Eric Caren and Steven Goldman shown with a Revolutionary War run of the Boston Gazette
This is a useful step because interesting material, that is going to change hands at around $25, is not going to get the same kind of write-up that Sotheby’s and Christies are going to devote to Lincoln’s personally corrected copy of the Gettysburg Address. All this is not to suggest, for a moment, that the ocean of material flowing through eBay isn’t good. Once you find these companies’ auctions, that offer the type and quality of material you like, you’ll want to bookmark them because you’ll be returning every day. Both sellers keep hundreds of listings live all the time and they both enjoy a loyal following of past buyers who occupy the front seats of their ongoing auctions. In effect they are running auctions 24/7/365. Perhaps, rather than think eBay, think DeWolfe & Wood as well as SAGHN because they are running their own auctions on eBay around the clock and they are selling a great deal of material, developing wider reputations, finding customers and one suspects material to purchase as well. It’s no wonder eBay is such a strong business and that its adherents so strongly support it.
On eBay you can save keywords to search current auction lots for matches. But eBay’s saved list of keywords only search lot titles and titles generally don’t tell you enough. Keywords on Æ's MatchMaker, by comparison, search the entire lot descriptions and that is where most matches are found. eBay does permit full text descriptions to be searched but only on a manual one-by-one basis. Recurrent searching of the full text is not presently offered on eBay itself. Keywords you develop using MatchMaker on Æ also search all regular book auctions worldwide.
Selling on eBay is good even for those with no skills but there are clear rewards for those who use the medium to maximize their efficiency. Buyers can not help but notice the inconsistent way that materials are offered and described on eBay. Extensive descriptions require work but pay real dividends. The more extensive the explanation the better chance there is for a higher realization. Images are terribly important and in almost all cases, images are provided for the lots both firms offer. Experience has shown that when images are not provided the realizations are lower.
Depending on how much you sell there is a complicated sliding scale of fees but figure 5% as an estimate of your cost. Fees get lower with volume.
eBayoffers a variety of options for learning how to develop your listings. There are manuals, tutorials and classes. They are all investments in knowledge and are not easily transferable to other sites. In becoming enmeshed in the eBay process and experience you are incrementally committing yourself to them for the potential long term. Dr. Goldman told us that within two months of starting to sell on eBay he knew it was going to both work and would become important to him. At DeWolfe & Wood they said it was at about 3 months that they knew it was going to work out. Five years later eBay is an arrow in DeWolfe & Wood’s quiver and a major tool for Stephen A. Goldman Historical newspapers. Both are eBay Power-Sellers and very comfortable using the eBay platform.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
Heritage Auctions Rare Books Signature Auction December 15, 2025
Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
Heritage, Dec. 15: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tender is the Night. A Romance.
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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Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 156: Cornelis de Jode, Americae pars Borealis, double-page engraved map of North America, Antwerp, 1593.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 206: John and Alexander Walker, Map of the United States, London and Liverpool, 1827.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 223: Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, hand-colored double-page engraved world map, Antwerp, 1575.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 233: Aaron Arrowsmith, Chart of the World, oversize engraved map on 8 sheets, London, 1790 (circa 1800).
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 239: Fielding Lucas, A General Atlas, 81 engraved maps and diagrams, Baltimore, 1823.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 240: Anthony Finley, A New American Atlas, 15 maps engraved by james hamilton young on 14 double-page sheets, Philadelphia, 1826.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 263: John Bachmann, Panorama of the Seat of War, portfolio of 4 double-page chromolithographed panoramic maps, New York, 1861.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 265: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1558.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 271: Abraham Ortelius, Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Antwerp: Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 283: Joris van Spilbergen, Speculum Orientalis Occidentalisque Indiae, Leiden: Nicolaus van Geelkercken for Jodocus Hondius, 1619.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 285: Levinus Hulsius, Achtzehender Theil der Newen Welt, 14 engraved folding maps, Frankfurt: Johann Frederick Weiss, 1623.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 341: John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, Plate 26, London, 1827.
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/00d5fd41-2542-4a80-b119-4886d4b9925f.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.")
![<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.")
