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2009 Books & Manuscripts News Archive

All of our Books & Manuscripts news stories from 2009 can be found here

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Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821) signed letter (PF9)

An exceptionally rare one page signed letter, dated February 13, 1813, written to the Duc de Feltre

Posted: 10 August 2011
$25k for the 'first ever' map of Australia

The entire account of Nicolas Baudin's expedition to Australia is to auction in Scotland

Posted: 29 December 2009
Today in history... Galileo is the first to see Neptune

December 28, 1612: he spots the eighth planet from our Sun... and mistakes it for a star

Posted: 28 December 2009
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) lock of hair (PF73)

A lock of hair from the head of Charles Dickens

Posted: 26 December 2009
Henry VIII (1491-1547) signed document (PF33)

A handwritten letter signed by the King of England dated 1533

Posted: 26 December 2009
Soldier's books to make 'Great Escape' at auction

Memorabilia of a captured Private held in the famous Stalag Luft III camp will sell next month

Posted: 26 December 2009
A $20k astronomy book in time for Christmas?

German firm Ketterer Kunst is among the auctioneers offering post-auction collectibles

Posted: 23 December 2009
Today in history... Beatrix Potter dies at the age of 77

December 22, 1943: the author and conservationist leaves nearly everything to the National Trust

Posted: 22 December 2009
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) signed cheque (PF77)

A Coutts bank cheque dated March 25 1861

Posted: 21 December 2009
Winston Churchill (1874-1965) autographed letter on official Chartwell note paper (PF78)

A thank you letter autographed by Sir Winston Churchill, typed on Chartwell headed note paper

Posted: 21 December 2009
Winnie the Pooh's map and dream fetch £100k

Two illustrations for the classic books have excited bidders at Sotheby's

Posted: 20 December 2009
Today in history... A Christmas Carol was first published

December 19, 1843: Charles Dickens' most famous yuletide tale makes its debut in England

Posted: 19 December 2009
Rare books 'withstand economically challenging times'

Says German auctioneer Ketterer Kunst, whose final 2009 auction saw its year's two highest sales

Posted: 18 December 2009
Tale of Peter Rabbit scampers to $94k

The specially bound 1919 edition is inscribed by author Beatrix Potter herself

Posted: 17 December 2009
Caped Crusader swoops in on Heritage Auctions

Batman's first appearance to go under the hammer for a six figure sum

Posted: 16 December 2009
Signed Lewis Carroll, Beatrix Potter and HG Wells books to sell online

With estimates upwards of $120k, this auction is unmissable for rare book collectors

Posted: 15 December 2009
$122k for Galileo's first ever telescope observations

The text has sold alongside Uncle Tom's Cabin, 'the most influential C19th fictional work,' at Sotheby's

Posted: 14 December 2009
Edgar Allen Poe's For Annie brings $830k

Poe's handwritten text and Charles Dickens' books break records

Posted: 9 December 2009
Alice's own Looking Glass worth $150k

The first edition of Lewis Carroll's classic signed by the book's heroine goes under the hammer

Posted: 7 December 2009
George Washington's historic letter sells for $3.2m

Cormac McCarthy's typewriter also sells for over 10 times its estimate

Posted: 7 December 2009
Explorer's work sails past estimate to sell for $650k

De Champlain's descriptions of America excite bidders in New York

Posted: 5 December 2009
Nabokov's handwritten last work to sell for up to $600k

The work by the Lolita author will appear alongside Cormac McCarthy's typewriter in New York

Posted: 4 December 2009
Fleurs du Mal brings €775k at auction

A first edition of Baudelaire's most famous work beats world record in €4m sale

Posted: 3 December 2009
Legendary comic 'Hulks out' at auction for $125k

A 'holy grail' of comic books, The Incredible Hulk #1, has been snapped up in Dallas, Texas

Posted: 2 December 2009
Brighton Rock first edition at auction

Complete with incredibly scarce first edition dust-jacket

Posted: 1 December 2009
Explorer's descriptions of America set to sell for $350k

81 lots of books and maps to sell for up to six figure sums

Posted: 1 December 2009
Einstein's Watch - An unoffical record of a year's most ownable things

The perfect Christmas stocking filler gift for those who love collectibles

Posted: 30 November 2009
$500k goddess Venus for sale

The Roman marble sculpture leads a New York auction of antiquities and ancient jewellery

Posted: 26 November 2009
Darwin's Origin of the Species sells for £100k

Successful auction also saw the sale of illuminated works by Petrarch

Posted: 26 November 2009
The Collections of Malcolm Forbes

The cheerful multi-millionaire businessman, philanthropist and enthusiastic collector...

Posted: 26 November 2009
First edition of Darwin's masterpiece to sell

A rare copy of On the Origin of Species, kept in the guest toilet, to sell for £60k

Posted: 23 November 2009
Dreweatts to sell a slice of England

A unique Country House sale commences 26 November

Posted: 20 November 2009
Hamburg book auction achieves €1.2m

Both top lots beat expected prices in lively sale

Posted: 18 November 2009
Joyce First Edition to sell for £40k

Works on birds of paradise and Soviet propaganda also go under the hammer

Posted: 17 November 2009
Early Beatrix Potter sketches sold for £30k

A set of early illustrations sold for more than expected

Posted: 13 November 2009
Smell of old books gives clue to condition

Scientists hope aroma tests will help preserve old books

Posted: 11 November 2009
Owzat! 'Bible of Cricket' sells for £90k

The Wisden Cricketers' Almanack outshone Lord Cherbury's £84k secret play and a £62k James Bond

Posted: 10 November 2009
€60k for rare 18th century botanical books

Rare 15th century theology book also to be auctioned

Posted: 9 November 2009
16th century maps to sell at Bonhams

A unique collection of 1586 maps of Scilly and Cornwall will go under the hammer in Oxford, UK

Posted: 8 November 2009
£70k legendary cricket annuals at rare books auction

Egyptology and an early James Bond typescript will also feature

Posted: 5 November 2009
74-year-old book thief made $500k

The FBI has begun to give back the texts stolen from 109 libraries all over America

Posted: 3 November 2009
Rare Islamic texts exhibited in US

The Qur'an and other esteemed 18th century Middle Eastern texts are now on public display

Posted: 2 November 2009
$71k travelogue and Karl Marx lead Hong Kong book sale

Winnie the Pooh and Alice in Wonderland will also star at the highly anticipated book auction

Posted: 28 October 2009
Long-lost Jacobean play to sell for £90k

Found in a trunk, the manuscript reveals Lord Herbert of Cherbury's secret attempt at playwriting

Posted: 26 October 2009
'Controversial' $150k Walt Whitman for sale

A signed 19th century first edition by the 'father of free verse' can be yours to own

Posted: 23 October 2009
£10k Birds of Europe book flies ahead at auction

Bloomsbury is going native today, with a sale of rare books and art all about wildlife

Posted: 22 October 2009
Jane Austen's Emma sells for over $10k

The book with a heroine its writer thought 'no-one would much like' was a big hit at Bonham's

Posted: 20 October 2009
Library receives $2m worth of Shakespearean books

A Los Angeles rare book library improves on its excellent collection

Posted: 16 October 2009
$10k Jane Austen leads Fine Books auction

A rare first-edition of Emma will appear alongside Galileo and Mark Twain at the Bonham's sale

Posted: 14 October 2009
$0.7m North American Indian books require new owner

A collection of early 20th century books failed to sell at Christie's when bids stayed below $700k

Posted: 13 October 2009
$6k signed Dick Frances works to sell at Bloomsbury

Sale includes the 17th Earl of Lauderdale's collection, a Zionist leader's signed letter and Agatha Christie

Posted: 12 October 2009
16th century books stolen from the Nazis are returned

A teenager who swiped the books from a salt mine during WW2 is now giving them back

Posted: 8 October 2009
£45k Mattioli leads sale of books that influenced a generation

A collection once delved into by John Betjeman and Bertrand Russell auctions at Bonham's

Posted: 7 October 2009
How to protect your rare books from water damage

It's a books collector's worst nightmare: what happens if they get soaked?

Posted: 6 October 2009
6,000 rare children's books donated to university

One of the US's best collections of Robert Louis Stevenson features alongside A.A. Milne and Beatrix Potter

Posted: 5 October 2009
Earl of Rosebery's book collection to sell for £600k

Remarkable sale includes the most important Lord Byron material offered at auction since the £50k manuscript of Beppo in 1976

Posted: 2 October 2009
Collector pays $4 at flea market and makes $1m find...

The incredible story of how 'the most important document in American history' was discovered at a local antiques market.

Posted: 31 August 2009
George S Patton signed letter (1885–1945) (PF3)

In the midst of World War II, General George S Patton, wrote a letter to Suzanne Miner, who had served as his housekeeper in Langres, France, during World War I...

Posted: 15 August 2009
Original Auld Lang Syne 'sells' for £10k

A retired professor has become the new patron of poet Robert Burns' famous New Years' anthem

Posted: 28 September 2009
Bedbugs destroy rare books, man fined $12k

Bugs' droppings stain pages black, forcing libary to destroy 31 volumes

Posted: 26 September 2009
First edition Bond book for sale

A copy of Live and Let Die has been donated to one of Oxfam's bookshops in Edinburgh

Posted: 25 September 2009
Advice from an Antiques Road Show expert

On rare books, auction house chairman Paul Viney explains why the dust jacket is crucial to collectors and investors alike

Posted: 24 September 2009
Swindon stores 8m rare books

Bodleian library books to be held in new £15m facility

Posted: 18 September 2009
'America's First Book' to sell for $40k

The Bay Psalm Book will he up for auction in Manhattan this week, along with the iconic and legendary Aitken's Bible

Posted: 17 September 2009
Buy the ultimate Scotch whisky guide for £5k

Rare first edition 19th century book on 'everything there is to know about Scotland's national drink' for sale in Glasgow

Posted: 14 September 2009
US Universities receive words of God

Some of the oldest texts in the world reach California

Posted: 14 September 2009
Harry Potter first edition to sell for £2K

Author's signature and personal message make all the difference

Posted: 10 September 2009
Thieves steal mobile phone - but dump priceless Qur'an pages

'They didn't have a clue what they had got in their hands,' say police after finding pages dumped in bin

Posted: 10 September 2009
The penniless artist... with assets of £6.5m

He only had £12 at the time of his death but his estate has now been valued at £6.5m

Posted: 9 September 2009
25,000 rare books could be damaged by floods

Experts in Costa Rica are working to save the National Library's collection from moisture damage

Posted: 7 September 2009
$40m for the greatest Judaica library

'There are very few cultural moments like this one where a collection of such great significance is made available for sale,' says expert

Posted: 3 September 2009
Classic golf book sells for $6,000

A signed work by a founding member of the United States Golf Association has been snapped up for a bargain

Posted: 3 September 2009
Rare Chinese book collection displayed

National library shows rare and historic texts for anniversary

Posted: 3 September 2009
The $1m comic book

Simple market forces are dictating big prices for rare childhood comic books

Posted: 2 September 2009
See these rare old Bibles like never before...

Touch screen technology will revolutionise museum experience

Posted: 27 August 2009
Vintage cricket books

Books and scoresheets from a few pennies to 'six' figures...

Posted: 26 August 2009
Criminal use of comics is no laughing matter

Pristine comic books used to clean dirty money

Posted: 25 August 2009
Collecting a cartoon classic

Items relating to a British cartoon with a local setting are becoming widely collectible

Posted: 23 August 2009
Satire that's worth £800 per page

Book spoofing a game of golf on Leith Links is a big hit in Edinburgh auction

Posted: 23 August 2009
Detective work uncovers lost murder mystery

A long-forgotten book written by one of the world's most published authors has been discovered

Posted: 20 August 2009
Jaded fan sells first issue of comic book for $39,000

A comic store owner has sold a 1st edition in disgust at the latest storyline

Posted: 14 August 2009
Famous expedition logbook to auction for £12k

The journey was called, 'the greatest advance in the knowledge of our planet since the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries'

Posted: 13 August 2009
'One of the greatest 20th century artists' books' to sell for $30k

Limited first edition signed by 'two of the most enigmatic artists of our time' is offered in Manhattan

Posted: 6 August 2009
Your chance to own the original Bond books

A Scottish book fair is to sell rare and first edition copies of Ian Fleming's famous novels

Posted: 6 August 2009
TIE Fighter sells for £203k

Tinseltown auction also includes a hoverboard, the Holy Grail and the Ten Commandments

Posted: 4 August 2009
First edition Rudyard Kipling appears in New Delhi library

A collection of rare books contributed by local library goers has surfaced in India's capital

Posted: 28 July 2009
Hundreds of collectors to attend PulpFest

Pulp fiction magazines from the 1920s and '30s could fetch up to $40k at this year's convention in the US

Posted: 28 July 2009
Why did a second-hand chair sell for £20k?

...when you could buy it for £10 in a junk shop?

Posted: 28 July 2009
Coffee table book to include space rocks

A publisher is expecting to make thousands with the ultimate expensive coffee table book: it contains space meteorites

Posted: 27 July 2009
Mao-era memorabilia is a growing money maker

Chairman Mao memorabilia prices are soaring as the 60th Anniversary of the People's Republic of China approaches

Posted: 27 July 2009
The $1m wine book

It weighs as much as a nine year old child, 25 of the 100 limited editions have already been sold

Posted: 23 July 2009
500 year old book found

A book has been discovered in a Nantwich church - one of three known to exist

Posted: 22 July 2009
Great Scott! Legendary novel sells for $180k

Book called 'the most expensive piece of 20th century printed paper' sells in New York

Posted: 18 July 2009