Romance

It has the chemistry of a major hit – importance, scarcity, artistic impression, controversy, and mystique. Yet the small imprint of Editions Narcisse, later renamed Black Sun, has not performed like a major hit. It all became obvious a year ago during the Sotheby’s Fine Books & Manuscripts, Including Americana, auction event, held in New […]

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So many people read romance novels these days that it is hard to accept the mediocre performance that the genre exhibited in our rare book index – Rare Book Sales Monitor, over the last year. This trend was recorded primarily through sales of modern romance editions that lag behind the corresponding romance classics. The most sought-after romantic novels […]

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The short-lived publishing house of William Godwin formally started operations in 1930 in New York. Talk about bad timing; the depression that began around September 4, 1929 had caused the famous Black Tuesday market crash of October 29, 1929, setting a bleak backdrop for the publishing house’s humble beginnings. For a small publisher looking to […]

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Eleanor Vere Boyle was a painter and illustrator whose arresting technique was influenced by the pre-Raphaelites. Her best works were simultaneously moody, immensely detailed, and haunting. Dante Gabriel Rosetti admired her art, and called her “great in design.” She is one of the earliest woman artists to be recognized for her achievements, although she kept […]

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This article first appeared on RareBooksDigest February 6, 2012. As hearts and thoughts turn towards the one wondrous day of every year where individuals of all walks in life pause to ponder and reflect on the love which they are fortunate enough to feel for an individual of their acquaintance, it should come as no […]

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     While the universal day of love has quickly come and gone, one sweeping, unforgettable, and indisputably unsurpassed rare love story will be with us for as long as we live: Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind. The rare book inundates the mind and senses with the eternal lines which are passionately uttered by the […]

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Valentine’s Day is a day of love and romance. For the romantic at heart, it is a day to celebrate the special circumstances that Cupid’s arrow had to penetrate through to bring love. For the rare book lover it is a day to pick up the rare book of  Jean de La Fontaine, Les Amours […]

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The rare books of romance

by The bookworm on February 9, 2012

Ahh the books of Love. With Valentine’s Day swiftly approaching, it seems like an appropriate time to post some of the rare books that have captured our attention and instilled in us romantic notions.  While on the topic, we will also attempt to shed some light into book collecting behavior when it comes to romantic […]

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As hearts and thoughts turn towards the one wondrous day of every year where individuals of all walks in life pause to ponder and reflect on the love which they are fortunate enough to feel for an individual of their acquaintance, it should come as no surprise that, once again, the remarkable creativity and beauty […]

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