• Heritage, May 13: Isaac Asimov. I, Robot. The dedication copy, inscribed to John W. Campbell, Jr.
    Heritage, May 13: Aldous Huxley. Brave New World. A fine copy, in a brilliant dust jacket.
    Heritage, May 13: Ray Bradbury. Fahrenheit 451. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author.
    Heritage, May 13: Robert A. Heinlein. Stranger in a Strange Land. A fine copy, signed by the author.
    Heritage, May 13: Jules Verne. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas. Exceedingly rare true first American edition, first issue.
  • Old World Auctions (April 22): Lot 16. Blaeu's world map on a polar projection in contemporary color (1695) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
    Old World Auctions (April 22): Lot 55. Illuminated lunar globe produced in East Germany (1977) Est. $750 - $900
    Old World Auctions (April 22): Lot 594. Rare and decorative De Jode map of Africa (1593) Est. $7,500 - $9,000
    Old World Auctions (April 22): Lot 127. The first printed map to focus on New England and New France (1565) Est. $4,500 - $5,500
    Old World Auctions (April 22): Lot 298. Rare Texas oilfield map (1920) Est. $3,000 - $3,750
    Old World Auctions (April 22): Lot 656. Bible leaf with hand-colored image of Adoration of the Magi (1450) Est. $1,800 - $2,100
    Old World Auctions (April 22): Lot 9. Blaeu's magnificent carte-a-figures world map (1641) Est. $12,000 - $15,000
    Old World Auctions (April 22): Lot 214. Rare edition of view of the world from Silicon Valley (1984) Est. $600 - $750
    Old World Auctions (April 22): Lot 34. Fascinating Japanese satirical map published just prior to WWII (1938) Est. $1,400 - $1,700
    Old World Auctions (April 22): Lot 181. German edition of Catesby's scarce and important map of the Southeastern US (1755) Est. $3,750 - $4,500
    Old World Auctions (April 22): Lot 625. Complete set of Covarrubias's "Pageant of the Pacific" (1940-39) Est. $1,200 - $1,500
  • Jeschke Jádi
    Rare Book Auction 159
    Saturday April 25
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 25: Lot 1153 Gerhard Mercator u. Jodocus Hondius. Atlas sive cosmographicae. Amsterdam, Hondius, 1606.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 25: Lot 1378 Martin Höhlig, Collection of 100 photographs Berlin im Licht, 1928.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 25: Lot 192. Fragment of a late medieval liturgical music manuscript. 14th century
    Jeschke Jádi
    Rare Book Auction 159
    Saturday April 25
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 25: Lot 1394 Auguste Salzmann. Jérusalem. 40 salt paper prints. Paris, Baudry, 1856.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 25: Lot 1143 Deluxe edition of Prince Waldemar of Prussia's travelogue about Sri Lanka, India and Nepal. Berlin, 1853.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 25: Lot 1225. Koch-Gruenberg. Indianertypen (Indiantypesin the Amazon). Berlin 1906.
    Jeschke Jádi
    Rare Book Auction 159
    Saturday April 25
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 25: Lot 862. Cornelis Ploos van Amstel. Viro Amplissimo Nobilissimo. Amsterdam 1765.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 25: Lot 549. Francisco de Goya. Los desastres de la guerra. 80 Etchings. Madrid, 1923.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 25: Lot 1033. Rösel von Rosenhof. Natural History of Frogs. Nuremberg, 1815.
    Jeschke Jádi
    Rare Book Auction 159
    Saturday April 25
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 25: Lot 13 Pomponius Mela. Cosmographi. Venice, Renner 1478.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 25: Lot 526 William Shakespeare. Hamlet. Cranach Press, 1928.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 25: Lot 1022. Eugen Johann Christoph Esper. Butterflies Leipzig, 1829-1839.
  • Doyle
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    April 16, 2026
    Doyle, Apr. 16: Twelve miscellaneous volumes on Italian history and literature. $100 to $200.
    Doyle, Apr. 16: A fine collection of Company school paintings of Mughal monuments. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Doyle, Apr. 16: A Book of Hours of Rouen with eight miniatures. $30,000 to $45,000.
    Doyle, Apr. 16: Einstein discusses General Relativity and the Unified Field Theory. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Doyle, Apr. 16: An extraordinary letter from Thomas Jefferson to Charles Willson Peale. $12,000 to $18,000.
    Doyle, Apr. 16: Extraordinary color plates of the geology of St. Helena. $800 to $1,200.
    Doyle, Apr. 16: The deluxe issue of Rorer's Mimpish Squinnies. $800 to $1,200.

Rare Book Monthly

Articles - June - 2018 Issue

What is my book worth? It depends

What is an out-of-print book worth?  It depends where you look.

What is an out-of-print book worth? It depends where you look.

What is my book worth?  It depends who you ask.

 

A few days ago, I received an email from a Swiss rare book dealer who questioned why a book such as Alan Mann’s 2012, A Life of Chance, is priced on Abebooks from CHF 900 to CHF 2,986, on Amazon from $790 to $2,015 and on eBay new for $140 while the original price in 2012 was $79.50.  On waterstones.com website it’s listed at BP55 but shown to be out-of-stock.

 

Here is how Waterstones describes it:

 

Alan Mann was one of the great motor racing team managers of the 1960s. A successful race driver himself, he played a key role in Ford's 'Total Performance' programme, preparing and running iconic cars like Ford Falcons, Mustangs, Cobras, GT40s, Cortinas and Escorts for racing and rallying and building the sensational Ford F3L sports-prototype and monster Can-Am racers. His drivers included star names like Frank Gardner, Graham Hill, Denny Hulme, Bruce McLaren, Jackie Stewart and John Whitmore. This is his personal story of one of the most exciting eras of motor sport.

 

In looking for this book on May 29th here is what I found.

 

On Amazon, a single used copy offered for BP979.70.

 

On Abe [abebooks.com] there were two offers.  One is for $145.15 plus $44.18 shipping.  The other is $1,153.40 with free shipping in the US.

 

On eBay there is a single new copy offered from Australia for $139.57 plus $37.73 shipping.

 

In the Online Computer Library Catalog [OCLC] of more than 39,000 libraries there is a single copy which includes the name of the publisher:  Motor Racing Publications Ltd.  I went to their website to order a copy but none are available.

 

Finally, in Rare Book Hub Transaction History there are no auction records as the book is simply too new.

 

So what do we have here?  Nonsense.

 

The answer is that it depends on the day and hour you search and don’t believe everything you read on line.

 

There are software programs that price artificially high when there are either no copies or other copies already priced high.  That doesn’t make the book valuable, only difficult to find at a fair price.  As the book was initially published at $79.95 I expect, in time, some less expensive copies will be posted.  As to when, I can’t say.


Posted On: 2018-06-03 23:53
User Name: mikefromco

Similar Story---Happier Ending!!?
We were pricing a copy of People Care by Dick Thom (2005) in December---and noticed that Amazon only listed four copies--- at prices from $1,200 to $2,600. This was an 82 page trade paperback, which told EMTs how to do the impossible in their jobs (death notifications, etc).
Important...but $1,200? No.
Further research showed a second edition(2012), identical to the first with 7 added chapters, at prices from $145-$375. We priced ours at $29.95, and had two orders in 10 minutes. Probably "dealers" using book arbitrage software.
Several days later, we located the publisher, via LINKEDIN, and discovered that a third edition was imminent, and would be priced at $20. So we waited until 30 days after our Amazon "customer-dealer" had received the book, and posted negative product reviews on the 1st and 2nd editions---with directions how to get the 3rd edition for $20.
Yet as of June 3, Amazon lists 14 copies of the first edition(2005) from $22.64 to $3,099, 6 copies of the second edition(2012) from $48.92 to $64.94, and 2 (possibly 4) used copies of the third edition (2018) at $220---even though a new copy of the third edition is available for $14 with free shipping!
Cloud cuckoo land has reached the book trade!!?


Posted On: 2018-06-13 17:03
User Name: Fattrad1

Amazing, twice in one month that you are correct. This book is not "seasoned", it is still in the collections of the original purchasers, my guess, likely a $20 book.


Rare Book Monthly

  • S&D Scandinavian Art & Rare Book Auctions
    Rare Maps, Prints & Art 1478-1882
    April 16, 2026
    SD Auctions, Apr. 16: Ptolemy. North Africa from Ulm edition. Unique copy. 1482-86.
    SD Auctions, Apr. 16: Blaeu. Masterpiece world map. c.1659.
    SD Auctions, Apr. 16: Unknown. Sea Flags printed on silk. Rare. c.1840.
    SD Auctions, Apr. 16: Fredrik Kolstø. Aftenstemning ved Kysten. c.1890-t.
    SD Auctions, Apr. 16: Knut Yran. OL-plakaten Oslo 1952.
  • Swann
    Fine Books Featuring Focus on Women
    April 23, 2026
    Swann, Apr. 23: Thomas Heywood. An Apology for Actors. London: Printed by Nicholas Okes, 1612. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Swann, Apr. 23: Illuminated Islamic Devotional Manuscript. 19th century. Approx. 90 leaves with gilt-decorated title and 2 full page miniatures of Mecca and Medina. $800 to $1,200.
    Swann, Apr. 23: Antiphonal in Latin. Manuscript on Parchment. Cologne, early 16th century. $7,000 to $9,000.
    Swann
    Fine Books Featuring Focus on Women
    April 23, 2026
    Swann, Apr. 23: Mohammed ibn Jafir Albategnius. De Scientia Stellarum Liber. Bologna: Victor Benati, 1645. $8,000 to $12,000.
    Swann, Apr. 23: Frank Herbert. Dune. Fine First Edition. Philadelphia: Chilton Books, 1965. $5,000 to $7,000.
    Swann, Apr. 23: William Shakespeare. Five Plays from the Second Folio. London: Thomas Cotes for Robert Allot, 1632. $6,000 to $8,000.
    Swann
    Fine Books Featuring Focus on Women
    April 23, 2026
    Swann, Apr. 23: John Steinbeck. Of Mice and Men. New York: Covici-Friede, 1937. First edition, first issue. $800 to $1,200.
    Swann, Apr. 23: Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities. With an A.L.S. London: Chapman and Hall, 1859. First edition, first issue. $1,200 to $1,800.
    Swann, Apr. 23: Ursula K. LeGuin. The Left Hand of Darkness. Inscribed First Edition. New York: Walker and Company, 1969. $800 to $1,200.
    Swann
    Fine Books Featuring Focus on Women
    April 23, 2026
    Swann, Apr. 23: L. Frank Baum & Ruth Plumly Thompson. Five First Canadian editions including Ozma of Oz; The Emerald City of Oz; Glinda of Oz; [and others]. $1,000 to $1,500.
    Swann, Apr. 23: Corita Kent. Different Drummer. 1967. Color screenprint; signed "Corita" in pencil on the lower edge. $1,000 to $1,500.
    Swann, Apr. 23: Bible in English. Tyndale-Taverner Translation. The Bugge Bible. The Holye Bible. London: Imprinted by John Daye and Willyam Seres, 1549. $1,500 to $2,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts & Objects from Three Important Collections
    Open for Bidding 2-17 April
    Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: [Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun]. Le Roman de la Rose, [Geneva or Lyons, c.1481], first printed edition of the most important medieval French vernacular poem. £200,000 to £300,000.
    Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Castiglione. Il libro del cortegiano. [Venice], April 1528, first edition, in a magnificent binding by Jean Picard for Jean Grolier. £100,000 to £150,000.
    Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Jacobus de Cessolis. Schachzabelbuch, Strasbourg, 1483, von der Lasa copy. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: World Championship, 1972. A collection of 84 press photographs of the famed match between Spassky and Fischer. £2,000 to £3,000.
    Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Ben Franklin. Autograph letter signed, to Lord Shelburne, British Prime Minister, during peace negotiations, November 1782. £15,000 to £20,000.

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