By Bruce McKinney
A Needed Way Out
A generation of book owners is looking past weak offers from dealers and limited opportunities selling
via traditional auctions, marketing their books, manuscripts and ephemera lot by lot on eBay. The
results are inconsistent but encouraging both for sellers and buyers. For sellers it's the chance to
control their own destiny, converting market observations into listings, transactions and private
client lists. In short order sellers on eBay achieve a working competence to match their commitment to
the endeavor. The selling is...
By Bruce McKinney
From the first book listings posted on line ten years ago dealers have been anxious that they were,
like Alice in Wonderland, going into a hole with an unknown destination...
By Michazel Stillman
As Abebooks promised at its recent Bookseller's Summit, they will begin a substantial international advertising campaign this month. The theme is "If you can't find it here,...
By Renée Magriel Roberts
Seeking a first edition is an ongoing preoccupation of any bookseller. We all know that the difference between a first edition and a second printing just after the firs...
by Michael Stillman
Mormon books are among the most collectible religious texts in the world. If you don't believe it, this point was reinforced by the ultimate of tests recently -- thieves bre...
By Michael Stillman
Biblio.com has announced it will be working with British online bookseller Biblion to redevelop the latter's current selling strategy. Biblio is the third largest used book ...
By Bruce McKinney
When you think of UCLA you will think of many things but its unlikely rare books is one of them. Well, prepare to adjust your thinking. On the campus of UCLA in Westwood the...
By Michael Stillman
It is a cultural icon and almost certainly the most notable literary work ever published. In fact, it may well be the second most collectible book in the world, second only t...
Saturday September 9th, 2006 - Thursday September 14th, 2006
The 38th Congress of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers will hold their bi-annual meeting in Philadelphia September 9t...
By Bruce McKinney
Part I of the Rare and Historic Book Collection of the Springfield Museums of Springfield,
Massachusetts is up for auction on May 27th at Knotty Pine Auction Service in Ne...
By Michael Stillman
This month we review 17 new booksellers' catalogues. They come from all over the world - Shapero in the UK, Ewens in Canada, Thomas-Scheler in France, Libreria de Antano in A...
ALDE, Apr. 8: GUEVARA (ANTONIO DE). Histoire de Marc-Aurèle, Empereur Romain, vray miroir et horloge des Princes. Paris, Pierre et Galliot du Pré, frères, 1565. €3,000 to €4,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: HEURES DE LA VIERGE. Horæ in laudem beatissimæ virginis Mariæ ad usum Romanum. Paris, Charles L'Angelier, 1556. €4,000 to €5,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: MONTAIGNE (MICHEL DE). Les Essais. Édition nouvelle, trouvée après le deceds de l'autheur… Paris, Abel L'Angelier, 1595. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [ROJAS (FERNANDO DE)]. Celestina, tragicomedia di Calisto et Melibea, tradotta de lingua castigliana in italiano idioma… Venise, 1531. €2,000 to €3,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CAMÕES (LUÍS DE). Os Lusiadas. Lisbonne, Pedro Crasbeeck, 1613. €2,000 to €3,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CERVANTES (MIGUEL DE). El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Bruxelles, Roger Velpius & Huberto Antonio, 1611. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: LA FONTAINE (JEAN DE). Fables choisies, mises en vers. Paris, Denys Thierry et Claude Barbin, 1678-1694. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CERVANTES (MIGUEL DE). El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Madrid, Joaquin Ibarra, 1780. €3,000 to €4,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: DIDEROT (DENIS) ET JEAN LE ROND D'ALEMBERT. Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. Paris, 1751-1765. €15,000 to €20,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [LIVRE TISSÉ]. LAMARTINE (Alphonse de). Les Laboureurs. Poème tiré de Jocelyn… Lyon, J. A. Henry, 1883. €8,000 to €10,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [LIVRE TISSÉ]. Livre de prières tissé d'après les enluminures des manuscrits du XIVe au XVIe siècle. Lyon, [A. Roux], 1886. €5,000 to €6,000.
Sotheby’s Books, Manuscripts & Objects from Three Important Collections Open for Bidding 2-17 April
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: [Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun]. Le Roman de la Rose, [Geneva or Lyons, c.1481], first printed edition of the most important medieval French vernacular poem. £200,000 to £300,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Castiglione. Il libro del cortegiano. [Venice], April 1528, first edition, in a magnificent binding by Jean Picard for Jean Grolier. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Jacobus de Cessolis. Schachzabelbuch, Strasbourg, 1483, von der Lasa copy. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: World Championship, 1972. A collection of 84 press photographs of the famed match between Spassky and Fischer. £2,000 to £3,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Ben Franklin. Autograph letter signed, to Lord Shelburne, British Prime Minister, during peace negotiations, November 1782. £15,000 to £20,000.
