The Internet contains all sorts of mechanisms that allow collectors and book dealers to find each other, and enrichen their book-related worlds. Facebook has finally reached a saturation level in the public eye that I would suggest booksellers to make an account for their company, and collectors one for themselves! From there, having access to an image-hosting site like Flickr or Picasa is a nice, free resource, and the same goes for YouTube as a free video-hosting and streaming service. In this month's follow-up, I've gone over a few of the main companies, services and concepts that are powering today's Attention Age, and provided an example or two of how they could fit into book collectors' and dealers' lives.
Facebook and Myspace are two separate, competing social-networking websites. They began as sites accessed by mostly younger people, especially Facebook requiring a school email initially for registration, but have become near-household names now. They allow users to register which then creates a page for themselves, or their band, or their company. This concept of a person's personal page and that attention-seeking trend paved the way for Twitter to really take hold later. In terms of books, bibliophiles can connect with other like-minded people, both around the world, and by doing local searches.
Twitter takes a single function that sites like Myspace and Facebook introduced, and centers their entire website around that one functionality. This task is known as the Status Update. To be honest, I don't know if Myspace or Facebook came out with it first, but essentially, all three sites allow you to update your status which is then displayed to friends. Your status could be any of the following (and virtually anything you can think of): sleeping, working, killing time on Myspace, etc. The only difference with Twitter is that's all it does. It could be used by dealers to keep their mailing list informed of their latest catalogue release, or of an upcoming auction.
Flickr and Picasa Web Albums are two separate, competing image-hosting and sharing sites. There are more out there, but these are two of the most well known and established. They are free, and are tied to either your
Yahoo! or Google accounts, respectively. The inclusion of cameras on many cellular phones and laptop computers has increased the ability and convenience for people to take pictures, so they are! These sites are also very handy when one has a blog & some blogs are only of images! If you're selling books online, you'll be more effective with images. These are free places for you to keep them!
Flash is a freely downloadable, multimedia platform originally developed by Macromedia, but is now distributed by Adobe Systems. It is very popular for adding animations and user-interactivity to websites. It is what sites like YouTube and MySpace use for their video. It is notable that it requires a fast, broadband connection, and a relatively up-to-date computer to be effective.
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. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
![<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.")
