Honest Don The Antiques Mon

Obituary of George Jeffery Bookseller who sold from a handcart at the kerbside stalls known as the Farringdon Rd Barrows George Jeffery , bookdealer: born London 31 March 1925; married (five children); died Dorset 31 December 1994. The Farringdon Road has long been the dreariest of all the approaches to the City of London, but for devoted hunters of antiquarian and secondhand books the stretch between Clerkenwell Road and Cowcross Street possessed a romance excelled by no other thoroughfare in the world. Until last year this was home to a collection of kerbside stalls known as the Farringdon Road barrows. Early every Saturday morning, those who dabbled in, dealt in, or just doted on old books would cluster around the tarpaulin-sheeted barrows awaiting the moment when the proprietor would whip back the covers and the battle for the books would commence. The maestro orchestrating this activity was George Jeffery, whose death aged 69 signals the end of an era. Both his father and

A Blast From The Past : Eldras's Ebay Auction Of His Folio Copy Of William Shakespeare's Pericles Snippet From The Camden New Journal 2004 Is he making a folio out of me? COMPUTER buffs of my acquaintance told me this week of intriguing goings-on on the internet auction site eBay. There an eccentric, 90 page stream of consciousness from a seller based in London NW3 and calling himself Eldras invited bids for “the greatest 21st century rare book stampede, a first folio appearance of Pericles by Mr William Shakespeare”. The seller, who is apparently well known to eBay watchers and bibliophiles, claimed other very rare early copies of the 1609 romance had been destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666. He set just a one penny reserve, but added: “I’m looking for £100,000 for this.” Naturally, I made enquiries. One Hampstead resident claimed to have seen the merchandise. He described what appeared to be 20 authentic pages of extracts from the play, between more modern

New York's Street Booksellers An facinating introduction to some of the sidewalk booksellers on West 4th Street in Manhattan. From Jason Rosette's movie BookWars

Bryant And May Match Makers Of Bow , London A scarce little booklet called Fun Among The Matches , containing 12 pages illustrated in colour. It was published by Bryant & May match makers probably in the 1880s . The contents show games and puzzles that could be played with matches . The back cover is an advertisement regarding supporting Home Industries and inside back cover shows a full page illustration of the Fairfield Works at Bow , London . The company, Bryant and May, was founded with the specific aim of making only Safety Matches .They were influential in fighting against the dreadful disease known as Phossy jaw which was caused by white Phosphorus used in the manufacture of the early matches. They started in 1861, on a dilapidated site in Bow which had once been used for the manufacture of Candles , Crinolene & Rope . This site was gradually expanded as a model factory. However the public were initially unwilling to buy the more expensive safety matches so

Rare etchings by William Blake discovered in railway timetable In among a box of second-hand books bought from a North London dealer in the late 1970s was a thick  international railway timetable . So boring did this tome appear to be that the seller apparently missed the eight small etchings hidden between the pages — a mistake that, in effect, handed the buyer a small fortune when they were identified three years ago as unique works by the visionary artist and writer William Blake. Tate galleries have now bought these brilliantly executed and disturbing pictures for £441,000 and will exhibit them at Tate Britain in July. They are not the sort of images that are likely to be ignored again. In one a naked man screams in horror as flames rage around him. In another a figure with long hair bends over a glowing red pool. Blake’s caption reads: “vegetating in fibres of blood”. Alison Smith, curator of British Art up to 1900 at Tate Britain, said: “They are the best of what

Map Found in $10 Box at Estate Sale Sells for $23,400 at Auction FALLS CHURCH, Va. – A map that was purchased for $10 at a northern Virginia estate sale has guided its owner to a profitable destination at auction, where it sold to an anonymous bidder for $23,400. The 1827  map  of the State of Virginia, drawn by Herman Boye and engraved by H.S. Tanner and E.B. Dawson, had been tucked inside a box of 10 assorted books and offered at an estate sale for a group price of $10. The buyer, a Virginia attorney who dabbles in books, suspected the map might be valuable and took it to Quinn’s & Waverly Auction Galleries in Falls Church, where experts entered it in a Dec. 3 sale with an estimate of $2,500-$4,000. “There was tremendous interest in it. Every phone line was occupied by a major book or ephemera dealer,” said Matthew Quinn, co-owner of Quinn’s & Waverly. “It was a challenge to settle on a presale estimate for the map because there hasn’t been another one available in th