An extremely rare Mormon book, an 1837 first edition Parley P. Pratt's A Voice of Warning, has been offered for sale on eBay with a buy-it-now price tag of $75,000; at auction, the book would be expected to bring in between $75,000-$100,000. The Library of Congress, the Community of Christ (formerly the RDLS Church), the LDS Church and Brigham Young University all have at least one first edition copy of A Voice of Warning, but there have only been three public sales of the edition in the past two decades. After his baptism as a Mormon in 1830, Pratt delved into the religion and was called to be a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1835, and soon thereafter became the most influential writer in early Mormonism (he was dubbed "the Father of Mormon Pamphleteering"). A Voice of Warning "established the basic arguments and expository formulas for Mormon missionary tracts", and is a very influential piece of work, considered by some bibliographers to be "the most significant book in all of Mormon literature after the canonized scripture." The seller says that "all offers will be reviewed" and is not charging for shippinghe or she will personally deliver the book to anywhere in the world. One of the Rarest of the Rare Mormon Antiquarian Books on eBay for the First Time Parley Parker Pratt A Voice Of Warning 1837 Mormon Pratt LDS Rare Book [more Very Rare Mormon Text Offered on eBay]
Several volumes from an Antique Shakespeare collection were stolen in Berkeley, CA on October 21, 2010. TITLE: The Plays and Poems of Shakespeare With a Life, Glossarial Notes, and One Hundred and Seventy Illustrations from the plates in Boydell's Edition PUBLISHER: A. J. Valpy, London DATE: 1832-1833 DESCRIPTION: Volumes 1, 2, 3, 7, 8 and 14 stolen from 15-volume collection. Brown leather binding with gilt trim. Marbled end-papers. Name in white sticker on inside front cover: Leon and May Levy If you have any information regarding any of these volumes, please contact Melissa Schwarz (510) 644-2344. [more Several Volumes of Antique Shakespeare Collection Stolen]
A member brought this brief but interesting item about Jane Austen to our attention. Academic: Jane Austen had spell checker [more 'Jane Austen had spell checker']
John Windle was interviewed on CNBC, where he discussed the trade and investing in books. Congratulations on a great interview, John! Children's Book Gallery [more Member in the News: John Windle]
A first edition of D.H. Lawrence's The Rainbow, with an illustrated dust jacket, is expected to bring in between $28,000 and $40,000 when it is auctioned off by Sotheby's London on October 28. Even without the dust jacket, a first edition of the novel is valuable, going for about $1,600 depending on condition, because, out of the original 2,527 copies printed in 1915, 1,195 copies were destroyed after the book was banned under the Obscene Publications Act. This left only 1,332 first editions in existence, of which very few are believed to still have their dust jackets intact. Two other D.H. Lawrence first editions will be sold alongside this rare copy of The Rainbow; a copy of Lady Chatterley's Lover in a rare dust jacket and a limited edition English-issue copy of Women in Love, number 31 of 50 copies signed by Lawrence. These books are part of a private collection comprised of 149 rare books put up for sale by a mysterious 75-year-old man, an "English Bibliophile" who has been collecting for 45 years and now wants to disperse his library through several Sotheby's sales so that "other collectors, young and old" have "the opportunity to acquire such fine books". Also included in the sale is an extremely rare first edition of Peter Pan that is signed by J.M. Barrie and inscribed to Lady Diana Cooper, a close friend of his and well known society beauty. It is estimated to sell for almost $32,000, and the entire collection is thought to bring in nearly $5 million. Rare DH Lawren... [more Rare D.H. Lawrence Books at Auction]
The Sheridan Libraries at Johns Hopkins University has recently acquired a collection of 280 rare books and manuscripts concerning scientific discoveries. Included in the collection are a 1495 edition of the works of Aristotle; a 1613 first edition of Galileo's illustrated treatise on the discovery of sunspots; a 1687 first edition of Newton's The Principia; and the first print appearance of Darwin's Theory of Evolution in 1858. There is a small slideshow of selected images here. Johns Hopkins library obtains rare editions [more Johns Hopkins Library Acquires Rare Scientific Works]
On October 28th, Ken Gloss will be giving a free lecture at the Hingham Public Library entitled, "Is There Value in Your Old and Used Books?". The link provides a profile of Ken as well as more information on the lecture. Ken Gloss coming to Hingham Public Library Brattle Book Shop [more Member in the News: Ken Gloss]
From Dragon Books: We recently discovered that our first edition in jacket of Fitzgerald's "Tender Is the Night" has been stolen from our shop in Los Angeles. The theft occurred sometime between the afternoon of Wednesday October 6th and this morning October 8th. If you have any information at all, or if someone offers you a copy in a nice jacket please contact us and the police. In addition, we are missing a signed first edition of William Carlos Williams' "The Wedge" , re-backed with the original spine laid-down. Front fly-leaf has inscription "Dexter Puritan /his book/ William Carlos Williams." If you have any information on these books, please contact Cassandra Joffre at Dragon Books by telephone, (310) 441-8545, or email, cassandra@dragonbooks.com. [more Dragon Books Reports Thefts]
Andrelini, Publio Fausto. DE SCIOLORUM ARROGANTIA PROVERBIALIS EPISTOLA. Paris: in Adibus Ascensianis. (1519). 4to. 8 leaves. The title leaf displays the woodcut printer's device for Badius. Bound in modern leather-backed marbled boards. Old faded number stamped on title and a small hole in a blank portion of the final leaf. If you have any information regarding this book, please contact ABAA Headquarters at hq@abaa.org or (212) 944-8291. [more Andrelini's 'De Sciolorum Arrogantia Proverbialis Epistola']