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<b>Bonhams:</b> MANDELSHTAM, OSIP. 1891-1938. Autograph Manuscript, 2 pp, [Petersburg,] January 1913, entitled

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BookFinder Issues List of the 100 Most Sought After Books - By Michael Stillman A glimpse at some humanoid creatures from Serafini's world. By Michael Stillman BookFinder.com has released its annual list of the most sought after books on their site. In the past, they have given us top 10 lists in several different categories. This year, they have combined all types to provide just one large list of the 100 most "out-of-print and in demand" books. BookFinder is a meta-book listing search site. Rather than listing books itself, BookFinder searches the listings on numerous book-listing sites. They search over 150 million listings. It is a place to go in particular to locate a title that is hard to find as it searches so many places at once. To get on this list, there must be a great many people trying to find the book. However, that does not mean the BookFinder list consists of the most popular titles or the most valuable. They are something in between. The most popular, more recent books don't make the list as they are not hard to locate. No one needs to search for them. The highly expensive, collectible books don't make the cut either as few people are looking for these. What we find are books that are both popular and difficult to locate. Generally, these are books whose publishers have not, for whatever reason, reprinted them in many years. This makes them hard to find. Many books will disappear from this list next year as their publishers will have enough sense to reissue them, and people will no longer have to continually search BookFinder to find a copy. Others are not reprinted for some specific reason, and they will reappear year after year. At the bottom of the list, #100, is a book which, we shall see, is a perfect bookend for #1. It is the biography of a country music legend and remarkable person, Johnny Cash - Man in Black. #87 comes from Creighton Lee Calhoun (with a name like that, you know it must be about something southern) - Old Southern Apples. It's a guide to over 1,800 apple varieties from the American South (and I thought apples only grew in the north). IHOP must have been on to something when they built a restaurant chain around pancakes, for here at #79 is Pancakes A to Z by Marie Simmons. Ms. Simmons is author of other classics such as Muffins A to Z and Puddings A to Z. #75 provides an interesting look back in time - The Ideal Communist City, by A.E. Gutnov and A. Baburov. Their ideal might not strike us quite that way, small, dull, look-alike apartments stacked on top of each other in high rises. Individuality was not big in the old Soviet Union. However, some of what they had to say is still worth study. They favored these high-rise communities over suburban sprawl as they could provide access to services and transportation efficiently to large numbers of people. #57 is a book whose presence probably reflects our difficult economic times - Too Good to Be Threw : The Complete Operations Manual for Consignment Shops, by Kate Holmes. #41 is definitely not about senate candidate Christine O'Donnell - Little Witch, by Anna Elizabeth Bennett. Political events of a far more serious note are found in #27, The Torch is Passed: The Associated Press Story of The Death of a President. It is a contemporary account of the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the first few days thereafter. Here, now is the top 10:
BookFinder Issues List of the 100 Most Sought After Books - By Michael Stillman Madonna's never reprinted book on her favorite subject. 10. ERIC : The Encyclopedia of Roman Imperial Coins, by Rasiel Suarez. 618 pages of data for those who collect really old coins. 9. Rage, by "Richard Bachman" (penname for Stephen King). A King obscurity is bound to be desirable. 8. Eve of the End, by Allan D. Richter. Not sure what this one is about. 7. Codex Seraphinianus, by Luigi Serafini. This one is not easily explained. It's something of an illustrated encyclopedic work about a fantasy world created by the Italian artist/architect. Even the language printed in the book, though internally consistent, is incomprehensible. 6. Ticket to Ride, by Dennis Potter. This one can be classified as a psychological novel by the writer of books, plays, and films. 5. Promise Me Tomorrow, by the prolific Nora Roberts. Not even she likes this book, so it has never been reprinted, and hence hard to find. 4. Basic Building Data: 10,000 Timeless Construction Facts, by Don Graf, a book that cannot possibly be as tedious as its title sounds. Everything builders, architects and designers could ever want to know, and then some. 3. The Secret of Instantaneous Healing, by Harry Douglas Smith. Who wouldn't want a book with a promise like that? This was not written by a physician, but by a spiritualist. I don't buy this stuff, either literally or figuratively. 2. In a Dark Place: The Story of a True Haunting, by Ray Garton. Sure it's a true story. Not even author Garton believed the story by the residents of the "haunted" house once he investigated their tale, but was contractually obligated to treat it as nonfiction. 1. What always sells? Sex, by Madonna. She was another generation's Lady Gaga. This is one of those works that could be called either "art" or "pornography," depending on whether you want a respectable explanation for buying it or an honest one. It is perennially #1. It was issued in a limited edition in 1992 with no plans to ever print again. This is a picture book, and the photographs, while not quite indescribable, are not ones I am going to describe. This brings us full circle from #100, which was also from a person who made his name in music. The difference is that he wore black, she wore nothing. That's why Johnny Cash is #100 and Madonna #1. You will find the entire BookFinder Top 100 list at the following link: BookFinder 100.

BookFinder Issues List of the 100 Most Sought After Books

- By Michael Stillman

A glimpse at some humanoid creatures from Serafini's world.

By Michael Stillman

BookFinder.com has released its annual list of the most sought after books on their site. In the past, they have given us top 10 lists in several different categories. This year, they have combined all types to provide just one large list of the 100 most "out-of-print and in demand" books.

BookFinder is a meta-book listing search site. Rather than listing books itself, BookFinder searches the listings on numerous book-listing sites. They search over 150 million listings. It is a place to go in particular to locate a title that is hard to find as it searches so many places at once. To get on this list, there must be a great many people trying to find the book.

However, that does not mean the BookFinder list consists of the most popular titles or the most valuable. They are something in between. The most popular, more recent books don't make the list as they are not hard to locate. No one needs to search for them. The highly expensive, collectible books don't make the cut either as few people are looking for these. What we find are books that are both popular and difficult to locate. Generally, these are books whose publishers have not, for whatever reason, reprinted them in many years. This makes them hard to find. Many books will disappear from this list next year as their publishers will have enough sense to reissue them, and people will no longer have to continually search BookFinder to find a copy. Others are not reprinted for some specific reason, and they will reappear year after year.

At the bottom of the list, #100, is a book which, we shall see, is a perfect bookend for #1. It is the biography of a country music legend and remarkable person, Johnny Cash - Man in Black. #87 comes from Creighton Lee Calhoun (with a name like that, you know it must be about something southern) - Old Southern Apples. It's a guide to over 1,800 apple varieties from the American South (and I thought apples only grew in the north). IHOP must have been on to something when they built a restaurant chain around pancakes, for here at #79 is Pancakes A to Z by Marie Simmons. Ms. Simmons is author of other classics such as Muffins A to Z and Puddings A to Z.

#75 provides an interesting look back in time - The Ideal Communist City, by A.E. Gutnov and A. Baburov. Their ideal might not strike us quite that way, small, dull, look-alike apartments stacked on top of each other in high rises. Individuality was not big in the old Soviet Union. However, some of what they had to say is still worth study. They favored these high-rise communities over suburban sprawl as they could provide access to services and transportation efficiently to large numbers of people.

#57 is a book whose presence probably reflects our difficult economic times - Too Good to Be Threw : The Complete Operations Manual for Consignment Shops, by Kate Holmes. #41 is definitely not about senate candidate Christine O'Donnell - Little Witch, by Anna Elizabeth Bennett. Political events of a far more serious note are found in #27, The Torch is Passed: The Associated Press Story of The Death of a President. It is a contemporary account of the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the first few days thereafter.

Here, now is the top 10:

BookFinder Issues List of the 100 Most Sought After Books

- By Michael Stillman

Madonna's never reprinted book on her favorite subject.

10. ERIC : The Encyclopedia of Roman Imperial Coins, by Rasiel Suarez. 618 pages of data for those who collect really old coins.

9. Rage, by "Richard Bachman" (penname for Stephen King). A King obscurity is bound to be desirable.

8. Eve of the End, by Allan D. Richter. Not sure what this one is about.

7. Codex Seraphinianus, by Luigi Serafini. This one is not easily explained. It's something of an illustrated encyclopedic work about a fantasy world created by the Italian artist/architect. Even the language printed in the book, though internally consistent, is incomprehensible.

6. Ticket to Ride, by Dennis Potter. This one can be classified as a psychological novel by the writer of books, plays, and films.

5. Promise Me Tomorrow, by the prolific Nora Roberts. Not even she likes this book, so it has never been reprinted, and hence hard to find.

4. Basic Building Data: 10,000 Timeless Construction Facts, by Don Graf, a book that cannot possibly be as tedious as its title sounds. Everything builders, architects and designers could ever want to know, and then some.

3. The Secret of Instantaneous Healing, by Harry Douglas Smith. Who wouldn't want a book with a promise like that? This was not written by a physician, but by a spiritualist. I don't buy this stuff, either literally or figuratively.

2. In a Dark Place: The Story of a True Haunting, by Ray Garton. Sure it's a true story. Not even author Garton believed the story by the residents of the "haunted" house once he investigated their tale, but was contractually obligated to treat it as nonfiction.

1. What always sells? Sex, by Madonna. She was another generation's Lady Gaga. This is one of those works that could be called either "art" or "pornography," depending on whether you want a respectable explanation for buying it or an honest one. It is perennially #1. It was issued in a limited edition in 1992 with no plans to ever print again. This is a picture book, and the photographs, while not quite indescribable, are not ones I am going to describe. This brings us full circle from #100, which was also from a person who made his name in music. The difference is that he wore black, she wore nothing. That's why Johnny Cash is #100 and Madonna #1.

You will find the entire BookFinder Top 100 list at the following link: BookFinder 100.