AbeBooks' Reading Copy

Before Instagram, selfie sticks, disposable cameras, Polaroids, and box brownies, there were carte de visites – small photographic albumen prints, mounted on card, which were wildly popular during the Victorian era. Also known as CdV, carte de visites followed the early pioneering photographic techniques such as daguerreotype and ambrotype, which were expensive and difficult to […]

Author Annie Barrows is the guest on the latest AbeBooks podcast. Annie is the co-author of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, one of the most popular novels of the past 10 years. Published in 2008, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society has been published in 37 countries and in 32 […]

We’re talking wine in the latest AbeBooks podcast. Award-winning wine critic Natalie MacLean joins us to discuss the wonderful world of wine, from the most famous vineyards to wine in literature, $15 wines versus $30 wines, tasting in the digital age, pairings with food, and much more. Natalie (pictured) is the author of two books […]

The author of The Illustrated Dust Jacket 1920-1970 reveals why he loves artwork from this era. A former illustrator, Martin Salisbury is a professor of illustration at the Cambridge School of Art in the Anglia Ruskin University in the UK. He is the author of a book called The Illustrated Dust Jacket 1920-1970, which showcases […]

A new book fair is about to make its debut. Rare Books Los Angeles occurs on February 1 and 2 at the Pasadena Convention Center. It is organized by Brad and Jen Johnson, the husband and wife bookselling team behind Johnson Rare Books & Archives. They also run a bricks and mortar bookshop in Covina […]

Meet Scott Baker Wallace from Victoria in Australia. Scott is a devoted collector of Agatha Christie books and also other objects associated with her detective stories. In our latest podcast, Scott describes his adventures in collecting and the places he’s visited along the way. Christie wrote 66 novels, 14 short stories and the world’s longest […]

We interview Rebecca Baumann in the latest episode of AbeBooks’ Behind the Bookshelves podcast. Rebecca’s day job is Head of Library Public Services at the Indiana University’s Lilly Library in Bloomington, Indiana. The Lilly contains one of North America’s finest collections of rare books and manuscripts. However, we are discussing Rebecca’s personal book collection of […]

A copy of Lady Chatterley’s Lover, used by the judge who presided over the famous 1960 obscenity trial, has sold for more than £56,000 (about $71,500) at auction, reports the BBC.  Judge Laurence Byrne brought the copy of DH Lawrence’s novel into the courtroom each day. As everyone knows, Penguin, the book’s publisher, was found […]

 One of our favorite books of 2018 has been The Illustrated Dust Jacket 1920-1970 by Martin Salisbury.  This is a book for anyone who loves beautiful dust jackets. It traces the evolution of the book jacket from its functional origins as a plain protective covering. Salisbury celebrates the work of more than 50 artists […]

Our latest edition of the Behind the Bookshelves podcast features an interview with Lisa Grimm (pictured), who is a collector of books about ghostlore, general folklore and weird fiction. Lisa, who lives in Seattle, is a trained librarian but no longer works in libraries. Brought up in St Louis, Lisa has also lived in the […]