Catalogues

Ken Sanders Rare Books at New York Bibliography Week Booksellers’ Showcase 2025

Ken Sanders Rare Books at New York Bibliography Week Booksellers’ Showcase 2025

We are pleased to offer here a list of forty of the items that we will be exhibiting as part of the New York Bibliography Week Booksellers’ Showcase 2025 at the L’Alliance New York’s Le SkyRoom on Wednesday, January 22nd from 10:30am-4pm. Some highlights here include a scarce signed limited edition fine press Gary Snyder volume, a rare volume inscribed by its author to massacre and captivity survivor Olive Oatman, several lovely vernacular photograph albums, and many radical labor publications including two nicely illustrated Hungarian labor movement journals from the 1930s.

Utah, LDS, Western Americana. Photographs, Ephemera, Books. Twenty New Arrivals. (KSRB Catalogue #62)

Utah, LDS, Western Americana. Photographs, Ephemera, Books. Twenty New Arrivals. (KSRB Catalogue #62)

Just in time for the holidays, we present a short catalogue of twenty new arrivals in a few of our fields of specialty: Utah, Latter-day Saints, and Western Americana. Some nice photographs will be found amongst a smattering of ephemera and books. Of particular note – a three-volume set of the Deseret Alphabet books, an uncommon piece of early Utah/Mormon currency, a carte-de-visite portrait of Daniel H. Wells by pioneer photographer Edward Martin, several rare photographs by Charles Roscoe Savage, and a complete set of Wilford Woodruff ’s journals (the Signature Books Typescript edition). Thank you for your attention. Happy holidays!

Ex-Libris John Ruyle, Part Three (KSRB Catalogue #61)

Ex-Libris John Ruyle, Part Three (KSRB Catalogue #61)

All thirty-nine of these books were passionately collected by the writer, publisher, and collector John Eric Ruyle (1934-2008). Ruyle, the creator of Berkeley’s fine press, Pequod Press, was a fervent collector of Sherlockiana and early science fiction, including books with only vague “occult” and “fantasy” elements. Books with balloons, airships, lost races and cities, tombs, clairvoyance, telepathy, ghosts, and possession. The impassioned spirit with which Ruyle approached his collection, is immediately evident when one reads the detailed pencil notes he has left on the endpapers of many of his books. As a whole, this collection is lively and fun, and offers a pleasant escape from reality.
E-Cat #60: Africa

E-Cat #60: Africa

In this list, we feature a wide range of books relating to Africa, including signed books, books written with perspectives and political views from the 60s through the 90s, and books with art that has not been featured in museums, collections, and catalogues. The collection offers a glimpse into the lives of the photographers and writers who have spent large portions of their lives in Africa, and through their passionate endeavors, have greatly influenced the conservation movement in Africa and the world over. At the same time, these books highlight extremely relevant topics, such as the pros and cons of large scale tourism on both humans and animals.
"In Africa, each old man that dies is a library that burns." - Amadou Hampâte Bâ (quote from "Africa Lost" by Cyril Christo and Marie Wilkinson).
A Plurality of Wives: Women & Mormon Polygamy

A Plurality of Wives: Women & Mormon Polygamy

Featuring 70 items concerning plural marriage within the early LDS church, along with the ongoing polygamous practices of various Mormon splinter groups. While a true variety of beliefs and biases are represented, we've focused on women's experiences and perspectives. Inside you'll find an exposé written by Brigham Young's 19th wife, a scandalous newspaper cover illustration printed in 1882, and multiple autobiographies by modern women raised to be plural wives. 

Rare Books & Manuscripts Section

Rare Books & Manuscripts Section

Highlights from Ken Sanders Rare Books

Presented at The Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries, 2024

Wordless and Illustrated Books

Wordless and Illustrated Books

A list of 80 wordless and illustrated books by our favorite illustrators including Lynd Ward, Frans Masereel, Warja Lavater, and the first female wordless novelist Helena Bochořáková-Dittrichová.

E-Catalogue #58: 30 Holiday Gift Ideas

E-Catalogue #58: 30 Holiday Gift Ideas

The catalogue we have prepared for you here consists of thirty great holiday gift ideas. It reflects the wide variety of material we offer throughout our bookshop. This is a small sampling of new and noteworthy material that we have recently catalogued and which we think would make for great gifts. We are pricing, cataloguing, and shelving new material every day, so please come by and browse the shelves, and keep a close eye on our website!