Rare Book Monthly
Articles - November - 2004 Issue
Book Shopping in the Pacific Northwest
Karen Wright shares a moment with a fellow reader in Sydney, BC.
By Karen Wright
My husband and I finally got a chance to take a real vacation where we could do whatever we wanted for two weeks, our first in about 20 years. Of course we also needed to do our annual book buy for the shop, but we think book shopping is actually fun. Or at least, I do, and he puts up with me pretty well.
Let me just say this about book shopping. Most of you readers are related in some way to the book business so you already know a lot about this. You are aware that it has become increasingly difficult for a knowledgeable book seller to find good, high quality books at a price at which one can make a profit. If you are online AND bricks and mortar, the overhead is pretty high, thus you need to get really good deals on books or you can't stay in the business. Even if you are just online, you pay a pretty penny to ABE or Alibris, or eBay (which I don't think is very good media for selling books). So, if you find a good, high quality book for $15.00 at a book store, you can bet that it is probably pretty close to the high end retail price. If you buy it for more than a 20-25% discount, the cost of gas, the cost of utilities for your shop, and the hefty 20-30% you have to pay your internet service provider and your ABE or Alibris percentage more than eat up any profit. That means, to make a profit, you basically have to get the book for about $7.00 to make a profit of $2.00-$3.00. I get pretty annoyed when I see a book that is, at the least, worth $15.00 or $16.00 for sale on the net for $2.00 or $3.00. There is some consolation in that many of these cheap books are ex-library.
Anyway, whining aside, we left our little home, dogs & shop in Virginia City, Nevada, and headed through Susanville, California, where we discovered a nice little book store, Margie's Book Nook on Main St. I found a few reasonably priced books and she gave us a small dealer's discount. We headed to Yreka, California, and spent a couple of days at my husband's brother's farm near Fort Jones. We hit all the bookstores in Yreka, but they were pricey and disinclined to give us any discount until we found The Hospice Thrift Shop on Miner St., which was a tiny little store. They had quite a few overpriced remainders, but I did find a few nice books at quite reasonable prices and the woman was willing to give a dealer discount. There was also a pretty good thrift store on the main drag in old town and we picked up two boxes there. We were off to a good start!
Rare Book Monthly
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Books & Autographs
Wednesday 25 MarchKoller, Mar. 25: KAFKA, FRANZ, SCHRIFTSTELLER. Eigenh. Brief mit Unterschrift. Prag, 20. Oktober [19]15. CHF 30,000-40,000.Koller, Mar. 25: EINSTEIN, ALBERT. Zwei eigenhändige Briefe an Ernst Gabor Straus, unterschrieben "A.E" bzw. "A. Einstein". [Princeton], [19]45. und [1950]. CHF 30,000-40,000.Koller, Mar. 25: HORTENSE DE BEAUHARNAIS, MUTTER VON NAPOLEON III. Album aus ihrem Besitz mit 69 Aquarellen und Pinselzeichnungen in Sepia oder Grau… CHF 14,000-18,000.Koller, Mar. 25: ZOOLOGIE - ORNITHOLOGIE - Seligmann, Johann Michael. Verzameling van uitlandsche en zeldzaame Vogelen. Teile 1-8 (von 9) in 2 Bänden. Mit 421 prächtig altkolorierten Kupfertafeln. CHF 14,000-20,000Koller, Mar. 25: BOTANIK - Berlèse, Lorenzo und Johann Jakob Jung. Iconographie du genre camellia... 3 Bände. Mit 300 Farbstichtafeln "a la poupée.” Paris, [1839-]1841-1843. CHF 12,000-18,000. -
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.