<i>In The News:</i> The Most Expensive American Letter Ever Auctioned, BookFinder, Via Libri & More
- by Michael Stillman
Via Libri adds eight new sites to its search engine.
Via Libri, another multi-site book search engine, announced that it has added eight new sites to the group it searches. According to a news release from the firm, the additional sites searched "now establishes it [Via Libri] as the world's largest internet marketplace for old and rare books." Via Libri states it now reaches the online listings of over 20,000 booksellers with combined inventories of over 150 million books.
The multi-site search engines search the listings of numerous different book-listing sites and combine all of their results. The largest addition comes from five Amazon sites Via Libri now searches: American, Canadian, British, French and German. The other newly searched sites are IOBABooks, Spanish site Uniliber, and British based Biblion.
AbeBooks released its top 10 most expensive books for March, and while there is nothing on the level of a Lincoln letter here, any one of these sales would have made for a most pleasant day for the average bookseller. This month's subjects include math and chemistry, poetry, what was once the future, and a bridge to somewhere.
10. The Ascent of Everest by John Hunt, published in 1953, and signed by 40 climbers. One was Edmund Hillary, better remembered than expedition leader Hunt, because he made it to the top. $5,000.
9. Five Go to Smuggler's Top, a 1945 first edition of number four in author Enid Blyton's Famous Five series. $5,038.
8. Gmelins Handbuch der Anorganischen Chemie, a virtually complete set of 372 volumes of Leopold Gmelin's Handbook of Inorganic Chemistry, published from 1926-1984. No light reading here. $5,284.
7. Anthropos. Revue Internationale d'Ethnographie et de Linguistique. This set contains a mere 60 volumes of the International Journal of Anthropology and Linguistics. $5,458.
6. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell's look at the future from 1949, when this first edition, first printing was published. $6,780.
5. Merely Connect, a 1994 book with a very short print run by author Salmon Rushdie and artist Tom Philips, signed by both. $7,325.
4. An Historical and Descriptive Account of the Suspension Bridge Constructed over the Menai Strait in North Wales... an 1828 elephant folio first edition about a bridge linking the island of Anglesey with Wales, by Thomas Telford. $7,614.
Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: HAMILTON, Sir William (1730-1803) - Campi Phlegraei. Napoli: [Pietro Fabris], 1776, 1779. € 30.000 - 50.000
Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: [MORTIER] - BLAEU, Joannes (1596-1673) - Het Nieuw Stede Boek van Italie. Amsterdam: Pieter Mortier, 1704-1705. € 15.000 - 25.000
Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: TULLIO D'ALBISOLA (1899-1971) - Bruno MUNARI (1907-1998) - L'Anguria lirica (lungo poema passionale). Roma e Savona: Edizioni Futuriste di Poesia, senza data [ma 1933?]. € 20.000 - 30.000
Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: IL MANOSCRITTO RITROVATO DI IPPOLITA MARIA SFORZA. TITO LIVIO - Ab Urbe Condita. Prima Decade. Manoscritto miniato su pergamena, metà XV secolo. € 280.000 - 350.000
Sotheby's Fine Books & Manuscripts Available for Immediate Purchase
Sotheby’s: Balthus, Emily Brontë. Wuthering Heights, New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1993. 6,600 USD.
Sotheby’s: Charles Dickens. Complete Works, Philadelphia & London: J.B. Lippincott Company & Chapman & Hall, LD, 1850. Limited Edition set of 30 volumes. 7,500 USD.
Sotheby’s: John Lennon, Yoko Ono. Handwritten Letter from John Lennon and Yoko Ono to their Chauffer. 1971. 32,500 USD.
Sotheby’s: Winston Churchill. First edition of War Speeches, Cassell and Company, Ltd., 1941. Set of 7 volumes. 5,500 USD.
Sotheby’s: Andy Warhol, Julia Warhola. Holy Cats First Edition, Signed by Andy Warhol. 1954. 30,000 USD.
![<b>Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11:</b> DALVIMART, Octavien ou d’ALVIMAR(T)]. CLARK. The Military Costume of Turkey](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/ca2d66a9-721d-4878-a2eb-51a7bb9a3889.jpg "<b>Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11:</b> DALVIMART, Octavien ou d’ALVIMAR(T)]. CLARK. The Military Costume of Turkey")
![<b>Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26:</b> HAMILTON, Sir William (1730-1803) - Campi Phlegraei. Napoli: [Pietro Fabris], 1776, 1779. € 30.000 - 50.000](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/0372eeb9-97e1-47b2-baca-b3287d4704ee.jpg "<b>Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26:</b> HAMILTON, Sir William (1730-1803) - Campi Phlegraei. Napoli: [Pietro Fabris], 1776, 1779. € 30.000 - 50.000")
![<b>Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26:</b> [MORTIER] - BLAEU, Joannes (1596-1673) - Het Nieuw Stede Boek van Italie. Amsterdam: Pieter Mortier, 1704-1705. € 15.000 - 25.000](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8f9ce440-b420-4407-8293-eb8e1b38ca19.jpg "<b>Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26:</b> [MORTIER] - BLAEU, Joannes (1596-1673) - Het Nieuw Stede Boek van Italie. Amsterdam: Pieter Mortier, 1704-1705. € 15.000 - 25.000")
![<b>Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26:</b> TULLIO D'ALBISOLA (1899-1971) - Bruno MUNARI (1907-1998) - L'Anguria lirica (lungo poema passionale). Roma e Savona: Edizioni Futuriste di Poesia, senza data [ma 1933?]. € 20.000 - 30.000](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/71bb9667-5d66-4aa8-96a2-9880c74a7a26.jpg "<b>Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26:</b> TULLIO D'ALBISOLA (1899-1971) - Bruno MUNARI (1907-1998) - L'Anguria lirica (lungo poema passionale). Roma e Savona: Edizioni Futuriste di Poesia, senza data [ma 1933?]. € 20.000 - 30.000")
