ILAB is offering the first book listing site in Chinese.
By Michael Stillman
This past month, Abebooks announced some changes in their bookseller policies regarding print-on-demand books and multiple listings of single titles; Barnes and Noble reportedly asked some booksellers to take part in a new used book program; and ILAB became the first site to offer book searches in Chinese.
The changes at Abebooks pertain to listings of books that aren't books, or at least, not traditional books. Specifically covered by the new policy are "print on demand" books, photocopies, and audio books. The flooding of listings with these less than traditional items has led to much consternation among booksellers, who feel their books are being lost in this flood of untraditional formats. Abe's new policy does not outlaw or eliminate these types of listings. However, it requires that these types of "books" be clearly labeled for what they are. Print on demand books must now clearly state, "This item is printed on demand." Photocopies must state, "This is a photocopy." Audio books must state, "This is an audio book."
Requiring a clear statement of such things as a book being printed on demand should help those seeking traditional books to sort through unwanted listings, but can it actually help remove these listings so such buyers won't be forced to wade through the detritus in the first place? Sort of. Abe points out that it will enable searchers to avoid this material using Boolean searches. Quickly, how many of you use Boolean searches? How many know how and where to do this, or even what it means? The answer is that if you go to Abe's Advanced Search screen, you will find a line headed "Boolean Searching," with an "on" and an "off" button. The default is off, but you can turn it on. When Boolean searching is on, you can not only specify what you want to find, but what you do not want to find as well. So presumably if you add "not printed on demand" to your search terms and select Boolean searching, that will eliminate the print on demand titles. I guess if you add "not printed on demand and not photocopy and not audio book," with parentheses placed in whatever is the right position to make this work, you can eliminate all of the above. Possible, but it sure does not sound convenient. A button that simply allowed searchers to eliminate these types of books would be much easier for the 99.9% of us who do not have advanced degrees in symbolic logic. It sort of makes you feel that Abe really wants us to see these listings whether we like it or not.
Il Ponte, Sep. 24-25: HAMILTON, Sir William - Campi Phlegraei. Napoli: 1779. € 50,000 - 80,000
Il Ponte, Sep. 24-25: KIRCHER, Athanasius - Turris Babel. Amsterdam: 1679. € 3,000 - 5,000
Il Ponte, Sep. 24-25: EDWARDS, George.London - Gleanings of Natural History. Londra: 1758-1764. € 7,000 - 10,000
Il Ponte, Sep. 24-25: HEVELIUS, Johannes - Cometographia. Danzica: 1668. € 20,000 - 30,000
Il Ponte, Sep. 24-25: KUPKA, Frantisek - Quatre histoires de blanc et noir. Parigi: 1926. € 10,000 - 15,000
Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 732. Early Announcement of Continental Congress' Declaration of Independence (1776) Est. $12,000 - $15,000
Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 361. One of Ortelius' Most Decorative Maps in Full Contemporary Color (1585) Est. $9,500 - $12,000
Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 55. Early Edition of One of the Most Important 16th Century Maps of the New World (1545) Est. $6,000 - $7,500
Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 27. Fascinating Japanese Satirical Map of the World Published After WWI (1924) Est. $2,750 - $3,500
Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 637. Complete Example of De Bry's Petits Voyages, Part VIII (1606) Est. $4,750 - $5,500
Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 50. Extremely Rare Uncut Sheet from Sylvanus's 1511 Edition of Ptolemy's Geographia (1511) Est. $2,000 - $2,300
Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 399. One of the Most Desired Maps of Ireland by John Speed (1610) Est. $2,750 - $3,500
Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 689. Pictorial Map of Melbourne in the Style of MacDonald Gill (1934) Est. $900 - $1,100
Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 652. Blaeu's Carte-a-Figures Map of Africa in Full Contemporary Color (1663) Est. $3,000 - $3,750
Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 729. Hand-Colored Image of David Handing the Letter to Uriah (1518) Est. $1,000 - $1,300
Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 533. Eight-Volume Set Recounting Travels of Anacharsis in Greece (1789) Est. $800 - $950
Dominic Winter Auctioneers September 11 Printed Books, Maps & Manuscripts, The Polydore Vergil bound for Queen Mary I
Dominic Winter, Sep. 11: Exquemelin (Alexandre Olivier). The History of the Bucaniers of America..., 4 parts in one, 3rd edition, 1704. £1,000-1,500
Dominic Winter, Sep. 11: Greenough (George Bellos). A Physical and Geological Map of England & Wales..., Geological Society, July 1865. £5,000-8,000
Dominic Winter, Sep. 11: Illuminated Psalter. Manuscript Psalter with Calendar, Flanders or North-East France, late 13th century. £7,000-10,000
Dominic Winter Auctioneers September 11 Printed Books, Maps & Manuscripts, The Polydore Vergil bound for Queen Mary I
Dominic Winter, Sep. 11: Book of Hours. Illuminated manuscript on vellum, Use of Rome, in Latin, Florence, c. 1470s. £3,000-5,000
Dominic Winter, Sep. 11: Henry VIII (King of England). Assertio septem sacramentorum adversus Martinum Lutherum, Antwerp: Michiel Hillen, 1522. £3,000-5,000
Dominic Winter, Sep. 11: Binding for Queen Mary I of England and Ireland. Polydori Vergilii Urbinatis Anglicae..., 1555. £20,000-30,000
Dominic Winter Auctioneers September 11 Printed Books, Maps & Manuscripts, The Polydore Vergil bound for Queen Mary I
Dominic Winter, Sep. 11: Llwyd (Humphrey). The Breviary of Britayne..., 1st edition in English, 1573. William Lambarde's copy. £2,000-3,000
Dominic Winter, Sep. 11: Embroidered Binding. The Whole Book of Psalmes..., Imprinted for the Company of Stationers, 1634. £700-1,000
Dominic Winter, Sep. 11: Astronomy Manuscript. [Shakerley, Jeremy (1626-c.1655). Tabulae Britannicae, the British tables…], late 17th c. £1,000-1,500
Dominic Winter Auctioneers September 11 Printed Books, Maps & Manuscripts, The Polydore Vergil bound for Queen Mary I
Dominic Winter, Sep. 11: Vellucent Art Nouveau Binding [Book of Common Prayer] by Herbert Granville Fell, 1900. £1,000-1,500
Dominic Winter, Sep. 11: Palladio (Andrea). The Architecture of A. Palladio; in Four Books, 2nd edition, 1721. £2,000-3,000
Sotheby’s 10 September 2024 The Shem Tov Bible
Koller Auctions Books & Autographs 18 September 2024
Koller, Sep. 18: Cowper, William. Anatomia corporum humanorum ab excellentissimis… Utrecht, 1750. CHF 25,000 to 40,000
Koller, Sep. 18: Bell, Thomas. A Monograph of the Testudinata. London [1836-1842]. CHF 20,000 to 30,000.
Koller, Sep. 18: Gould, John. A monograph of the Trochilidae, or family of humming-birds [and] Supplement completed after the authors death…, London [1849-]1861 and [1880-]1887. CHF 50,000 to 80,000.
Koller Auctions Books & Autographs 18 September 2024
Koller, Sep. 18: Gould, John. The birds of New Guinea and the adjacent Papuan Islands, including many new species recently discovered in Australia. CHF 50,000 to 80,000.
Koller, Sep. 18: Levaillant, François. Histoire naturelle des oiseaux de paradis et des rolliers, suivie de celle des toucans et des barbus. Paris [1801-]1806. CHF 40,000 to 60,000.
Koller, Sep. 18: Pfinzing, Melchior. Die geverlicheiten und einsteils der geschichten des loblichen streytparen…, Nürnberg, 1517. CHF 40,000 to 60,000.
![<b>Dominic Winter, Sep. 11:</b> Astronomy Manuscript. [Shakerley, Jeremy (1626-c.1655). Tabulae Britannicae, the British tables…], late 17th c. £1,000-1,500](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/380fa981-a81a-4cee-8a47-9deac6721ee2.jpg "<b>Dominic Winter, Sep. 11:</b> Astronomy Manuscript. [Shakerley, Jeremy (1626-c.1655). Tabulae Britannicae, the British tables…], late 17th c. £1,000-1,500")
![<b>Dominic Winter, Sep. 11:</b> Vellucent Art Nouveau Binding [Book of Common Prayer] by Herbert Granville Fell, 1900. £1,000-1,500](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/1e4d8ff8-e737-4e16-8a64-bc917748b937.jpg "<b>Dominic Winter, Sep. 11:</b> Vellucent Art Nouveau Binding [Book of Common Prayer] by Herbert Granville Fell, 1900. £1,000-1,500")
![<b>Koller, Sep. 18:</b> Bell, Thomas. A Monograph of the Testudinata. London [1836-1842]. CHF 20,000 to 30,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/29dc9a36-584c-476d-bc08-834bc3d3902d.png "<b>Koller, Sep. 18:</b> Bell, Thomas. A Monograph of the Testudinata. London [1836-1842]. CHF 20,000 to 30,000.")
![<b>Koller, Sep. 18:</b> Gould, John. A monograph of the Trochilidae, or family of humming-birds [and] Supplement completed after the authors death…, London [1849-]1861 and [1880-]1887. CHF 50,000 to 80,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/d1c7f9bc-1bd9-43a2-9cd9-fa2e0a89d50f.png "<b>Koller, Sep. 18:</b> Gould, John. A monograph of the Trochilidae, or family of humming-birds [and] Supplement completed after the authors death…, London [1849-]1861 and [1880-]1887. CHF 50,000 to 80,000.")
![<b>Koller, Sep. 18:</b> Levaillant, François. Histoire naturelle des oiseaux de paradis et des rolliers, suivie de celle des toucans et des barbus. Paris [1801-]1806. CHF 40,000 to 60,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/dcac6725-5a79-4a9a-8172-9a5e10ccb75b.png "<b>Koller, Sep. 18:</b> Levaillant, François. Histoire naturelle des oiseaux de paradis et des rolliers, suivie de celle des toucans et des barbus. Paris [1801-]1806. CHF 40,000 to 60,000.")
