Biblio, Bibliopoly, Bibliophile: Just Who Are These B's?
- by Michael Stillman
Bibliophile.net is a bit overwhelming with infomation.
When you first go to the site, you are taken to a lengthy page of instructions. They can be of value for those willing to spend the time to absorb them, but I suspect, for the average seeker, they are a bit overwhelming. This site is operated from Switzerland, and perhaps Europeans are more willing to delve deeply into instructions before moving on. As an American, I can tell you that we are loathe to read instructions, and our attention spans are about as long as....what was I saying?
Perhaps the orientation is a reflection of ownership. This site is run by Ammonet, a website hosting company, deeply into the technical. They also offer their service and format for book sites to others, and are probably worth a look if you want someone to help you manage your own bookselling website. This is their specialty. In fact, they manage the previously discussed site, Bibliopoly, for its owners. Like Bibliopoly, Bibliophile.net is available in five languages. However, it does not specialize in high-end books.
If the technical orientation makes this site a bit less user-friendly, it can add some useful features. Here's one I like. It lets you search for either all listings, or just those added in the last day, week, or month. This enables you to look just for new listings without searching through every listing ever entered. That's a time-saver.
Bibliophile.net lists 351 booksellers, and while they are worldwide, there is a surprising concentration of American dealers for a Swiss site. They say they have 2 million books listed. A search for Innocents Abroad found 43 copies, confirming they must have that many listings in total. The listings did not come up in any particular order I could ascertain, and the presentation was not that easy to follow. Prices ranged from $2.73 for a 1959 copy in poor condition to $1,500 for a first edition. Bibliophile.net has a ways to go to be a major site in the book field, but their ability to provide independent dealers with their own sites, plus import those listing to their common site, gives them an unusual capability that perhaps will enable them to develop into something much more than they are today.
Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
Sotheby's Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
Leland Little, Jan. 22: The First Issue of Robert Frost's A Boy's Will, In Extremely Scarce Binding.
Leland Little, Jan. 22: Knight's An Account of the Remains of the Worship of Priapus.
Leland Little, Jan. 22: First Edition of Locke's Important Treatise Some Thoughts Concerning Education.
Leland Little, Jan. 22: The Richly Illustrated First French Edition of Voyages de Corneille Le Brun par la Moscovie, en Perse, et aux Indes Orientales.
Leland Little, Jan. 22: Scarce First Issue of An Account of the Province of Carolina in America, Finely Bound and With Celebrated John Speed Map.
Leland Little, Jan. 22: Humphrey's An Historical Account, Complete with Scarce Folding Maps.
Leland Little, Jan. 22: First Edition of Chamberlain's Scarce Civil War Memoir The Passing of the Armies.
Leland Little, Jan. 22: A Rare Photograph of David Bruce Brown and #48 Fiat.
Leland Little, Jan. 22: George Cruikshank (England, 1792-1878), Archive of Sketches, Notes, and Letters.
Leland Little, Jan. 22: Extremely Scarce Copy of Die Samländische Ode (The Samland Ode), Signed by Max Pechstein.
Leland Little, Jan. 22: Andy Warhol's The Thirteen Most Wanted Men Exhibition Catalogue.
Leland Little, Jan. 22: Edward Ruscha (American, b. 1937), Every Building on the Sunset Strip.
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Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
RareBookBuyer.com Specialized in Purchasing
Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
RareBookBuyer.com Specialized in Purchasing
Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
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