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Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 567. One of the Earliest & Most Desirable Printed Maps of Arabia - by Holle/Germanus (1482) Est. $55,000 - $65,000Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 681. Zatta's Complete Atlas with 218 Maps in Full Contemporary Color (1779) Est. $27,500 - $35,000Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 347. MacDonald Gill's Landmark "Wonderground Map" of London (1914) Est. $1,800 - $2,100Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 1. Fries' "Modern" World Map with Portraits of Five Kings (1525) Est. $4,000 - $4,750Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 539. Ortelius' Superb, Decorative Map of Cyprus in Full Contemporary Color (1573) Est. $1,100 - $1,400Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 51. Mercator's Foundation Map for the Americas in Full Contemporary Color (1630) Est. $3,250 - $4,000Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 667. Manuscript Bible Leaf with Image of Mary and Baby Jesus (1450) Est. $1,900 - $2,200Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 226. "A Powerful Example of Color Used to Make a Point" (1895) Est. $400 - $600Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 290. One of the Most Decorative Early Maps of South America - from Linschoten's "Itinerario" (1596) Est. $7,000 - $8,500Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 62. Coronelli's Influential Map of North America with the Island of California (1688) Est. $10,000 - $12,000Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 589. The First European-Printed Map of China - by Ortelius (1584) Est. $4,000 - $5,000
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Forum Auctions
A Sixth Selection of 16th and 17th Century English Books from the Fox Pointe Manor Library
19th June 2025Forum, June 19: Euclid. The Elements of Geometrie, first edition in English of the first complete translation, [1570]. £20,000 to £30,000.Forum, June 19: Nicolay (Nicolas de). The Navigations, peregrinations and voyages, made into Turkie, first edition in English, 1585. £10,000 to £15,000.Forum, June 19: Shakespeare source book.- Montemayor (Jorge de). Diana of George of Montemayor, first edition in English, 1598. £6,000 to £8,000.Forum, June 19: Livius (Titus). The Romane Historie, first edition in English, translated by Philemon Holland, Adam Islip, 1600. £6,000 to £8,000.Forum Auctions
A Sixth Selection of 16th and 17th Century English Books from the Fox Pointe Manor Library
19th June 2025Forum, June 19: Robert Molesworth's copy.- Montaigne (Michel de). The Essayes Or Morall, Politike and Millitarie Discourses, first edition in English, 1603. £10,000 to £15,000.Forum, June 19: Shakespeare (William). The Tempest [&] The Two Gentlemen of Verona, from the Second Folio, [Printed by Thomas Cotes], 1632. £4,000 to £6,000.Forum, June 19: Boyle (Robert). Medicina Hydrostatica: or, Hydrostaticks Applyed to the Materia Medica, first edition, for Samuel Smith, 1690. £2,500 to £3,500.Forum, June 19: Locke (John). An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding in Four Books, first edition, second issue, 1690. £8,00 to £12,000. -
ALDE, June 18: CHAPPE D'AUTEROCHE (JEAN). Voyage en Sibérie fait par ordre du Roi en 1761 contenant les mœurs…, Paris, 1768. €4,000 to €5,000.ALDE, June 18: HENNEPIN (LOUIS). Description de la Louisiane nouvellement découverte au Sud-Ouest de la Nouvelle France…, Paris, 1688. €3,000 to €4,000.ALDE, June 18: LA BOULLAYE-LE GOUZ (FRANÇOIS DE). Les Voyages et Observations, Paris, 1653. €1,500 to €2,000.ALDE, June 18: LE BRUN (CORNELIS DE BRUYN DIT CORNEILLE). Voyage au Levant, c'est à dire dans les principaux endroits de l'Asie mineure..., Delft, 1700. €6,000 to €8,000.ALDE, June 18: SAINT-NON (J.-CL. RICHARD, ABBÉ DE). Voyage pittoresque ou description du royaume de Naples et de Sicile, Paris, 1781-1786. €3,500 to €5,000.ALDE, June 18: (CALVIN JEAN). SÉNÈQUE. Annei Senecae..., Paris, 1532. €2,000 to €3,000.ALDE, June 18: ADRIEN LE CHARTREUX. De remediis utriusque fortunæ, [Cologne, vers 1470]. €5,000 to €6,000.ALDE, June 18: GAZA (THÉODORE). [...] Introductivæ grammatices libri quatuor. Ejusdem de mensibus opusculum sanequampulchrum, Venise, 1495. €8,000 to €10,000.ALDE, June 18: LACTANCE. De divinis institutionibus. De ira Dei. De opificio Dei. De phoenice carmen, Rome, 1468. €30,000 to €40,000.ALDE, June 18: LUTHER (MARTIN). Der Erste [– Achte und letze] Teil aller Bücher und Schrifften des thewren, seligen Mans Doct. Mart. Lutheri, Iéna, 1555-1568. €5,000 to €6,000.ALDE, June 18: POLITIEN (ANGE). Omnia opera, et alia quædam lectu Digna, Venise, 1498. €8,000 to €10,000.ALDE, June 18: SIDOINE APOLLINAIRE. Poema aureum ejusdemque Epistole, Milan, 1498. €3,000 to €4,000.
Rare Book Monthly
Articles - November - 2009 Issue
Book Prices Tumble Amid Cutthroat Competition
By Michael Stillman
We are at a moment of momentous change in the book industry. Where it all will play out remains anyone's guess. All we know is that it will soon be very different from what we have known before. Elsewhere in this month's issue of AE Monthly we tackle the court battle of Google vs. Amazon, Microsoft and others over the selling of digital copies of copyrighted books, and the plunging prices of and growing demand for electronic book readers. Here are three more book stories, two involving printed books. In one, Wal-Mart has slashed the price of some new, printed books to amounts so low they are below cost, while HP, the large computer manufacturer, has jumped into the business of print-on-demand books. Meanwhile, Barnes and Noble, the largest bricks and mortar printed book retailer, announced the introduction of their own electronic reader, the Nook, as they try to muscle in on the ebook field. Why all of this interest in the book business? For all the talk of books being in decline, there are a lot of very large companies making big bets on the business. Perhaps they know something?
One of the greatest price wars the book industry has seen broke out when Wal-Mart, tired of watching Amazon sell $10 ebooks, countered by offering selected, popular new titles through Walmart.com for $9.99. These are not ebooks, but hardcover copies, hundreds of pages of ink and paper at less than the price of an ebook. Amazon matched the deal, and Target jumped into the fray announcing they too would offer selected titles at comparable prices. Wal-Mart quickly upped the ante, dropping the price to $8.99, clearly below cost. Amazon matched them. The last we saw, Wal-Mart had inched their price down another penny, to $8.98. Among the new releases offered at this incredible price are books by Stephen King, Michael Crichton, Dean Koontz, Barbara Kinsolver, and - oh my gosh - Sarah Palin.
One can only wonder where this is going. Wal-Mart has the money and the nerves to crush just about anyone on price. However, Amazon is in the midst of enjoying unparalleled prosperity. Optimistic forecasts sent their stock soaring a week ago. Amazon's stock leapt by 26%, reaching an all-time high, finally eclipsing its high water mark of a decade ago at the peak of the internet bubble. However, one group that may not be able to withstand this fierce competition is the independent bookseller. The American Booksellers Association, their voice, has asked the Justice Department to investigate what it considers predatory pricing. Wal-Mart and Amazon may have the deep pockets to sustain this war, but independent sellers, already struggling through this difficult economy, do not have such leeway.
While cutting the price so low might sound like a positive for the printed book, there is a great risk here. Books cannot be sold below cost forever. The large retailers may push publishers for lower costs. Meanwhile, readers may become accustomed to $9 books. Long term, the only way publishers may be able to cut prices, and buyers continue to get books for $9, will be through electronic copies, with no costs for paper and printing. Crazily cheap pricing could prove to be a dagger in the heart of printed books, even if short term it boosts sales.