Rare Book Monthly
Review of Reviews: Articles on Collecting Stock Certificates, Las Vegas Booksellers, from AbeBooks
Meanwhile, down the road, Amber Unicorn Books is located in a far less ostentatious location - a strip mall. Myrna and Lou Donato specialize in cookbooks. They have 18,000-20,000 of them. However, they also stock science fiction, fantasy, and other genres. Their store is frequented by many local collectors, yet it still manages to draw in plenty of tourists and convention attendees despite not being located on the strip. While business is down a little with the economy, they do not feel it is anything to worry about, nor are they concerned that the internet will destroy their business.
To read this article, click here.
For those with a canine collection, Abe also has an interview with a specialist in dog books. Click here. Another article discusses the "Biggles" books, novels of the fictional wartime fighter pilot James Bigglesworth, created by Captain W.E. Johns. Click here.
AbeBooks issued its Top 10 list of most expensive books sold in February. Here they are:
10. The Colonization Scheme Considered, in its Rejection by the Colored People, by Samuel E. Cornish & Theodore S. Wright. These African-American clergymen in 1840 rejected a plan to colonize Africa with American blacks. $3,500.
9. Le Maitre-d'Hotel Francais, Traité des Menus a servir a Paris, a St-Pétersbourg, a Londres et a Vienne, by Marie Antonin Carême. The author cooked meals for King George IV, Czar Alexander I and Emperor Francis I of Austria. Now you can see how the other half eats. $3,588.
8. Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing. Eighty bound issues of the scientific journal about... you guessed it - plasma. $3,999.
7. An 18th or 19th century Persian hunting manuscript decorated with ten paintings. $4,004.
6. De Urbibus, Arcibus, Castellisque Condendis, ac Muniendis Rationes Aliquot, Praesenti Bellorum Necessitati ac Commodatissimae, by Albrecht Dürer. And you thought that French title was difficult! $4,200.
5. Forever Odd, by Dean Koontz, one of 26 signed copies. $4,550.
4. Peter Beard: Art Edition, by Owen Edwards, a 2006 elephant folio photo book signed by Beard. "Limited" edition of just 2,250 copies. $5,495. Hm... $5,495 x 2,250 = $12,363,750. Who says there isn't still money to be made in publishing?
3. Summa Theologiae, pars Secunda, by Antoninus Florentinus, a 1496 work on economics and ethics. $6,218.
2. Dreams From My Father, by Barack Obama, now better known as President Barack Obama, a signed first edition, first printing. $8,500.
1. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger. A first edition, first printing of this old standby appears at the top of the list. $11,000.
Rare Book Monthly
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Books & Autographs
Wednesday 25 MarchKoller, Mar. 25: KAFKA, FRANZ, SCHRIFTSTELLER. Eigenh. Brief mit Unterschrift. Prag, 20. Oktober [19]15. CHF 30,000-40,000.Koller, Mar. 25: EINSTEIN, ALBERT. Zwei eigenhändige Briefe an Ernst Gabor Straus, unterschrieben "A.E" bzw. "A. Einstein". [Princeton], [19]45. und [1950]. CHF 30,000-40,000.Koller, Mar. 25: HORTENSE DE BEAUHARNAIS, MUTTER VON NAPOLEON III. Album aus ihrem Besitz mit 69 Aquarellen und Pinselzeichnungen in Sepia oder Grau… CHF 14,000-18,000.Koller, Mar. 25: ZOOLOGIE - ORNITHOLOGIE - Seligmann, Johann Michael. Verzameling van uitlandsche en zeldzaame Vogelen. Teile 1-8 (von 9) in 2 Bänden. Mit 421 prächtig altkolorierten Kupfertafeln. CHF 14,000-20,000Koller, Mar. 25: BOTANIK - Berlèse, Lorenzo und Johann Jakob Jung. Iconographie du genre camellia... 3 Bände. Mit 300 Farbstichtafeln "a la poupée.” Paris, [1839-]1841-1843. CHF 12,000-18,000. -
Forum Auctions
Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026
25 March 2026Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- Andrews (H.C.) Coloured Engravings of Heaths, 4 vol. in 2, first edition, [1710,--94]-1802-1809-[1830]. £10,000 - £15,000.Forum, Mar. 25: Butterflies.- Cramer (Pierre) and Caspar Stoll. De Uitlandsche Kapellen voorkomende in de drie Waereld-Deelen…,, 5 vol., Amsterdam & Utrecht, 1779-91. £8,000 - £12,000.Forum, Mar. 25: Voyages.- Darwin (Charles) and others. Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle, 3 vol. in 4, including Appendix to vol.2, first edition, 1839. £8,000 - £12,000.Forum, Mar. 25: Butterflies.- de Graaf (Willem Diederik Vincent). [Inlandsche Kapellen in beeld], 170 fine original watercolours, [Enkhuizen], [1800-40]. £8,000 - £12,000.Forum Auctions
Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026
25 March 2026Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Dresser (Henry Eeles). A History of the Birds of Europe, 9 vol., including supplement, first edition, by the author, 1871-96. £6,000 - £8,000.Forum, Mar. 25: Zoology.- Felines.- Elliot (Daniel Giraud). A Monograph of the Felidæ or Family of the Cats, first edition, for the Subscribers, by the Author, [1878]-1883. £25,000 - £30,000.Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Frisch (Johann Leonard). Vorstellung der Vögel Deutschlandes, 2 vol., first edition, Berlin, Friedr. Wilhelm Birnsteil, [1736]-1763. £40,000 - £60,000.Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Gould (John). The Birds of Great Britain, 5 vol., first edition, by the author, 1862-1873. £30,000 - £40,000.Forum Auctions
Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026
25 March 2026Forum, Mar. 25: Pomology.- France.- Poiteau (A.) Pomologie Française. Recueil des Plus Beaux Fruits cultivés en France, 4 vol., Paris, 1846. £30,000 - £40,000.Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- [Robin (Jean)]. Histoire des Plantes, nouvellement trouvées en l'Isle Virgine…,, 1620; with Geoffrey Linocier L'Histoire des plantes, second edition, 1619-20. £3,000 - £4,000.Forum, Mar. 25: Asia.- Japan.- Siebold (P.F. von). Nippon. Archiv zur Beschreibung von Japan, 7 parts in 6 vol., first edition, Leyden, [1832]-1852. £35,000 - £45,000.Forum, Mar. 25: Asia.- Valentijn (Francois). Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën..., 5 vol. in 8, first edition, Dordrecht [&] Amsterdam, 1724-26. £8,000 - £12,000.Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- Australia.- Redouté (P.J.).- Ventenat (Étienne Pierre). Jardin de la Malmaison, 2 vol.,, Paris, 1803-04[-05]. £30,000 - £40,000. -
