Up until two years ago I exclusively used ABE place name searches, an extremely powerful tool. Now I’m able to use our AE Database both to identify material to look for on the net and to look up items I find on the net using place-name searches. Increasingly our Database provides a deep and complex view of what books and ephemera can potentially be found. The pricing records are also turning out to be very useful but not necessarily in predictable ways. While working with the Midland Notes I saw a long listing for History of the Delaware (Lenni Lennape) and Iroquois Indians printed in Philadelphia in 1832. Both tribes lived in parts of the Hudson Valley. Ernest Wesson describes a version of the imprint as being RARE and valuable and priced it as $65 in 1965. I found this exact version on-line for $50.00 a few months ago. The Database doesn’t tell you exactly what it is worth but it does tell you it is rare. That’s a very good starting point, particularly if the seller doesn’t have this information.

As the AED has grown the possibility of a wants list based on our records is emerging as a possibility though I haven’t tried to put together a list yet. For the various place names I’ve already mentioned including two variant spellings of Fishkill (Fish-kill and Fish-kills) there were 132 records as of March 17th. By the end of the year there will be more than two hundred. I’ll need a wants list soon.

I use our Database both to identify material that I look for on-line and also to look up items in the Database that I have found on line. Already I know that if it isn’t in our Database and should be, it is probably very uncommon. And I also find items in our Database that dealers sold 50 years ago for higher prices that are sometimes offered today. It is true that there are literally thousands of people selling Americana on-line today. Many of them simply guess at a book’s value and sometimes they are wildly low. They heavily rely on what others are asking. When there are no other copies on-line they rely on their reference materials. If the book isn’t in their references they guess. As book collectors, you don’t have to guess. You have access to the AED, a truly exceptional resource. Someday thousands of people will use it every day. Until then, you can pick the fruit off the low hanging branches and build a wonderful collection in the Americana field at bargain prices.

There is simply no way to predict what you will find except to say you will find things you never dreamed could be found. Sometimes they will be reasonably priced and at other times over-priced. You learn in time to buy the bargains and to wait to see if the expensive item sells. Once you have a sense of the prices and values you become very firm. Because there are literally thousands of ways to put together interesting collecting lists there isn’t going to be a lot of competition for whatever you decide to pursue. You can be patient.