Rare Book Monthly

Articles - June - 2003 Issue

Looking at Auctions with the MatchMaker Software

none

none


If you wish to change your keywords at anytime you can click on "View, Edit, Delete Keyword(s)" on the Control Panel. This allows you to make adjustments to the Auction Keyword Search whenever you wish.

For example, recently I had wanted to find auction lot records that contained books written by Mark Twain. For my first search I simply entered “Mark” in line one and “Twain” in line two. For my second keyword search I entered “Samuel” in line one and “Clemens” in line two. Several hours later, I received matches in the Auction Keyword Matches page. Of course using two versions of one person’s name is going to find duplicate matches. But it insures that I see every related item and I didn’t have to read each auction catalogues from cover to cover to find them. Presto. I found them all.

In total, I found 199 lots that were matches from 12 different auctions. As I sifted through the results of the Auction Keyword Matches, I found more than just titles by Samuel Clemens. The results also included letters written by Clemens to his family, books with references to Mark Twain’s writings, and biographies of Samuel Clemens. Although I initially began my search just to find titles by Samuel Clemens, I was impressed by the amount of material that was returned from the search. And, without having to make a super-human effort, I could see the entire Samuel Clemens – Mark Twain world quickly. This is simply a much better way to follow the flow of auction material.

The MatchMaker Software’s Auction Matches and Auction Keyword Matches can greatly enhance your quest for books and ephemera that are available in current auctions across the world. With the Auction Matches Module, you can find titles, authors and subjects to match your own custom determined preferences. With the Auction Keyword Matches, you can create your very own keyword query to search for these materials of interest. With the information gathered from these two MatchMaker modules, you can also compare lots, estimated and actual prices in order to make the most informed decision as a buyer.

In summary, MatchMaker’s Auction Matches and Auction Keyword Matches are tools to view and navigate a larger world of books and ephemera on any topic of interest. Because these modules search the whole text of auction listings, you will find materials related to author, title and subject. This in turn will bring you a broader range of sources from which to choose. It’s a new idea and it works and it makes following the world of book auctions easy, exciting and effective.

Rare Book Monthly

  • 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: Bram Stoker. Dracula. Westminster: Archibald Constable & Co., 1897.
    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…
  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
  • 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.

Article Search

Archived Articles