Rare Book Monthly

Articles - May - 2004 Issue

For the First Time Ever: Search Worldwide<br>Auction Listings From One Place : FREE!

Detailed results for one-of-a-kind copy of Huckleberry Finn

Detailed results for one-of-a-kind copy of Huckleberry Finn


What happens after you enter a search? You get a page full of matches. For each match, it will show you the auction house, the auction date, the title and author of the book, a partial description, and the estimated price. After the partial description, you will see the word “more”. Click this to see the complete description and other details about it (such as printing place and date). Here you will also find a link to the auction house’s website if you wish to place a bid. Additionally, you will see your keywords highlighted in red or yellow so you can instantly see where in the description your keywords were found. There’s no need to say any more about the search results here, as it is all very easy and self-evident. No training whatsoever is required.

Now just a quick comment about the auction houses. The AE Auction search covers live auctions as opposed to online ones such as eBay. There are dozens of them, running from the biggest names like Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and Swann’s, to well-known American regional houses like Skinner’s, Pacific Book Auctions, Waverly’s, Baltimore, Butterfield’s and Dorothy Sloan, to many overseas houses such as Bonham’s, Bloomsbury and Bubb Kuyper. The list is far too long to cover here. While online auctions have a lot of old books, the truly rare and antiquarian books, especially when a complete collection is being offered, more often come up for sale at the live auctions. This is the material that has always been hard to see but has now been made very visible to everyone anywhere in the world with the AE Auction search . We believe this is one of the most important tools for book auctions and book collecting that has ever been developed.

One final note: subscribers to the AE Database and to MatchMaker will find the new auction search fits neatly together with these services. The AE Database provides the past history of books, through previous auctions, dealer catalogues, and bibliographies. It’s a necessary tool for determining an appropriate price/valuation for the new listings you find. MatchMaker enables you to do daily automated searches for your keywords without your having to re-enter them each time, and notifies you when new matches are found. It also does the same with eBay listings, plus provides automated searches for titles on Abebooks and more. An AE Database subscription (Research ) costs just $10 a month, while a combination AE Database and MatchMaker (Octavo, Quarto, Folio) starts at just $17.50. It costs that much to park your car overnight at the airport, or to have half a meal at your favorite restaurant, provided you don’t order a drink, appetizer, or dessert. If you aren’t impressed, just cancel when the month is over. To try these services, click " Become a Member” on the top toolbar or this link: www.americanaexchange.com/registration/registration.asp. If you are a free member and would like to try some of the paid services, click this link or “ Membership+” on the top toolbar. And, if you are not quite ready to commit for a month, please click the link and sign up for our free membership so we can tell you about any further services we have when they become available. Either way, access to the auction search is free. It’s not a paid service.

Now, it’s time to give the auction search a try. Test it out for a little while and you will quickly discover how to use it to best suit your needs. Here goes:
http://www.americanaexchange.com/auctions/auctionlistings.asp

Rare Book Monthly

  • 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.
  • Sotheby’s
    Book Week
    December 9-17, 2025
    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.
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