by jim on October 27, 2017
The Rare Book Sale Monitor has given collectors new ways to structure their search for new additions to their collections using market trend indicators. Our view is that genre and author strategies can complement one another, and, that additional breakdowns can improve visibility and help structure collections to produce the desired results. In the case […]
Tagged as:
antiquarian book market,
artist book,
Rare Book Sale Monitor
During a recent visit to Provincetown MA, I had the opportunity to spend some time at the Julie Heller Gallery. Provincetown’s rich heritage as an art colony was quite unexplored by me, up until I took this walk through the gallery’s walls filled end to end with striking treasures of artists who helped develop […]
Tagged as:
cover art,
Leo Manso,
paperbacks
17th century German Jesuit scholar, Athanasius Kircher, published around 40 works, exploring a variety of topics, ranging from a universal language scheme, to pneumatic, hydraulic, catoptric and magnetic science. His books are lavishly illustrated, written in Latin, and were in wide circulation during the 17th century. Collectors historically have sought some of his most notable […]
Tagged as:
Athanasius Kircher,
hand-colored books,
Voynich manuscript
by Admin on July 22, 2016
Les Enluminures owner, Dr. Sandra Hindman, is a leading expert on manuscript illumination. Professor Emerita of Art History at Northwestern University, she is author, coauthor, or editor of more than a dozen books, as well as numerous articles on the history and reception of illuminated manuscripts and on medieval rings. These publications include The Robert […]
Tagged as:
illuminated,
rare manuscripts,
Renaissance
As coloring books for grown-ups have recently popped into the bestseller lists, (12 million sold in 2015), one cannot help but wonder how long it will take for collectors to turn their attention to this popular new genre of “adult coloring books”. Once considered a little more than a novelty, adult coloring books, are now almost considered a […]
Tagged as:
Adult Coloring,
artist book,
collectible
While critics of German Chancellor Angela Merkel are becoming increasingly vocal against her open-door policy that allowed 1.1 million migrants to enter Germany last year, history may be on her side. A century ago in the middle of World War I, immigrant artists from all over Europe, energized by a sense of outrage against the […]
Tagged as:
artist book,
Dada,
Janco,
Tzara
Printed books usually sit around, demanding very little to survive. Water, mold, smoke, dirt, direct sunlight, insects, bad shelving, fire, human misuse are enemies to avoid for a healthy long life that guarantees a book to outlive its creators. Long lifespan coupled with popularity, may lead to production of multiple new editions, revisions, foreign language translations […]
Tagged as:
Art Deco,
children's rare books,
lithographs,
surrealism
American photographer Francesca Woodman started making photographs when she was 13 years old and had a working span of eight and a half years before her death at the age of 22, in 1981. Her suicide came a few days after the release of the only artist’s book to get published during her lifetime – […]
Tagged as:
artist book,
photography books,
surrealism
Book collector interests may be driven by a particular author or genre (science, art, modern firsts, exploration etc.), a particular illustrator or artist, a certain series of award winning books, fine bindings in book design, cover or dust jacket art; a printer of fine press books, incunabula or books printed during certain periods, movable parts […]
Tagged as:
art,
fine print,
marbled endpapers
Not long after Johannes Gutenberg invented an improved movable type mechanical printing system in Europe around 1450, the first woodcut book illustration was printed in 1461. Woodcuts can be easily printed together with movable type because both are relief-printed (a process by which protruding surface faces of the printing plate or block are inked; recessed […]
Tagged as:
engravings,
Venetian art,
woodcuts