AbeBooks' Reading Copy

Some news from our neck of the woods here in British Columbia. Five finalists have been selected for the 2013 City of Victoria Butler Book Prize.  The award goes to the best book published in the preceding year by a Greater Victoria author in the fiction, non-fiction, or poetry categories, though there aren’t any poets […]

The 2013 Vancouver Book Fair is just around the corner.  This year’s event happens Saturday, September 28th and Sunday, September 29th at UBC Robson Square.  AbeBooks is once again a proud sponsor. Visitors will see rare and beautiful literary treasures including collectible books, ephemera, maps, prints, and manuscripts.  Items on display will be as old […]

Look at Ernest Hemingway in this signed photograph that appears on our list of most expensive sales in August. The photo is inscribed “Norma – glad you finally came to Key West – ever, Ernest” and dated 1937. Sitting on a sailboat gunwale, Hemingway looks fit, tanned and totally at ease. This photo sold for$8,250 […]

If money were no object, what would your book collection look like? Would you own an original Hobbit, a signed Einstein or the ultimate Joyce collection for six figures? I find myself dreaming about this from time to time. I love books so much, in so many different ways – the pleasure of reading (chiefly), […]

This interesting video features AbeBooks bookseller Harry Nudel, but Harry is much more than just a book dealer as you will find out. This New York-based seller lists close to 10,000 books, including a number of very rare books at prices up to $250,000. He talks about his early life, 40 years as a book […]

Every month AbeBooks lists the ten most expensive books that have been purchased on the site, it’s a very interesting list that keeps a finger on the pulse of what collectors are adding to their libraries around the world.  I look forward to putting the list together each month because, not only does it give […]

Top 10 bestselling signed books on AbeBooks from June 2013 1. Son by Philipp Meyer 2. Transatlantic by Colum McCannhtt 3. American Assassin by Vince Flynn 4. The Last Man by Vince Flynn 5. The Guns At Last Light by Rick Atkinson 6. Extreme Measures by Vince Flynn 7. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled […]

A Texas bookseller is attempting to rebuild his bookselling business after a devastating storm ripped through Lubbock, Texas last month. The storm and its high winds, which struck around midnight on June 5th, destroyed 90% of Bill Gallagher’s inventory for his bookselling business, Shamrock Books. “The books were assembled over a span of 35 years […]

We’ve just done a feature on collectible medical books, and it was fascinating to find all of the old techniques and beliefs about medicine and the human body in the books from decades and centuries ago. While medicine has been practiced in various forms for thousands of years, the constant evolution of its tools and […]

Are you thinking of becoming a rare bookseller? Or have you just started to sell collectible books? The Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar is a week-long educational event held in Colorado Springs in August, 2013 for booksellers, librarians and collectors that offers expert discussion about rare books. The Book Seminar provides an opportunity for leading specialists […]