Searching for Out-of-Prints from the Buyer's and Seller's Perspectives
- by Carl Burnham
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On Amazon.com, the book was listed as the 14th link on the first page of search results, with a minimum price of $350, with links at the top of the page to John Kerry. Looking further at the book listing, 8 other copies were available, ranging up to $2,475 for a signed copy. Both the lowest and highest priced copies were being sold by new sellers with no feedback ratings. Two books were available by Abebooks sellers through Amazon.com.
A search on Barnesandnoble.com revealed no results for books until I clicked on the very bottom of the page on the obscure out-of-print linkage. The book appeared as the 16th link, with 6 copies available, ranging from $338 to $828.
From a search through the results found for active auctions, Ebay came up with a listing of 3 e-book copies by an enterprising seller starting at $7.95 each, complete with video of Kerry's controversial medal toss over the White House fence. One book was being sold, which started at $14 and was at $33.53 as I write this article. I'll let you know in a follow-up article if I won it... For completed auctions, a signed copy of the book had been bid up to $455 (reserve not met) which appeared to have been signed by Kerry. On the Half web site, there were no matching results for the search.
An Abebooks search displayed a link to the Senate Hearing testimony on the first page of results. It was only after modifying the results to display from the Highest Price that the book was located on the 4th linkage at $2,000. The search results are rather cumbersome, and do not display links to other booksellers selling the same book from within each listing. I had to scroll through 280 other listings which loosely matched the search query. When I narrowed the attributes to First Editions only, I was able to scroll through the resulting pages to find 5 copies available, ranging from $320 to $2,000.
A search on Alibris listed the book as the first result, with 7 copies available ranging from $319 to $1,999.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
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Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
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.
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
