Rare Book Monthly
Abe Increases Rates;<br>Alibris is Going Public.<br>What’s Next for the Book Sites?
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eBay has a wonderful formula. Their auction format assures that they collect a commission on each sale. Once a bid has been placed on an item, they are locked in. The Abe customer can call the seller directly to buy around Abe, avoiding the commission. The eBay seller must let the auction go to its conclusion and sell through eBay to the highest bidder. Any dealer who tries closing off his auctions before they are completed will quickly be dumped by eBay, and as we noted, there is nowhere else to go for auctions. eBay is going to be paid.
The guarantee of payment allows eBay to be very competitive in its commission structure. It can charge less than the bookselling sites, and the auction format has the advantage of moving material quickly. Books can stay on the bookselling sites for years. On eBay, they are gone in a week. Of course the price may be lower than the dealer really wants, but setting minimum bids prevents those prices from being unacceptably low. And sometimes competitive bidding will drive prices higher than the dealer ever expected or would have dared ask. eBay may someday decide to move into more traditional bookselling, or it may stick strictly to auctions and never do more. Even if it never attempts traditional bookselling, its formula will almost certainly earn it a larger and larger share of the bookselling pie. We know what that means. A smaller share will remain for those engaged in “traditional” online selling.
With all of this in mind, I’m not sure that increasing prices is the best way for Abe to go, though I certainly could be wrong. Management at Abe is going to have to be very smart in the years to come to deal with what promises to be a rapidly evolving and competitive marketplace. They have lived up to all challenges in the past, and I hope they continue to do so as their contribution to the book world has been enormous. If I were sitting on their Board of Directors, I would be considering all possible options, including a buy out by one of the large companies that may become a competitor. If I were on the Board of Alibris, even with extra cash in hand from a public offering, I would be looking at the same choices. Usually, size wins out, and Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, eBay, Amazon and Barnes and Noble are all much bigger than any of the bookselling sites. Being a division of a monster sounds a bit more secure to me than being a potential target of one.
Rare Book Monthly
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![<b>Chiswick, Mar. 12:</b> Gray [Artist.] India. Album 40 original drawings. 1...](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/004c032b-da4d-428e-811b-e5a8e80376a2.jpg "<b>Chiswick, Mar. 12:</b> Gray [Artist.] India. Album 40 original drawings. 1858 - 1862. £2,000 - £3,000.")
Chiswick Auctions
Books & Works on Paper
12th March 2026Chiswick, Mar. 12: Churchill: The World in Crisis. Inscribed in 4 vols. 1923-31. £18,000 - £22,000.Chiswick, Mar. 12: Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Inscribed. £6,000 to £8,000.Chiswick, Mar. 12: Ponting. Polar Photographs (2) 1910-11. £3,000 - £4,000.Chiswick, Mar. 12: Gray [Artist.] India. Album 40 original drawings. 1858 - 1862. £2,000 - £3,000.Chiswick, Mar. 12: Lane’s Celestial Globe, 1811. £600 - £800. -
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![<b>Forum, Mar. 25:</b> Botany.- [Robin (Jean)]. <i>Histoire des Plantes, nouv...](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/9a2a2dbe-8edf-4091-9a08-800f7aba747e.jpg "<b>Forum, Mar. 25:</b> Botany.- [Robin (Jean)]. <i>Histoire des Plantes, nouvellement trouvées en l'Isle Virgine…,</i>, 1620; with Geoffrey Linocier <i>L'Histoire des plantes,</i> second edition, 1619-20. £3,000 - £4,000.")
Forum Auctions
Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026
25 March 2026Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- Andrews (H.C.) Coloured Engravings of Heaths, 4 vol. in 2, first edition, [1710,--94]-1802-1809-[1830]. £10,000 - £15,000.Forum, Mar. 25: Butterflies.- Cramer (Pierre) and Caspar Stoll. De Uitlandsche Kapellen voorkomende in de drie Waereld-Deelen…,, 5 vol., Amsterdam & Utrecht, 1779-91. £8,000 - £12,000.Forum, Mar. 25: Voyages.- Darwin (Charles) and others. Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle, 3 vol. in 4, including Appendix to vol.2, first edition, 1839. £8,000 - £12,000.Forum, Mar. 25: Butterflies.- de Graaf (Willem Diederik Vincent). [Inlandsche Kapellen in beeld], 170 fine original watercolours, [Enkhuizen], [1800-40]. £8,000 - £12,000.Forum Auctions
Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026
25 March 2026Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Dresser (Henry Eeles). A History of the Birds of Europe, 9 vol., including supplement, first edition, by the author, 1871-96. £6,000 - £8,000.Forum, Mar. 25: Zoology.- Felines.- Elliot (Daniel Giraud). A Monograph of the Felidæ or Family of the Cats, first edition, for the Subscribers, by the Author, [1878]-1883. £25,000 - £30,000.Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Frisch (Johann Leonard). Vorstellung der Vögel Deutschlandes, 2 vol., first edition, Berlin, Friedr. Wilhelm Birnsteil, [1736]-1763. £40,000 - £60,000.Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Gould (John). The Birds of Great Britain, 5 vol., first edition, by the author, 1862-1873. £30,000 - £40,000.Forum Auctions
Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026
25 March 2026Forum, Mar. 25: Pomology.- France.- Poiteau (A.) Pomologie Française. Recueil des Plus Beaux Fruits cultivés en France, 4 vol., Paris, 1846. £30,000 - £40,000.Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- [Robin (Jean)]. Histoire des Plantes, nouvellement trouvées en l'Isle Virgine…,, 1620; with Geoffrey Linocier L'Histoire des plantes, second edition, 1619-20. £3,000 - £4,000.Forum, Mar. 25: Asia.- Japan.- Siebold (P.F. von). Nippon. Archiv zur Beschreibung von Japan, 7 parts in 6 vol., first edition, Leyden, [1832]-1852. £35,000 - £45,000.Forum, Mar. 25: Asia.- Valentijn (Francois). Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën..., 5 vol. in 8, first edition, Dordrecht [&] Amsterdam, 1724-26. £8,000 - £12,000.Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- Australia.- Redouté (P.J.).- Ventenat (Étienne Pierre). Jardin de la Malmaison, 2 vol.,, Paris, 1803-04[-05]. £30,000 - £40,000. -
![<b>ALDE, Mar. 11:</b> [REGNART (LE LIVRE DE)]. <i>[Le] Docteur en malice, mai...](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/ddd3b34c-8abc-4eae-8474-6ea05406ccd0.jpg "<b>ALDE, Mar. 11:</b> [REGNART (LE LIVRE DE)]. <i>[Le] Docteur en malice, maistre Regnard, demonstrant les ruzes et cautelles qu'il use envers les personnes…</i> Rouen, 1550. €20,000 - €30,000.")
![<b>ALDE, Mar. 11:</b> HUGO (VICTOR). [Paysage spectral avec une église], [ver...](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/dc734df9-0811-477f-919a-2563b8452855.jpg "<b>ALDE, Mar. 11:</b> HUGO (VICTOR). [Paysage spectral avec une église], [vers 1837]. €20,000 - €30,000.")
![<b>ALDE, Mar. 11:</b> [HERVEY DE SAINT-DENYS (LÉON D')]. <i>Les Rêves et les ...](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/7e769889-43a5-495e-a931-c511da576c2b.jpg "<b>ALDE, Mar. 11:</b> [HERVEY DE SAINT-DENYS (LÉON D')]. <i>Les Rêves et les Moyens de les diriger. Observations pratiques.</i> Paris, Amyot, 1867. €3,000 - €4,000.")
![<b>ALDE, Mar. 11:</b> [REDON (ODILON)]. PICARD (EDMOND). <i>Le Juré. Monodram...](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/b325eb41-450b-4bd6-851c-4125e04dfbe7.jpg "<b>ALDE, Mar. 11:</b> [REDON (ODILON)]. PICARD (EDMOND). <i>Le Juré. Monodrame en cinq actes…</i> Bruxelles, Mme veuve Monnom, 1887. €7,000 - €9,000.")
![<b>ALDE, Mar. 11:</b> [TOULOUSE-LAUTREC (HENRI DE) ET HENRI-GABRIEL IBELS]. M...](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/6588f3a0-90f2-464c-8125-a76866eabe85.jpg "<b>ALDE, Mar. 11:</b> [TOULOUSE-LAUTREC (HENRI DE) ET HENRI-GABRIEL IBELS]. MONTORGUEIL (GEORGES). <i>Le Café-concert.</i> Paris, [1893]. €4,000 - €5,000.")
![<b>ALDE, Mar. 11:</b> [TERRY (EMILIO)]. <i>Projet de fontaine.</i> Dessin ori...](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/0840c8e4-4f35-4c95-b2d3-3d5addd6fd51.jpg "<b>ALDE, Mar. 11:</b> [TERRY (EMILIO)]. <i>Projet de fontaine.</i> Dessin original au stylo et à l'encre noire. 1938. €2,000 - €3,000.")
ALDE, Mar. 11: AUGUSTIN (Saint). De civitate Dei. Rome, Konrad Sweynheym et Arnold Pannartz, 1470. €20,000 - €30,000.ALDE, Mar. 11: [REGNART (LE LIVRE DE)]. [Le] Docteur en malice, maistre Regnard, demonstrant les ruzes et cautelles qu'il use envers les personnes… Rouen, 1550. €20,000 - €30,000.ALDE, Mar. 11: TRITHÈME (JEAN). Polygraphie et universelle escriture cabalistique. Paris, [Benoît Prévost pour] Jacques Kerver, 1561. €8,000 - €10,000.ALDE, Mar. 11: CAUS (SALOMON DE). La Perspective, avec la raison des ombres et des miroirs. Londres, John Norton, 1612.ALDE, Mar. 11: NICERON (JEAN-FRANÇOIS). La Perspective curieuse ou magie artificielle des effets merveilleux de l'optique. Paris, Pierre Billaine, 1638. €6,000 - €8,000.ALDE, Mar. 11: VONTET (JACQUES). L’Art de trancher la viande et toute sorte de fruits… S.l.n.d. [probablement Lyon, vers 1647]. €20,000 - €30,000.ALDE, Mar. 11: HUGO (VICTOR). [Paysage spectral avec une église], [vers 1837]. €20,000 - €30,000.ALDE, Mar. 11: [HERVEY DE SAINT-DENYS (LÉON D')]. Les Rêves et les Moyens de les diriger. Observations pratiques. Paris, Amyot, 1867. €3,000 - €4,000.ALDE, Mar. 11: GACHET (PAUL-FERDINAND). Les Chats de Gachet (Manuscrit). S.d. [avant mai 1873]. €6,000 - €8,000.ALDE, Mar. 11: [REDON (ODILON)]. PICARD (EDMOND). Le Juré. Monodrame en cinq actes… Bruxelles, Mme veuve Monnom, 1887. €7,000 - €9,000.ALDE, Mar. 11: [TOULOUSE-LAUTREC (HENRI DE) ET HENRI-GABRIEL IBELS]. MONTORGUEIL (GEORGES). Le Café-concert. Paris, [1893]. €4,000 - €5,000.ALDE, Mar. 11: [TERRY (EMILIO)]. Projet de fontaine. Dessin original au stylo et à l'encre noire. 1938. €2,000 - €3,000.