<i>In The News:</i> One New E-Reader, One Cancelled, A Cavernous Library, Abe's Top 10
- by Michael Stillman
The Manchester Central Library.
What do you do when you have 1,500,000 books, some old and valuable, that need to be safely stored for a few years? That's a question that was recently faced by the Manchester (U.K.) Central Library. The library is undergoing major renovations, and needed a safe place to store its large number of books for several years. Their answer was to ship the books off to the salt mines (though hopefully they haven't sent their librarians there too). The mine, in the town of Winsford, is deep underground, thereby maintaining a constancy of temperature (57 degrees F.) and humidity (65%), while being free of light and insects (no mention of bats, however, has been made). The space in the mines is said to be the equivalent of 700 football fields, and while football is something different in the U.K. than America, a field is still quite large. In 2013, when the renovations are complete, the books will reemerge into the light, and onto the 22 miles of shelving they require. What Manchester Central is doing is hardly new. Abandoned mines have often been used for storage of infrequently used documents. Perhaps in the years ahead more old books will find their way underground as digital copies become the norm for research and reading.
AbeBooks released its list of the top 10 highest prices paid on their book-listing site during the month of April. It is hard to find a thread that connects this varied lot beyond the fact that people paid a lot of money to purchase them.
10. The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Covenant by Charles Thomson, published in 1808. Okay, Charles Thomson didn't really write the Bible, but he did translate this edition from Greek. $4,500.
7 (tie). The Vatican Frescoes of Michelangelo, photographs by Takashi Okamura, published in 1991. A two-volume, limited edition elephant folio. $5,000.
7 (tie). The 100 Greatest Books Ever Written, by, naturally, numerous authors. A 1980 Easton Press leather-bound limited edition. $5,000.
7 (tie). The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, the June 1915 first appearance of T.S. Eliot's poem in Poetry Magazine. It was the first publication of an Eliot poem outside of a school setting. $5,000.
6. Les Miserables, the Brussels true first edition, published in 1862. $5,500.
5. Treasure Island, a first edition, first printing (1883) of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic. $6,000.
4. Systema Cosmicum in quo Dialogis, by Galileo, the first Latin edition of Galileo's then controversial astronomical work. $6,023.
3. The Romances of Alexandre Dumas, a 48-volume leather bound set published in 1904. $7,500.
2. American Winter Sports - Deer Shooting on the Shattagee by Currier & Ives, an 1855 lithograph. $8,500.
1. The Histories of Herodotus, Isaac Littlebury's 1709 translation into English of a much older work. $9,750.
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.
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: 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…
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/9a74d9ff-42dd-46a1-8bb2-b636c4cec796.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.")
![<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.")
