The ZVAB website, expected to remain in operation after its purchase.
A major combination, and contraction in terms of the number of companies engaged in the book listing business, occurred on March 2 when AbeBooks announced that its European division had purchased Germany's ZVAB. As best we can tell, ZVAB is that nation's largest online book listing/selling company, though AbeBooks already has a major presence in the country through its Abebooks.de website. This is not Abe's first foray into purchasing a German competitor, it having purchased JustBooks years ago (Justbooks.de still exists on the web as a multi-site search engine, much like BookFinder in the U.S.). This time, it is fairly clear that AbeBooks will emerge the major force in the German market.
AbeBooks itself was purchased by Amazon, the largest online bookseller (when you include new books), in 2008. ZVAB's parent purchased the American listing site Choosebooks in 2004, and while that site was thrown in with the deal, it seems unlikely to survive independently of the Abe site. Choosebooks was on its deathbed when ZVAB's corporate parent, Mediantis, purchased it in 2004. At the time, it was Mediantis' entry into the American market, but the corporate parent has now chosen to exit the book-listing field entirely.
While firm numbers are hard to come by as sales figures are proprietary, we believe ZVAB/Choosebooks was the fourth largest of the sites dedicated primarily to selling used books, behind AbeBooks, Alibris, and Biblio. AbeBooks has been the leader since the turn of the century, and this purchase will solidify that position even further. If its sales of used books are combined with parent Amazon, which also does a substantial business in second-hand books, its leadership position becomes that much greater.
The price of the purchase was not disclosed. AbeBooks did reveal that ZVAB works with over 3,000 booksellers in 27 countries and offers over 35 million antiquarian and out-of-print books in many languages. AbeBooks does not reveal its figures, but we would estimate the number of sales and sellers to make ZVAB around one-fourth the size of AbeBooks.
We asked Richard Davies, Public Relations Manager for AbeBooks, what the combination would mean for the separate ZVAB and Abebooks.de websites. His response was, "We’re committed to keeping the ZVAB.com and AbeBooks.de brands, and to offer sellers and buyers the same services that they receive today. It's too early to give any details about exactly how we're going to be working together." However, the lights appear to be going out on Choosebooks, a casualty of the inevitable consolidation in any field of business as it matures. "We intend to redirect Choosebooks to ZVAB/AbeBooks in the near future and the sellers using Choosebooks were notified of this on the day of the announcement. We’re doing this because the two brands, ZVAB and AbeBooks, are far more established in their markets."
Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
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Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Francesco Colonna. Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Nausea. De principiis dialectices Gorgias, and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Billon. Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur, Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/9a74d9ff-42dd-46a1-8bb2-b636c4cec796.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.")
