Amazon is purchasing England's The Book Depository.
Amazon.com has reached an agreement to add another bookseller to its stable of book websites. This one is The Book Depository, an English online-only book company. The Book Depository describes itself as "the UK's largest dedicated online bookseller." The firm was formed in 2004 under a "less of more" rather than "more of less" philosophy. For those confused by what that means, the marketing strategy is to offer an enormously wide selection of titles, hoping to sell a few of many, rather than trying to sell huge quantities of just the most popular books. In this sense it is a different business model from that of its soon-to-be parent, though Amazon does have a wide selection of titles too.
According to their website, The Book Depository offers over six million different titles, all available for shipment within 48 hours. Though located in England, they ship to over 100 countries, and shipping is free. The Book Depository does not sell used books, but focuses on selling as many in-print titles as they can find. They have a subsidiary press as well that has republished over 15,000 out-of-print or hard-to-find titles. Their aim is to have the largest selection of in-print titles available anywhere in the world.
Again according to their website, The Book Depository is "the fastest growing bookseller in Europe," with over a million customers and "shipping to thousands of customers every day." In a brief statement, Amazon's Vice President of European Retail Greg Greeley was quoted as saying, "The Book Depository is very focused on serving its customers around the world, and we look forward to welcoming them to the Amazon family."
This is hardly the first purchase, whether within or without the book trade, by the Seattle-based mega-retailer. Amazon's most notable previous purchase within the book field was the world's largest used books website, AbeBooks. Additionally, AbeBooks has made several purchases within the field itself, most recently the large European based used bookseller ZVAB/Choosebooks.
ALDE, Apr. 8: GUEVARA (ANTONIO DE). Histoire de Marc-Aurèle, Empereur Romain, vray miroir et horloge des Princes. Paris, Pierre et Galliot du Pré, frères, 1565. €3,000 to €4,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: HEURES DE LA VIERGE. Horæ in laudem beatissimæ virginis Mariæ ad usum Romanum. Paris, Charles L'Angelier, 1556. €4,000 to €5,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: MONTAIGNE (MICHEL DE). Les Essais. Édition nouvelle, trouvée après le deceds de l'autheur… Paris, Abel L'Angelier, 1595. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [ROJAS (FERNANDO DE)]. Celestina, tragicomedia di Calisto et Melibea, tradotta de lingua castigliana in italiano idioma… Venise, 1531. €2,000 to €3,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CAMÕES (LUÍS DE). Os Lusiadas. Lisbonne, Pedro Crasbeeck, 1613. €2,000 to €3,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CERVANTES (MIGUEL DE). El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Bruxelles, Roger Velpius & Huberto Antonio, 1611. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: LA FONTAINE (JEAN DE). Fables choisies, mises en vers. Paris, Denys Thierry et Claude Barbin, 1678-1694. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CERVANTES (MIGUEL DE). El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Madrid, Joaquin Ibarra, 1780. €3,000 to €4,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: DIDEROT (DENIS) ET JEAN LE ROND D'ALEMBERT. Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. Paris, 1751-1765. €15,000 to €20,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [LIVRE TISSÉ]. LAMARTINE (Alphonse de). Les Laboureurs. Poème tiré de Jocelyn… Lyon, J. A. Henry, 1883. €8,000 to €10,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [LIVRE TISSÉ]. Livre de prières tissé d'après les enluminures des manuscrits du XIVe au XVIe siècle. Lyon, [A. Roux], 1886. €5,000 to €6,000.
Sotheby’s Books, Manuscripts & Objects from Three Important Collections Open for Bidding 2-17 April
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: [Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun]. Le Roman de la Rose, [Geneva or Lyons, c.1481], first printed edition of the most important medieval French vernacular poem. £200,000 to £300,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Castiglione. Il libro del cortegiano. [Venice], April 1528, first edition, in a magnificent binding by Jean Picard for Jean Grolier. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Jacobus de Cessolis. Schachzabelbuch, Strasbourg, 1483, von der Lasa copy. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: World Championship, 1972. A collection of 84 press photographs of the famed match between Spassky and Fischer. £2,000 to £3,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Ben Franklin. Autograph letter signed, to Lord Shelburne, British Prime Minister, during peace negotiations, November 1782. £15,000 to £20,000.
