AbeBooks' Reading Copy

William Nicholson’s Alphabet book, published in 1897, is an ABC book like no other. A talented artist, illustrator and print-maker, Nicholson used simple woodcuts and minimal text to show the good, bad and ugly of Victorian society. It contains a self-portrait, a family joke and E for Executioner.Find copies of William Nicholson’s Alphabet book

If you attended Howard University between 1984 and 1986, you might want to dig out your college yearbooks. AbeBooks recently sold a set of Bison yearbooks for 1984, 1985 and 1986 for $1,500 thanks to the inclusion of Kamala Harris, who graduated from Howard in 1986 with a degree in political science and economics. Harris […]

In our latest podcast, we interview Cheryl Alexander who is a conservation photographer based in Victoria, British Columbia, and the author of a book called Takaya Lone Wolf. Beginning in 2014, she photographed the unusual phenomenon of a lone wolf that lived on a cluster of small islands about 1.5km off the coast of Victoria […]

The most desirable rare book of 2020 is pure escapism. A Wonderful Time by Slim Aarons is an out-of-print photo-book from 1974 that revealed the sumptuous lifestyles of America’s elite society in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Before 2020, it was possible to purchase copies for less than $200. This year, copies have been selling […]

We’d like to tell you about a little bookshop in Minneapolis with a big heart. DreamHaven Books specializes in new and used science fiction, fantasy, horror, film books, comics, and graphic novels, and it’s been serving customers since 1977. Last week, owner Greg Ketter and an employee were attacked and robbed as they closed up […]

Today, we have a good reason to talk about poetry. Louise Glück (pronounced Glick) has won the 2020 Nobel prize for literature. She is the first American woman to win since Toni Morrison in 1993. The 77-year-old writer has already won a Pulitzer, a National Book Award and numerous other prizes. Her writing often covers […]

This is the UK’s only residential library, Gladstone’s Library in Flintshire near Chester. Yes, you can spend the night in this building. We speak to warden and director Peter Francis about the history of this remarkable institution in our latest podcast.

In 1869 a journalist called Blanchard Jerrold joined forces with the famous French artist Gustave Doré to create an illustrated record of London. Night and day, this duo explored the city, going from poverty-stricken slums to royal palaces. The book, first published in parts, was called London: A Pilgrimage, and it contained 180 wood engravings. […]

In the latest AbeBooks podcast, we interview bookseller and author Michael Vinson about his new book, which describes the life and misadventures of Texas rare book dealer Johnny Jenkins during the 1970s and 1980s. Surrounded by gambling debts and with the authorities breathing down his neck over two suspicious fires, Jenkins was found dead in […]