BAUMAN RARE BOOKS, founded in 1973 by David and Natalie Bauman, is one of the nation’s largest and best-known rare and antiquarian book sellers, with three locations, one in New York City on Madison Avenue, a gallery at The Shoppes at the Palazzo in Las Vegas and the other in Center City Philadelphia.
With a reputation for careful research, an exceptional inventory, individualized customer assistance and an expert staff numbering over thirty, Bauman Rare Books offers a full range of client services. We have built some of the finest private antiquarian book collections in the country, and we offer expert gift services to both individuals and corporations. Throughout the year we produce color-illustrated catalogues featuring hundreds of our newest acquisitions. Each entry is clearly and completely described and carries our guarantee. We provide both domestic and international shipping and accept all major credit cards.
This blog is intended to inform and educate users on some of the finest works in the antiquarian book industry and provide some additional insight into the world of these special books, many of which are masterpieces. Updates will be performed weekly.
We have acquired a copy of Thoreau’s “Walden” printed in 1886 by Walter Scott, London. The only editions we have found listed are bound in blue or green cloth with ads. Ours is bound in half leather with gilt edge pages, without ads but with excerpts from “A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers”. A private owner’s inscription show the date of Feb 11, 1896. We suspect it is a binding for a private library. How do we find a value for this book?
Hi, Read your ad for the Ansel Adams Sierra Nevada: John Muir Trail – original edition from 1938. I believe the ad is misleading when it states that the book contains “50 luminous prints” – these are not gelatin-silver prints made by Adams from the original negatives. They are letterpress reproductions printed in Chicago and then varnished to a high gloss and tipped onto the page. A magnifying glass will verify the dot pattern of the repro. I think your ad misleads people into thinking they are fine prints. I went to your website and there was no further explanation. I love books and old books and what your store represents. Sincerely, Mary Street Alinder, former assistant to Ansel Adams, co-author with Adams of his autobiography and author of his biography.
Thank you for your interest. To clarify, we use “luminous” here as an adjective that describes Adams’ skill with light, i.e. the image’s luminosity. “Print” can and often is used (throughout the industry) to describe a halftone plate. We only use the term “gelatin-silver” print to refer to a print that has been created with gelatin-silver printing process. These, as you correctly note, are not “gelatin-silver prints” and that is why we do not describe them as such. We describe them as halftones. We apologize for any confusion.