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<center><b>Christie’s<br>Charlie Watts: Literature and Jazz<br>London and online auction<br>15–29 September</b><b>Christie’s, Explore now:</b><br>F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940). <i>The Great Gatsby.</i> New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925. £100,000–150,000<b>Christie’s, Explore now:</b><br>Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930). </i>The Hound of the Baskervilles: Another Adventure of Sherlock Holmes.</b> London: George Newnes, 1902. £70,000–100,000<b>Christie’s, Explore now:</b><br>Agatha Christie (1890–1976). <i>The Thirteen Problems.</i> London: for the Crime Club Ltd. by W. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd., 1932. £40,000–60,000<b>Christie’s, Explore now:</b><br>Dashiell Hammett (1894–1961). <i>The Maltese Falcon.</i> New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1930. £30,000–50,000
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<b><center>CONSIGN NOW</b><b>Ketterer Rare Books, Preview:</b></br> H. Scherer, <i>Atlas novus exhibens orbem terraqueum,</i> 1702-10.<br>Est: € 15,000<b>Ketterer Rare Books, Preview:</b></br> L. de Varthema, <i>Die Ritterlich und lobwirdig rayß,</i> 1515.<br>Est: € 60,000<b>Ketterer Rare Books, Preview:</b></br> G. Heym, <i>Umbra vitae,</i> 1924.<br>Est: € 8,000<b>Ketterer Rare Books, Preview:</b></br>F. de Wit, <i>Orbis maritimus ofte Zee Atlas,</i> around 1680.<br>Est: € 15,000
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<center><b>Gonnelli: Auction 46 Books<br>Autographs & Manuscripts<br>Oct 3rd-5th 2023</b><b>Gonnelli:</b> Tilson - Zanotto, Il vero tema. 2011. Starting price 150 €<b>Gonnelli:</b> Munari, Storia di un filo. Starting price 400 €<b>Gonnelli:</b> Debord, Contre le cinéma. 1964. Starting price 150 €<b>Gonnelli:</b> Futurism books and ephemera<b>Gonnelli:</b> Travel books<b>Gonnelli:</b> Medicine books<b>Gonnelli:</b> Levaillant, Histoire naturelle des perroquets. 1801-1805. Starting price 52.000 €<b>Gonnelli:</b> Carrera, Il gioco de gli scacchi. 1617. Starting price 3200 €<b>Gonnelli:</b> Vergilius, Opera. 1515. Starting price 800 €
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<b><center>Forum Auctions<br>Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins<br>26th September 2023</b><b>Forum, Sep. 26:</b> Alken (Henry), Thomas Egerton et al. <i>The Melange of Humour,</i> first collected edition, Printed by W. Lewis, [c.1835]. £2,000 to £3,000.<b>Forum, Sep. 26:</b> [Cheny (John) and Thomas Butler, publishers]. <i>[Horses & Their Pedigrees],</i> Cheny & Butler, 1740-1746 or 1751-1753. £4,000 to £6,000.<b>Forum, Sep. 26:</b> Dikenman (R.) Voyage en Suisse, Zurich, [c.1830]. £2,000 to £3,000.<b><center>Forum Auctions<br>Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins<br>26th September 2023</b><b>Forum, Sep. 26:</b> Eckert (H.A.) Monten (Dietrich) and F. Schlever. <i>Das K.K. Russische Militair aus dem grossen Werke Saemmtliche Truppen von Europa,</i> first edition, Wuerzburg, 1840 [but c.1842]. £4,000 to £6,000.<b>Forum, Sep. 26:</b> Havell, Junior (Robert). <I>Costa Scena, or a Cruise along the Southern Coast of Kent,</I> hand-coloured aquatint panorama with original boxwood drum, 1823. £3,000 to £4,000.<b>Forum, Sep. 26:</b> Heideloff (Victor). <i>Ansichten des Herzoglich Württembergischen Landsitzes Hohenheim,</i> first edition in original 6 parts, Nuremberg, 1795-1800. £4,000 to £6,000.<b><center>Forum Auctions<br>Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins<br>26th September 2023</b><b>Forum, Sep. 26:</b> Jones (Owen) and Jules Goury. <i>Views on the Nile: from Cairo to the Second Cataract,</i> first edition, Graves and Warmsley, 1843. £3,000 to £4,000.<b>Forum, Sep. 26:</b> Meyer (Johann Heinrich). <i>Der Rigiberg in Zeichnungen nach der Natur,</i> Zurich, Fuessli, 1807. £3,000 to £4,000.<b>Forum, Sep. 26:</b> Nichol (Andrew). <i>Five Views of the Dublin and Kingstown Railway,</i> first edition, Dublin, William Frederick Wakeman, 1834. £5,000 to £7,000.<b><center>Forum Auctions<br>Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins<br>26th September 2023</b><b>Forum, Sep. 26:</b> Schetky (J. C.) A series of four sketches, illustrative of various situations of His Majesty's Ship Pique, Portsea, Trives & Maynard, 1835. £4,000 to £6,000.<b>Forum, Sep. 26:</b> Stackelberg (Otto Magnus von). <i>Costumes et Usages des Peuples de la Grece Moderne,</i> first edition, Rome, 1825. £20,000 to £30,000.<b>Forum, Sep. 26:</b> Stucchi (Stanislao). <i>Raccolta di Scene Teatrali eseguite o disegnate dai più celebri Pittori Scenici in Milano,</i> 3 vol., Milan, 1817. £6,000 to £8,000.
Rare Book Monthly
Articles - September - 2004 Issue
Searching The Old Book Sites:<br>Just Who Is The Best?
By Michael Stillman
There are two sides to every internet sales story, buyer and seller. Most of what you read is taken from the seller's perspective. How many customers visit the site, how easy is it to upload your material, and most importantly, how much do they charge? This month we look from a different perspective, the buyer's. Not just any buyer. No, we take it from the slow-learning technophobic easily confused buyer's point of view. If you're a seller, you know him. He makes up about 90% of your business. I am totally qualified to speak for him.
Just to elaborate on that last point a bit more, some of you may say "you should have just clicked this link," or "you should have done..." fill in the blank. Probably. But remember, most people are not as well versed in these sites as the average person reading this article. For a site to perform up to its potential, it needs to work for the ignorant as well as the learned.
This is not to say dealers should choose which sites to list on based on how well they work. Dealers should post their listings based on which make them the most money. This will be a factor of how many books they sell, what commissions they charge, how much time you have to spend to place books on the site, and factors like these. Many booksellers will gravitate to Amazon because, with their large audience, they have the ability to move a lot of books. If not always the most user-friendly site, to paraphrase John Dillinger, it's where the customers are. Still, it is worth looking at a site from the buyer's perspective, as in time this will make a difference.
We looked at seven sites: the two major regular booksellers, Amazon and Barnes and Noble, the two largest primarily old book sites, Abebooks and Alibris, two bookseller organization sites, the ABAA and ILAB-LILA, and the biggest search engine, Froogle (brought to you by Google). We also tried the IOBA site (Independent Online Booksellers Association). We found only one copy of one of the books we searched, so it was not very productive. However, there did seem to be many low-priced other books available there, so it might be worth a look if you are searching for not very rare items at bargain prices.