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Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: ANDERSEN'S EXTREMELY RARE FIRST APPEARANCE IN PRINT. "Scene af: Røverne i Vissenberg i Fyen." in Harpen, 1822.Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: FIRST ISSUE OF THE FIRST THREE FAIRY TALE PAMPHLETS, WITH ALL INDICES AND TITLE PAGES. Eventyr, fortalte for Børn. 1835-1837.Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: THE FIRST FAIRY TALES WITH A SIGNED CARTE DE VISITE OF ANDERSEN AS FRONTIS. Eventyr, fortalte for Børn. 1835-1837.Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: KARL LAGERFELD. Original pastel and ink drawing in gold, red and black for Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes (1992), "La cassette de l'Empereur."Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY OF THE SIXTH PAMPHLET FOR PETER KOCH. Eventyr, Fortalte For Børn, Second Series, Third Pamphlet. 1841. Publisher's wrappers, complete with all pre- and post-matter.Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN RARE AUTOGRAPH QUOTATION SIGNED IN ENGLISH from "The Ugly Duckling," c.1860s.Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: HEINRICH LEFLER, ORIGINAL WATERCOLOR FOR ANDERSEN'S SNOW QUEEN, "Die Schneekönigin," 1910.Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: FIRST EDITION OF ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES IN ENGLISH. Wonderful Stories for Children. London, 1846.Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: ANDERSEN ON MEETING CHARLES DICKENS. Autograph Letter Signed ("H.C. Andersen") in English to William Jerdan, July 20, 1847.Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY FOR EDGAR COLLIN. Nye Eventyr og Historier. Anden Raekke. 1861.Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: DOLL HOUSE FURNITURE BY HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSON, DECORATED WITH FANTASTICAL CUT-OUTS, for the children of Jonna Stampe (née Drewsen), his godchildren.Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY FOR GEORG BRANDES. Dryaden. Et Eventyr fra Udstillingstiden i Paris 1867. 1868.
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Jeschke Jádi
Rare Book Auction 155
Saturday April 26, 2025Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 962. Baird. United States Exploring Expedition. Philadelphia 1858.Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 772. Edith Holland Norton. Brazilian Flowers. Coombe Croft 1893.Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 49. Petrarca. Das Gluecksbuch, Augsburg 1536.Jeschke Jádi
Rare Book Auction 155
Saturday April 26, 2025Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 1496. Jacob / Picasso. Chronique des Temps, 1956.Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 8. Augustinus. De moribus ecclesie. Cologne 1480.Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 17. Heures a lusaige de Noyon. Paris 1504.Jeschke Jádi
Rare Book Auction 155
Saturday April 26, 2025Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 13. Schedel. Buch der Chronicken. Nürnberg 1493.Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 957. Donovan. Insects of China. London 1798.Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 123. A holy martyr. Tuscany, Florence, mid-14th century.Jeschke Jádi
Rare Book Auction 155
Saturday April 26, 2025Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 438. Dante. La Divine Comédie. Paris 1963.Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 602. Firdausi. Histoire de Minoutchehr. Paris 1919Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 994. Westwood. Oriental Entomology. London 1848. -
Swann, Apr. 22: Lot 124: Henri Courvoisier-Voisin, et alia, [Recueil de Vues de Paris et ses Environs], depicting precursors of the modern roller coaster, Paris, [1814-1819?]. $2,000 to $3,000.Swann, Apr. 22: Lot 148: Pablo Picasso & Fernando de Rojas, La Célestine, First Edition, Paris, 1971. $30,000 to $40,000.Swann, Apr. 22: Lot 201: Omar Khayyam & Edward Fitzgerald, Rubaiyat, William Bell Scott's copy of the First Edition, London, 1859. $20,000 to $30,000.Swann, Apr. 22: Lot 223: Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, First Edition, extra-illustrated with hand-colored plates by Palinthorpe, London, 1861. $7,000 to $9,000.Swann, Apr. 22: Lot 248: L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, First Edition, inscribed by the illustrator, Chicago & New York, 1900. $20,000 to $30,000.Swann, Apr. 22: Lot 305: Tycho Brahe & Pierre Gassendi, Tychonis Brahei Vita, Paris, 1654. From the Collection of Owen Gingerich. $8,000 to $12,000.Swann, Apr. 22: Lot 338: Giovanni Battista Riccioli, Almagestum Novum, two folio volumes, Bologna, 1651. From the Collection of Owen Gingerich. $8,000 to $10,000.Swann, Apr. 22: Lot 350: Tobias Cohn, Ma'aseh Toviyyah, first edition, Venice, 1707-8. $3,000 to $5,000.Swann, Apr. 22: Lot 359: Alan Turing, Computing, Machinery, and Intelligence, first edition, Edinburgh, 1950. $3,000 to $5,000.
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Sotheby's
Sell Your Fine Books & ManuscriptsSotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USDSotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USDSotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USDSotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USDSotheby's
Sell Your Fine Books & ManuscriptsSotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USDSotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBPSotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBPSotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
Rare Book Monthly
Articles - December - 2005 Issue
Abebooks Purchases BookFinder, Looks to the Future
By Michael Stillman
Abebooks announced this past month the purchase of book meta-search engine BookFinder.com. BookFinder searches the listings of dozens of online sites, including Abebooks and its numerous competitors, such Alibris, Biblio, Amazon, Half.com, and a couple of dozen smaller sites. All are treated equally. In operation since 1997 (antiquity for the internet), it is a very helpful and well-respected site among those with a need or passion for locating old books. Though small, with only two full-time employees, BookFinder brings a prestigious reputation beyond its size to new owner Abebooks.
BookFinder earns its living through commissions paid by the sites it searches when they deliver a buyer. It is reported to be a profitable site, but not of such wealth as to be able to fund major new projects. For BookFinder, access to Abebooks' greater resources makes perfect sense. Both sites require the capacity to do enormous searches through huge databases in split-second timing. Abebooks brings with it the financial ability to meet these needs as technology continues to develop at lightening speed in the years ahead. While no indications of price were released, the purchase undoubtedly made financial sense to BookFinder CEO/co-founder Anirvan Chatterjee too.
The logic for Abebooks is not quite so readily clear. It is a purchase that both makes eminent sense and is somewhat puzzling. The logic is that both sites' purpose is to help people locate old or rare books online. What is less obvious is how owning BookFinder helps Abe's current operations.
Abe's dealers were left scratching their heads as to what, if any, difference this would mean to them. How this might affect Abe's booksellers is not clear. In the release announcing the purchase, Abebooks' CEO Hannes Blum is quoted as saying, "Our goal is to help booklovers find and buy any book from any bookseller anywhere, so the acquisition of BookFinder.com makes perfect sense." That's one of those general statements that really doesn't tell us a lot. Certainly Abe's mission is to help buyers find books, but even more importantly, Abe's mission, like that of any other business, is to make a profit. Sending customers to Amazon or Alibris doesn't seem terribly consistent with this purpose, other than for the immediate commission earned on the sale.
We asked Abe's Public Relations manager Richard Davies how bringing BookFinder into the fold would help their sellers. He answered, "The online bookselling sector is extremely competitive and we are very aware we cannot afford to stand still. This deal makes Abebooks stronger within the bookselling community and ultimately it will make us better able to serve booksellers. BookFinder.com is profitable and has tremendous potential to be even more successful, plus both BookFinder.com and Abebooks are dedicated to supporting independent sellers, so the deal makes perfect sense to us." Abebooks evidently feels that the purchase makes them a stronger company, and a stronger Abebooks is better for its dealers, but it's still understandable if those dealers find the answer a bit vague.