Rare Book Monthly

Articles - September - 2004 Issue

Searching The Old Book Sites&#58;<br>Just Who Is The Best?

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Next up was Rudyard Kipling?s With the Night Mail. This was easier since virtually all copies are of the 1909 original. Why this fascinating 1909 prediction of how the world would look in the year 2000 has not been reprinted is a mystery to me. Here are the numbers:

Listing Site No.of Copies Price Range
Abebooks 54 $16-$500
Alibris 24 $35-$300
ABAA 14 $40-$500
ILAB 16 $40-$500
Froogle 21 $40-$500
Barnes and Noble 28 $36-$259
Amazon 12 $75-$595

Abe also found two copies of a 1998 reprint by the upscale Arion Press for $350 and $400. Alibris found a paperback for $5.68.

Next I tried a harder to find title, Jared Sparks 1828 The Life and Travels of John Ledyard… Here, only Abebooks and ILAB found anything. Abe found five copies priced $550 - $1,265. ILAB found four priced $537-$1,265. Why did ILAB find four and ABAA zero? All four copies were offered by foreign (to America) booksellers, 1 Canada, 1 Netherlands, 2 Australia.

Now we'll try a different type of book. Here's one that's not valuable, not too old, but not too new, and not well known. Probably most books fit into this category. We will try a search for Laurence Pringle's Death is Natural. This book is supposed to teach children about death. What it really is is an antidote for anyone feeling too happy. If you want to get depressed in a hurry, read this book.

Not to digress, but here's how it starts: "A cottontail rabbit left the shelter of some weeds and hopped onto the road. The night was cool, the pavement, still warm from spring sunshine, felt good underfoot. Suddenly, two bright lights shone on the rabbit. It hesitated, then ran. Too late. THUMP." It even comes with a picture of a dead rabbit. I'm just glad my wife didn't buy this book on Amazon or they would probably be recommending a copy of Dr Kevorkian?s "how-to" book to me. Here is what I found:

Listing Site No.of Copies Price Range
Abebooks 47 $1.95-$22.00
Alibris 55 $2.95-$18.95
ABAA 0
ILAB 0
Froogle 13 $1.99-$22.00
Barnes and Noble 4 $2.07-$17.84
Amazon 55 $1.24-$23.32

Froogle also offered copies of The Mummy Congress: Science, Obsession and the Everlasting Dead by Heather Pringle. I don't know whether Laurence Pringle and Heather Pringle are related, but they'd make a lovely couple.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD
  • Australian Book Auctions
    Books, Maps, Modern Literature
    May 14 (US) / May 15 (Australia)
    Australian Book Auctions, May 14/15: ORWELL, George. ANIMAL FARM. London, Secker & Warburg, 1945. $8,000 to $12,000 AUD.
    Australian Book Auctions, May 14/15: MILNE, A.A. THE HOUSE AT POOH CORNER With decorations by Ernest H. Shepard. London, Methuen, 1928. Deluxe limited edition. $3,000 to $4,000 AUD.
    Australian Book Auctions, May 14/15: TWAIN, Mark. THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN, (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade). New York, 1885. $1,000 to $1,500 AUD.
    Australian Book Auctions
    Books, Maps, Modern Literature
    May 14 (US) / May 15 (Australia)
    Australian Book Auctions, May 14/15: RAND, Ayn. ATLAS SHRUGGED. Random House, New York, 1957. First edition. $800 to $1,200 AUD.
    Australian Book Auctions, May 14/15: [BAUM, L. Frank]. PICTURES FROM THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ By W.W. Denslow… Chicago, [1903]. $400 to $800 AUD.
    Australian Book Auctions, May 14/15: HELLER, Joseph. CATCH-22. London, Jonathan Cape, 1962. $400 to $600 AUD.
  • Gonnelli
    Auction 51
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 14st 2024
    Gonnelli: Leonard Bramer, The descent from the cross, 1634. Starting price 3200€
    Gonnelli: Gustav Hjalmar de Morner Karel, Rome’s Carnival, 1820. Starting price 1000€
    Gonnelli: Various Authors, Mater Dolorosa, 1700. Starting price 200€
    Gonnelli: Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Carcere Oscura, 1790. Starting price 180€
    Gonnelli: Jan Brueghel, Marine fauna view, 1620 ca. Starting price 28000€
    Gonnelli: Ippolito Scarsella, Mary and Christ with Sant Rocco and Arch-Angel Michele,1615. Starting price 8000€
    Gonnelli: Hans Sebald Beham, Adam and Eve, 1543. Starting price 600€
    Gonnelli: Francesco Burani, Baccanale, 1630. Starting Price 280€
    Gonnelli: Giuseppe Maria Mitelli, Plance from Ventiquattr’ore, 1675. Starting price 800€
    Gonnelli: Giuseppe Angeli, Livorno’s Plan, 1793. Starting price 240€
    Gonnelli: XIV Century Artist, Capital “N” letter, 1350 ca. Starting price 340€

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