!

 

This 16th century book is at the auction! Click on any of the pictures or the eBay logo and it will take you there to the rare book auction online.  A very rare and great book retaining its original vellum binding. Printed in 1549 and only 26 libraries have this copy with no copies available.

Want to save some money? Then now is the time to buy! The economy is improving and book prices are sure to go up! They tend to do so dramatically especially following a pick up in the economy. Why? People are looking for ways to divest their holdings into investments that can be liquidated. Books, especially rare books are a limited supply item and everytime a Library buys one, it takes that book completely out of circulation (at least in our lifetimes anyway, Libraries generally don't sell off collections unless they go bankrupt or are merged or bought by another not-for-profit. Don't forget to check out our other auction sales as well! Good luck and thanks for taking the time to view our items!

Calixbooks, rare ephemera and rare books at fair prices sold only online!

 

Rare Ephemera Nicholas Biddle Autograph

Rare ephemera manuscript writings by Nicholas Biddle 1832. Found at Todd's Farm! All you have to do is look! Rare ephemera online by Calix Books.

The four Stanza hand written poem is found in 'The Pearl; or Affection's Gift. Christmas and New Year's Present.' Philadelphia: Thomas T. Ash-Chestnut Street. 1832. The four stanza work can be found in this edition but it is not ascribed to anyone. In our hand written manuscript copy it is ascribed to 'Chapman' by Biddle in 1832. This is Nicholas Biddle manuscript copies of perhaps an additional work he was creating for publication. Two sheets written on Water Marked Paper 'Amies Philad a' with a dove and a branch in its beak on the second page. Signed N. Biddle and then Biddle 1832.

Also copied is 'The Young Novice' by Miss Mitford and a poem written and incorporated into the work entitled "Ode to Bogle" by Nicholas Biddle, first published by Biddle in 1820. Extremely rare and important manuscript material from a Pennsylvania man who had a large influence on the finances of the United States...

On August 26, 1831, Biddle's brother, Thomas, a War of 1812 hero, was killed in a duel on Bloody Island (Mississippi River) at St. Louis, Missouri with Congressman Spencer Pettis. Thomas had taken offense to Pettis' criticizing Nicholas at the bank. After an exchange of letters to the editor Biddle accosted an ill Pettis in his hotel room. After Pettis recovered he challenged Thomas to a duel and both were killed when they exchanged shots from just five feet apart. The "Bank War" of 1832–36 was initiated by Biddle when he decided to apply for the Bank's re-charter four years before the charter was scheduled to expire. Until 1832, Jackson, for three years, had ignored the Bank and Biddle. But, once challenged, he decided to veto the bill to re-charter the bank, which was being pushed by Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky in preparation for another Presidential run later that year. Jackson, well-known as a man whom one did not want to anger, still harbored ill will towards Clay from the 1824 Presidential election. Clay's strategy failed, and Jackson gained great support from the public for his veto. Clay lost to Jackson again in November despite massive funding of over $3 million in bankers' support.

In early 1833, Jackson decided to pull the government's funds out of the Bank. The Secretary of the Treasury, Louis McLane, was favorable to the Bank. He refused to withdraw the funds and would not resign, so Jackson removed him as Secretary of the Treasury by appointing him to Secretary of State. His replacement, William Duane, deliberately delayed. After waiting four months, Jackson replaced him as well. The third man, his former Attorney General, Roger B. Taney, complied. The funds were transferred to seven state-chartered banks in late September. This put the Second Bank on the defensive. It had lost its biggest depositor, by far.

To fight back, Biddle decided to shrink the money supply and cause a recession in 1834 in order to force Jackson to accept a re-charter bill. The Bank demanded that old loans be repaid. It made no new loans. There was a brief recession in the first half of 1834, but another bill to re-charter failed in the House on April 4. That was the last time the issue ever came before Congress. And so, the Bank was doomed. Its charter expired in April, 1836. Biddle's friends assert that his non-partisanship provoked Jackson's hostility, a claim denied by Jackson's admirers. After the Bank lost its national charter in April, 1836, it continued to operate erratically as a state-chartered bank, partially causing the Panic of 1837.

In 1839, Biddle resigned from his post of Bank President, and in 1841, the Bank finally failed. Biddle was arrested and charged with fraud; he was later acquitted. He died soon after while still involved in civil suits. He was important in the establishment of Girard College under the provisions of the founder's will. Girard had been the original promoter of the Second Bank and its largest investor. Girard died in 1831.

Rare Book by Shakespeare Head Press Book Kynge Arthur!

A stunning two volume set made in the tradition of William Morris who created a new look in making modern books by using the old techniques for making books and printing them. Morris's company which included everything from designing wall paper to the making and printing of books, re-created some of the most spectacular works printed before 1500.

Here to, Shakespeare Head Press set out and accomplished the goal of re-printing the 1498 Edition 'The Boke of Noble Kyng. Kyng Arthure Somtyme Kynge of Englande and His Noble Actes and Feates of armes of Chyvalrye, and His Noble Knyghtes and Table Rounde and is Deuyeded in to. XXI Bookes. Wynkyn de Worde, Westminster. 1498.

This edition is an exact copy of that rare and unusual work that includes the wood cut engravings found throughout the text. The Elizabethan scholar A. H. Bullen established the Shakespeare Head Press in Stratford-up-Avon in 1904. His original aim was to produce a good edition of Shakespeare's  works, and his ten volume Stratford Town Shakespeare was completed by 1907. After Bullen died in 1927, the press was acquired by a partnership including Basil Blackwell, the Oxford bookseller. Bernard Newdigate was appointed as typographer and under his direction the press worked within the Morris tradition: Ovid's Metamorphoses was the first book he produced as a limited edition. This 1933 limited edition of 350 copies reaches the goal of reproducing a book in the finest, ancient and lasting traditions. This rare book set is the only one we have located and only one other copy is found in the World Catalog of Libraries database. A rare book sold only online by Calix Books.

Heritage Auctions Rare Americana

We will keep this short and to the point. We are listing a number of very rare americana items, ephemera and rare books at the Heritage Auction site.You can view and bid on my entire consignment in auction #6043 at thefollowing link: http://historical.HA.com/common/search_items.php?Sale_No=6043&Consignor_No=59&type=friend-consignorlive-notice&FC=0 You can cut and paste this link and it will take you directly to the items but hurry, auction ends today!

All the best,

Richard Gabriel
Owner
Calix Books
#281
505 Paradise Rd.
Swampscott, MA 01907
781 477 9485 Phone
781 477 9484 FAX
http://www.calixbooks.com

Rare Books Fine Press Limited Editions

In 1932 there was a nifty little publication produced by R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company from Chicago, Illinois. The title of the book is: "You are Invited to View an Exhibition of Finely-Printed Books Since William Morris, of Which this is the Catalogue, at the Lakeside Press Galleries, September, October and November, 1932. Nine to Five, Week-Days." R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company 350 East Twenty-Second Street, Chicago, Illinois. There are 150 rare books listed in this little publication from the presses of 55 companies that were selected during the year as the best books available (for 1930). The most note worthy or the rare book houses represented are Kelmscott Press, Golden Cockerel Press, Ashendene Press, Grabhorn Press, John Nash, Nonesuch Press, Riverside Press, D. B. Updike and many others. The selection is not complete but in the authors view, the ones that are most acceptable to their tastes and that reflect different aspects of the book making business.

We ran through the list of books and found many of them available on the web and through the data bases for Advanced Book Exchange, and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers and priced them at the highest price shown and multiplied that number times the number of books that we searched so far. Their average price over the 55 books that we catalogued so far is a whooping $4,083 per book. We went back and looked at the some of the publication prices and they averaged about $50+ per book and since 1930 that represents a gain of nearly 102% per year over the 80 years. Astounding returns, however that gain should be taken with a huge block of salt, forget the grains. Probably for many years some of these book prices sat flat or actually may have fallen and some of the publishers listed in our little book, have gained less than 1% per year. A large part of the gains are from what we would call the heavy hitters, Kelmscott being one of the heaviest swingers, knocking estimates right out of the park. Why, William Morris…name sound familiar? If not, look him up.

So what’s the message? The message is buy quality, craftsmanship and books from small run numbers for their publications and of course, pristine protection of the asset. You can begin building your collection today but buying Nash, Cockerel, Ashedene and Grabhorn and fill in the collection with modern limited edition runs of the highest quality. If you run across one of these antiquarian books in your attic or your grandfather’s library and you are not sure, call us, email us, write us and don’t put it into a garage sale or just sell it. You might be sitting on a book worth quite a bit of money!

Rare Ephemera: Civil War and Britain

Britain and the American Civil War Rare Ephemera. SOLD AT THE AUCTION 6-15-2010!!!

The rare first edition rare ephemera document, written by George Bemis a preeminent Boston lawyer who was involved in many unique clashes, including the most notorious murder at Harvard Medical School and the prosecution of Harvard Professor John White Webster for the brutal murder of John Parkman (one of the first cases to use forensic evidence in a trial to convict in the U.S.). He was also involved in the pending dispute between the United States and Great Britain over Great Britain's role in supplying men-of-war ships to the confederacy during the conflict, while claiming neutrality in public. The honorable Judge A. H Bullock was a professor at Amherst College and a three time president of the college, first in 1851, then 1862 and finally 1871. Bullock and Bemis obviously knew each other or of each other as they were both very active in public issues and affairs. This piece is a rare item as it has Bemis's signature and a 'with regards' comment to Hon. A. H. Bullock by Bemis.

The focus of this document was on the CSS Alabama, a fast, sail and steam powered ship that confiscated and burned 65 vessels that belonged to Northern supporters or were supplying goods and materials to the North.

The attorney General of Great Britain took the untenable position that Great Britain was in fact ‘neutral’ in accordance with what the United States had done in earlier times, focusing on maritime actions during Washington’s presidency while he attempted to balance the interests of the newly formed United States and the conflict that was fully raging between Great Britain and France. Washington and his administration held a tight fist policy over neutrality and turned and confiscated ships that were either purchased by the French and outfitted for war in a U.S. port or were confiscated by the French and brought to an American port.

Bemis argues that Great Britain’s claim that the U.S. had also behaved badly was in fact a lie made up by the government of Great Britain to save face in the participation of Great Britain and practice of allowing ships like the Alabama not only be built but falsely protected and deliberately changed over to the confederacy in international waters

The Alabama was finally cornered by a U.S. Ship in Cherbourg, France by the USS Kearsarge and the USS St. Louis also proceeded to help blocking the CSS Alabama and its crew from escaping. Captain Raphael Semmes, deciding he would rather fight than watch his ship rot at the dock, sent a message to Captain John Ancrum Winslow the following: ‘My intention is to fight the Kearsarge as soon as I can make the necessary arrangements. I hope these will not detain me more than until to-morrow or the morrow morning at farthest. I beg she will not depart until I am ready to go out. I have the honor to by Your obedient servant, R. Semmes.” The battle was recorded and the Alabama fired nearly 370 rounds at her adversary, about one round per minute while the Kearsarge fired about half that number, instead focusing on accuracy. As it turns out, the Alabama was out gunned and out maneuvered by the Kearsarge and its crew, sinking the Alabama in the harbor. Nearly all the crew, including the Captain of the Alabama escaped to England on a private yacht called the Deerhound, denying Captain Winslow his opportunity to capture Captain Semmes and his crew. The Alabama’s chief medical officer, who remained behind on the ship while the wounded were being offloaded won the Confederate equivalent of the Medal of Honor for his selfless sacrifice in the sure face of death, as he could not swim, rather giving his berth on the rescue boats to the wounded.

During her two year career as a pirate raider for the Confederacy, the CSS Alabama racked up over $6.0 million in damages and the United States Government pursued restitution from Great Britain and won a settlement from Great Britain in 1871 only after the death of Lord Palmerston did Prime Minister Gladstone apologize to the United States while admitting no guilt in the matter and paid $15.5 million in compensation.

Bemis, in his argument with the attorney General of Great Britain, Sir Roundell Palmer, must have been gratified at the award as his circular helped contribute to the eventual settlement by setting the records straight that had been twisted by the British to avoid facing the fact that the Alabama had been built in Britain, armed in Britain and received coal and provision support in British ports across the world. A rare ephemera first edition item with some historical significance combined with a rare autograph of George Bemis.

Rare Books and Ephemera Sales in March were Tough!

March 2010 won't go down as one of the stellar months for rare book and ephemera sales online but there were a few good auctions and prices, although not spectacular, were starting to firm up. This sort of lackluster but firming trend is to be expected because as the stock market moves up, unemployment goes down and disposable income comes back, rare book and ephemera buying increases. Ebay auctions have been for the most part, tepid with a few exceptions. I noted one really outstanding offering but then after having bid on the item, Ship of Fools, second edition, I got a notice from ebay, claiming that this auction was in essence, a scam. The word on the book blog pages was that the origin of the book was questionable, i.e., might have been stolen. Also when a seller puts on the 'rules' that the item cannot be returned, hey it makes you wonder. Anything over $1,000 in our shop has an automatic buy back at the price it was sold, why wouldn't we stand behind our listings?

Ebay auctions are always a little dicey from new sellers and generally if they don't have the reputation (positives running in the high 98% or higher and greater than 100 positives), the item is probably not what you expect it to be. We have also noted the derth of 'copies' of old books that are popping up like weeds on ebay, advanced book exchange, amazon and others. This trend is distressing to the rest of us old book and ephemera dealers as its printed on demand and generally the quality of these items is not that great. Generally, someone scans a book then creates a pdf image and sends it to one of the scads of online publishers and then lists it on Advanced Book Exchange or Amazon or ebay. So when you do a search for your favorite title, you get this listing for essentially a photocopy of the book you are looking for...

We have a really sweet little first edition by Robert Boyle listed on ebay and this book has had several inquiries but no bidders to speak of which is puzzling for such a rare book.

Boyle was a prolific writer and an extremely well liked person in London. He did socialize a lot and told everyone about his ideas and many industrialists took his ideas on steam, gases etc. and turned them into significant inventions to power the English Industrial Revolution. If you'd like to look at this book, just click on Boyles' picture! It's a really good time to pick up ephemera and books and there are a lot of good auctions in April. Tod's Farm opens pretty soon up in Rowley, Massachusetts so I'll be going up there and searching for books and ephemera and its the estate auction time! What fun!

 

Bloomsbury Rare Book Auction Online

The rare book auction at Bloomsbury's this week had 293 lots of mostly medical books and some odds and ends at the end of the auction. There were no real surprises at the auction and 77 items out of the 293 went unbid. That's about 26.3% of the total number of lots. You can download a PDF of the auction by clicking on the auction page catalog!

If you were the seller, you netted about £65,000 while on the low end Bloomsbury was estimating that you would net £94,640 (net £80,444) if all lots sold at the low end estimate or £132,670 (net £112,780) if all lots sold at the high end estimate. Average low end book price was £323 not including buyers premium and for the high end estimate £453 not including buyers premium. Actual auction results were an average of £360 of actual books sold without buyers premium and all of these numbers should be multipled by the currency factor of Pounds to Dollars of today's rate of $1.504 dollar to the pound. You can down load the PDF of the auction or go directly to the web site at Bloomsbury. The analysis for this group of books which are moderately interesting would not reflect the overall market for rare book sales but if you were considering putting together a collection of rare medical items and you intend on selling them, the message is keep your average per book price below the the price you could get at auction! The principles of the buy-sell demand still apply, however none of these rare and antiquarian books fall into the extremely rare and high demand book category. It was a good auction for book buyers and some great deals were obtained, proving that buying at auction can still be a good deal.

Lucrezia Marinella Poet Writer Defender of Women! Rare Books

Lucrezia Marinella Vacca /Marinelli (1571-1653) A rare and wonderful book available now on our online at Calixbooks. This rare book is the only one we have located. Only one library in the world has a copy of this extremely rare book.

Lucrezia Marinella Vacca /Marinelli (1571-1653)

We know more about the publishing history of Lucrezia Marinella's works than we do about her life. When other women were publishing anonymously or under a pseudonym, Marinella's name was on most of her books and she was known by all Venice as the author of the rest. She apparently used the feminine form of her last name; some editors have used the family form, "Marinelli." Lucrezia was the daughter of a Venetian physician who wrote works on medicine (two on women's health) and on philosophy. We know nothing of her mother nor of when her father died do (we know that he was dead by 1600). Someone saw to it that Lucrezia was given an education that included philosophy and classical as well as vernacular literature. At some point she married a physician, Girolamo Vacca, and had at least two children, a son and daughter. When Marinella was 24 years old, her first work was published, La colomba sacra, poema eroico (The holy dove, a heroic poem), a biographical epic in ottava rima on an early Christian martyr. Her next publication was the Nobilta et l'eccellenza delle donne, co' difetti et mancamenti degli uomoni (The nobility and excellences of women, and the defects and vices of men), printed in 1600 and enlarged in 1601. Between 1603 and 1606 six more works were published (although some appear to have been written earlier): a heroic poem and a prose work on Mary; poems on Francis of Assisi and on Justina (another early Christian martyr); a collection of Marinella's sonnets and madrigals, and a pastoral verse novel, Arcadia felice. After 1606 there is a gap of 12 years before her next publications --- an allegory based on the story of Cupid and Psyche, and a poetic biography of Catherine of Siena --- and then another 11 years before she published in 1635 what historians of Italian literature consider her masterpiece, L'Enrico overo Bisantio conquistato (Henry or Byzantium gained). We don't know the connection between these gaps and her life as a wife and mother. By the 1590s, the Roman influence that we call "Baroque" had come to Venice. It grew, in part, out of the Catholic Church's need to reach out to people, to instruct and to arouse them more directly than it had done before. For literature, the result was an emphasis on vernacular writing with a strong emotional appeal. All of Marinella's writing reflects the Baroque, but in different ways and from a feminine perspective. She usually wrote in the heroic verse form, but sometimes in a combination of verse and the "poetic prose" that she saw as capable of the same elevation as poetry. Many of Marinella's books were lives of religious figures, but almost always about women and then always with the emphasis on their heroism rather than on more passive virtues. She wrote of the heroic resistance of the women Columba and Justina; her book on Catherine of Siena was on the "heroic deeds and marvelous life"; her life of Mary (apparently the most successful during her lifetime) was on Mary as "empress of the universe"; in a later edition of her early poem on Francis, Clare of Assisi's "glorious passion" receives equal billing. Her secular writing also fused the extravagance of the popular chivalric tales and heroic epics with a Christian, but feminine, view of morality. One satirically allegorizes the myth of Cupid and Psyche as a conflict between body and soul; another is a pastoral verse drama that makes fun of human love. L'Enrico overo Bisantio conquistato is an epic in the style of Torquato Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata, but with stronger, more self-reliant women. To date, the only work of Marinella's that has been translated into English is part of her Nobilta et l'eccellenza delle donne. It differs from her other writings in being a polemical treatise, a genre in which extravagant statement and personal attack were acceptable. Forty-five years later, Marinella would write Essortationi alle donne et a gli altri (Exhortations to women and others), in which she would qualify some of the more extreme views expressed in Nobilta. But in 1600, Marinella would say whatever she needed to say in order to refute the misogynist statements of earlier writers, particularly the treatise of Giuseppe Passi, who had published Dei donneschi defetti (The defects of women) in 1599.