By Bruce McKinney

I've seen the future and can report it's exciting. Well, this isn't exactly Martin Luther King saying "I've seen the promised land" but it is part of the future of book valuation nevertheless and it is easy, fast and thought provoking. This month we introduce automated current pricing in the AED. For those who have wondered how or why a 1923 auction record is relevant to book valuation today I have ...more

By Bruce McKinney

Over the past three years I have acquired 2 to 3 million auction records and about 17,500 dealer catalogues from the period 1850 to the present. I have done so to build the Americana Exchange Database [AED]. Today we have 1,090,974 full text records online and continue to add material non-stop. We of course are also entering upcoming auction lots and adding realized prices after the sales.

In ...more

By Bruce McKinney

I recently discovered an author whose work I admire: Katharine Weber. She teaches at Yale and writes fiction through the eyes and voices of women. The novels I read are Objects in Mirror Are Closer than they Appear [1995], The Music Lesson [1999] and The Little Women [2003]. In these books women are complete people, the equal of men, capable of creating and surviving life's sturm und drang. Her first ...more

By Renee Magriel Roberts

Today I added another dealer name to my "never buy from again" master list when a book that I ordered arrived thrown bare and banged-up in a Priority Mail envelope. So, before I launch into this packing "how-to" article, kudos to all you dealers -- you know who you are -- who take the time to carefully examine, repair, and beautifully package your products and ship them promptly and in the right way ...more

By Michael Stillman

Figuring out the value of a book is probably the most vexing issue facing booksellers and collectors alike. Not that there is any lack of data. Books have been auctioned in the open market for over three centuries. Knowledgeable booksellers have been placing prices on them for at least that long. There is an enormous wealth of information. The problem is that many of these valuations are old. How can we ...more

By Michael Stillman

The bookshop has finally made it to the small screen. Thanks to the good folks at Fox TV, a mythical bookstore will be delivered to your home at 8:30 (7:30 Central Time, as they say) every Thursday night for a six-week trial run. If popular, it will undoubtedly be back next fall, so be sure to tell your local Fox affiliate how much you like this show.

The name of the series is "Stacked," and it ...more

By Michael Stillman

You must read this book. It may well be the most important one you will ever read. The authors think it is so important that while they will sell it you for $40, they will also let you download it for free. Do it now. Here is the link for a free download or a purchase: www.oilendgame.com/ReadTheBook.html.

The title ...more

By Carl Burnham

As booksellers, we are always seeking new avenues to market our items to attract new customers. Overstock.com is one such avenue that we have explored for listing books on auction. Publicly traded on NASDAQ as OSTK, the Utah based company Overstock is a closeout retailer for brand-name items at discounted prices. Through their website, Overstock serves as an online distributor for suppliers to use to sell ...more

By Michael Stillman

Bauman Rare Books, of New York and Philadelphia, recently issued a catalogue of "New Acquisitions." There are no particular limits on the type of material Bauman offers, but here are the concentrations we found in this catalogue: most works are in the English language, primarily American, though many are from Britain. There are numerous works of historic and scientific importance, many signed first editions ...more

By Michael Stillman

This month we review our first catalogue from J & J Hanrahan. The Hanrahans are located in Wells, Maine, along the Atlantic coast and just down the road from the Bush family compound. Not the ranch, the summer home. It is the epitome of old New England, and so are many of the books they offer. Now, you will find much more in their catalogue, even some Texas material, but their "List 57" does contain ...more

By Michael Stillman

Libreria de Antano, of Buenos Aires, Argentina, offers some of the finest books and manuscripts of Spanish America. That is not all that they present, but certainly it is their concentration. Most works are in the Spanish language as well, although there are also titles in English, French, German and other languages offered. Their latest catalogue is titled A Selection of Fine Books & Manuscripts 1528-1966. ...more

By Michael Stillman

The Raab Collection has issued its Catalogue 49 of one-of-a-kind material - manuscripts, personal letters, and other signed documents, photographs, and simple autographs. Raab specializes in the very best material. There will be few if any signers whose names you won't recognize. They are important figures in history, and many of these documents touch on the momentous issues of the day. They often provide ...more

By Michael Stillman

The 19th Century Shop has published its 104th catalogue, American Books and Manuscripts. It offers an interesting mix of familiar and obscure material. Items are as diverse as a Washington letter and a photograph of the first Brooklyn fire station. What is common is that all is first-rate material appropriate to a quality collection. Now for a few items you will find.

That Washington ...more

By Michael Stillman

The Arthur H. Clark Company has issued A Catalog of Fine Books, number 919 for this century-old bookseller. This catalogue includes a memorial to Arthur H. Clark, Jr., son and namesake of the company founder, who died on March 27, 2005, at the age of 92. Mr. Clark had worked for the family business, selling and publishing books, since his graduation from college in 1934. That's a career of over 70 ...more

By Michael Stillman

Charles Wood Antiquarian Booksellers' latest catalogue, One Hundred Nine Rare Books, or "Catalogue 122," lives up to its name and Wood's reputation. Certainly these are rare books, all 109 of them. And, most fit within the types we have come to expect from Charles Wood, high quality printing and illustrating, with a concentration of titles in artistic realms, such as architecture, perspective and ...more