Archive for the ‘collecting’ Category

Signed copy of Sarah Palin’s Going Rogue for $115

Monday, November 16th, 2009

going-roguePutting Stephenie Meyer into the vault for a minute, here is another woman who is going to sell a lot of books - Sarah Palin. The first signed copy of her book, Going Rogue, is now listed for sale and the price is $115. I can’t decide whether that is expensive or cheap. I guess it depends on how her political career goes. If she challenges Barack Obama in 2012 and becomes president, then $115 will be a bargain. Signed copies of Going Rogue are going to become reasonably plentiful once her booktour kicks off.

Her booktour starts on November 18 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It’s interesting to see her appearances closely mirror appearances made by Palin and John McCain when they were on the campaign trail. On December 7, Palin appears at the massive Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, which is close to the location of last year’s Republican National Convention, where Palin likened herself to a pit bull (an odd comparison as this breed of dog is now infamous for attacking toddlers.)

Going Rogue is getting a huge media lift - interviews with Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters will be televised this week, and she’ll be doing the rounds of the right-wing talk radio and TV shows. Here is the NY Times’ review.

Obama’s books and his own book tour were key factors in his bid to gain the Democratic nomination and then helped to define his beliefs once the actual presidential campaign was under way.

In terms of collectibility, Palin has a long, long way to go in order to match Obama. The most expensive Obama book sold by AbeBooks is a signed 1995 first edition of Dreams From My Father that went for a huge $12,500 during the early days of his presidency.

UPDATE - the first signed Sarah Palin book sold shortly very quickly after the post was written. The Oprah effect?

20 Beautiful Old Sports Books

Friday, November 13th, 2009

The Beautiful Book Boutique exists to showcase some of the treasures that make AbeBooks special - the rare books, collectible books, antiquarian books and unusual, precious finds that make up part of the 110 million books for sale on our site.

This time around, the focus is on beautiful sports books from centuries past. From collectible cricket books to beautiful baseball books, mustachioed strong men and leatherheads, the world of sports is a treasure trove of fantastic old titles.

Collectible Old Sports Books - see all twenty!

A pair of fireproof books for $31,810

Friday, November 13th, 2009

fireproof-booksFire is fascinating - I love sitting around campfires and burning things. But fire and books don’t mix…or do they? The Fine Books Company of Rochester, Michigan, has bundled together the complete fireproof science fiction collection - limited first edition copies of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and Stephen King’s Firestarter.

Both books are bound in an asbestos material called Johns-Manville Quinterra. The asbestos Fahrenheit 451 edition was limited to 200 copies, all signed by Bradbury, and the copies of Firestarter, signed by King, were a limited lettered edition of only 26 copies.

These two silver shimmering books are very special indeed. And the price? $31,810.

Learn more and see other fire-themed books (like Fire Laddies ABC).

Nosing Out a Book’s Condition

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

noseThe nose knows according to the experts. Scientists have created a test that uses smell to measure the degradation of  historical documents and old books.

That musty old book smell that brings a fond smile to your face? Well, that’s the byproduct of hundreds of of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) being released into the air.

The new test,  a process called material degradomics,  analyzes these gas emissions to track the degradation of paper so that the books can be preserved in the best manner possible. Traditionally samples are  removed from the books and papers causing damage to the documents. Material degradomics avoids this.

AbeBooks’ most expensive sales in October 2009

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

1. The Scots Musical Museum by James Johnson - $8,500
The pivotal collection of Scottish music compiled by Johnson with contributions, both musically and editorially, by Robert Burns - published in 1792 as four volumes, this bound in two. The collection gained international recognition after arrangements by Haydn and Beethoven.

2. Oeuvres by Pierre de Ronsard - $7,435
The complete first volume of the first edition of Ronsard’s poetry; bound with an incomplete copy of the second volume and the preliminary matter of the third volume. Ronsard (1524-1585) was known as the Prince of Poets in his native France. Published in Paris in 1560.

hobbit-tolkien-second-edition3. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien - $6,500
A signed second edition (printed in 1956) of Tolkien’s fantasy masterpiece.

4. The Bonefish Brigade by Zane Grey - $5,000
Privately published in 1922, this was a special edition with “Christmas Greetings” and a candle design printed in red and green on the upper cover. This was Zane Grey’s personal copy with his library blind-stamp on the front free endpaper.

5. Frank Lloyd Wright Monograph by Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer; Frank Lloyd Wright; Yukio Futagawa - $4,500
The complete 12-volume monograph of Wright’s work. Published 1984, first American edition.

See the full list.

Top 10 Most Collectible Photography Books

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

Photography is on the cutting edge of the art world melding creativity and technology to create big, bold and beautiful images of cities, scenery, animals, athletes and everything in between. Publishers and artists have been in a constant battle to outdo each other in producing amazing, and collectible, photography books

Some have come from humble beginnings, self published on a paper thin budget with just a vision to sustain them while others define opulence with massive budgets and even larger price tags. However the end result of either is remarkable.

The 10 Most Collectible Photography Books of All Time
1. The Americans by Robert Frank
2. Paris de Nuit by Brassaï (aka Gyula Halász)
3. The Decisive Moment by Henri Cartier-Bresson
4. Twentysix Gasoline Stations by Ed Ruscha
5. Evidence by Mike Mandel & Larry Sultan
6. Moments Preserved by Irving Penn
7. Let us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee & Walker Evans
8. Sierra Nevada: The John Muir Trail by Ansel Andams
9. I Want to Take Picture by Bill Burke
10. Antarctica by Pat & Rosemarie Keough

Learn more about the 10 Most Collectible Photography Books of All Time

Beautiful books

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

I was talking to Paul from Exquisite Corpse, one of our booksellers who specializes in art books, yesterday and he showed me a fantastic example of “things I would buy if only I could afford them.”

lucas-samaras

It’s a limited edition, signed, 10-page book by Lucas Samaras made up of individually die-cut boards bound together, and extensively illustrated on every page which have visual games and bright colored pop art designs. Among the designs is extensive text in a variety of fonts telling the story. Or as Beth described it ….A board book for grown-ups!

UCLA’s Shakespeare gift worth $2 million

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

A cool $2 million worth of rare William Shakespeare volumes has been given to UCLA. There are 72 books, including a 1685 fourth folio of the Bard’s works. They’ll be stored at the university’s Clark Library. The books, published between 1479 and 1731, belonged to Paul Chrzanowski, a leading physicist.

Harvard gets Updike archive

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

The Boston Globe reports Harvard has acquired the manuscripts and papers of John Updike, who studied at the university in the 1950s. It won’t have come cheap.

Lined up, the entire archive stretches 380 linear feet. It spans 1,500 books, including Updike’s collection of his own work, published in foreign languages and English, as well as books Updike reviewed - with his pencil marks underlining the text, making notes in the margins, or bracketing a particularly well-turned phrase.

The papers also include photographs, files of brochures and fliers used in his research, sample dust-jacket designs, and letters from such literary figures as Kurt Vonnegut and Joyce Carol Oates, as well as from fans.

Signed & first edition copies of Wolf Hall

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

Within minutes of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall winning the Booker Prize last night in London, we saw a flurry of sales of collectible copies. Signed and first editions quickly sold. This morning a couple of signed copies remain on the site.

Top 10 expensive sales on AbeBooks for September 2009

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

Top 10 expensive sales on AbeBooks for September 2009

1. The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King - $14,000
First edition copies of all seven volumes of the series, signed and numbered in a slipcase.

2. Liber Psalmorum Hebraice By Benjamin Kennicott - $8,250
Printed in 1809 this first edition copy of the first American Heberw Psalter is written in Hebrew and Latin, the psalms appearing in Hebrew on each page, with the Latin commentary and notes below.

3. Various first editions & letters by R.K. Narayan & Mulk Raj Anand - $7,764
A collection of more than 20 books, letters, essays, and drafts from Narayan and Anand, two of the most influential English language writers in India. The books included various editions, many firsts, and the majority were signed.

4. Fourteen Thomas Pynchon first editions - $6,269
A collection of 14 first edition by this reclusive American author, including The Crying of Lot 49, Gravity’s Rainbow, Vineland, and Mason & Dixon.

5. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling - $6,000
A leather-bound collector’s edition copy of Rowling’s much talked about mini-book. Signed and limited to just 100 copies - this was #84.

6. Jackson Pollock: A Catalogue Raisonne of Paintings, Drawings and Other Works - $6,000
Published by Yale University Press in 1978 this collection was printed in four volumes together in a slip case.

7. Les Fleurs Du Mal by Charles Baudelaire - $5,885
Baudelaire’s classic book of poetry republished with illustrations (lithographs and woodcuts) by Henri Matisse. It was also signed by Matisse.

8. Poemes by Charles d’Orléans - $5,866
The poetry of the Duke of Orleans with original lithographs by Henri Matisse. A 1950 edition limited to 1,230 copies, signed in pencil by the French artist.

9. Ootheca Wolleyana: An Illustrated Catalogue of the Collection of Birds’ Eggs, begun by the late John Wolley, Jun., M.A., F.Z.S., and continued with additions, by the editor, Alfred Newton - $5,580
Published in 1907, this was a first edition copy of this ornithology book.

10. Copper Engravings by Robert Cami, Rene Cottet, Albert Decaris Robert Jeannisson, Kiyoshi Hasegawa & Paul Lemagny - $4,950
A monograph on engraving by Jean Adhemar followed by short biographies of each of the six artists, accompanied by a suite of six large engravings, one each by Cami, Cottet, Decaris, Jeannisson, Hasegawa, and Lemagny. This edition, limited to 50 copies, also included a second set of engravings in the first state, published 1945.

30 More Beautiful Old Books

Friday, September 25th, 2009

I just can’t get enough of these gorgeous covers. There are books with cool, interesting or neat covers now, but even the changes in binding over the last 100 years have (in my opinion) reduced the art factor of books. Heavy, decorated cloth on boards, gilt, watermarks behind text, embossing/debossing, floral decorations, illuminations - these are no longer the standard fare in producing books.

I wish I had all the money in the world to build a giant library, fill it with lovely, antique books and spend all my time in it. But for now, I’ll be content to buy one or two really special, exquisite old books as a treat for myself each year.

See all 30 Beautiful, Century-Old Books.

Yesterday’s Muse - 20% off sale

Friday, September 25th, 2009

Our friends at the Yesterday’s Muse - a great bookshop in Webster Village, Rochester, NY - have discounted the prices of their books on AbeBooks by 20%. They offer used, rare and collectible books. Check out their first edition of The Catcher in the Rye and their signed copy of The Other Shore by Nobel Prize winner Gao Xingjian is also very special.

Signed Beedle the Bard sells for $6,000

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

beedle-the-bard-collectorsYou might have thought J.K. Rowling was rather old hat these days. A little bit forgotten even. It’s Dan Brown everywhere you look at the moment and then wham! AbeBooks goes and sells a $6,000 copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard. It was a first edition of the leather collector’s edition – one of only 100 numbered copies that were signed by J.K. Rowling.

Apparently, these copies were distributed randomly to buyers who bought the collector’s edition from Amazon.co.uk. Somebody got something very special in the mail considering any book signed by J.K Rowling has instant value on the rare book market. For instance, in December 2007, the AbeBooks charity auction sold a signed copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for $3,950.

The collector’s edition of Beedle the Bard is leather-bound and jeweled with an embroidered velvet bag, and an envelope containing 10 prints by Rowling herself. Everything is housed in a faux book clamshell case.

Review: The Man Who Loved Books Too Much

Monday, September 21st, 2009

the-man-who-loved-books-too-muchOver a period of about 10 years, beginning in the late 1990s, book collector John Gilkey of Modesto, Calif., acquired an impressive array of rare first editions by authors including Mark Twain, Beatrix Potter and Vladimir Nabokov. Money was no object because Gilkey didn’t buy his books. He stole them.

The San Francisco Chronicle carries a short review of The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession by Allison Hoover Bartlett.