AbeBooks Lists Its Top Sellers, Most Expensive Books for 2007
- by Michael Stillman
Einstein was the scientific genius who discovered the theory of relativity.
Rounding out the top 25 were three more Harry Potter books, placing all seven titles within the top 19, the inexorable Tuesdays with Morrie, South Beach Diet, and Who Moved My Cheese, and a couple of classics, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Great Gatsby. Only the Covey and Warren books were top 10 repeats from a year ago, while last year's winner, The Da Vinci Code, disappeared completely from the top 25.
Next, we look at the highest priced books sold on Abe this past year.
9-10. A tie of two books by Alcoholics Anonymous founder Bill Wilson, Alcoholics Anonymous and Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. $10,500.
8. Biologia Centrali -- Americana, by Godman and Salvin, a Central American butterfly book with 133 color plates. $11,500.
7. Musurgia universalis, by Athanasius Kircher, a circa 1700 encyclopedia of music. $11,728.
6. Relativity: The Special And General Theory, by Albert Einstein, a book you and I will never understand, but we know is important. This is a signed first American edition. $12,500.
5. The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia, by David Roberts, a first quarto edition of this work by the artist Roberts who traveled to the Holy Land in 1838. $13,000.
4. Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae in X Libros Digesta, another work by Athanasius Kircher, this time dealing with optics and astronomy, published in 1671. $14,375.
3. Navis stultifera a domino Sebastiano Brant primum, edited by Jodocus Badius, a 1497 translation of Brant's "Ship of Fools," with woodcuts by Albrecht Durer. $16,028.
2. The Genera of Diurnal Lepidoptera, by Doubleday and Westwood, another beautifully illustrated butterfly book, published in 1852. $16,750.
1. Supplementum summae Pisanellae by Nikolaus de Osimo (Nicolaus De Ausmo). Number 1 goes to an item of incunabula, a 1479 edition of a popular update on canon law by an Italian brother of the Franciscan order. $24,941.
Finally, the bestselling authors list reveals the following at one through three: J.K. Rowling (no surprise), Nora Roberts, and William Shakespeare. William Shakespeare!!! Will Nora Roberts be on such a list 400 years from now?
To see all of AbeBooks' top lists for 2007, follow this link: 2007-year-review.
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. 17: Francesco Colonna. Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Nausea. De principiis dialectices Gorgias, and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Billon. Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur, Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.
Heritage Auctions Rare Books Signature Auction December 15, 2025
Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
Heritage, Dec. 15: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tender is the Night. A Romance.
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…
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/9a74d9ff-42dd-46a1-8bb2-b636c4cec796.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.")
![<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.")
