Rare Book Monthly

Articles - October - 2009 Issue

BookFinder's Top 10's: A Sign of the Times

- by Michael Stillman


Fiction and Literature is headed by a psychological novel, Ticket to Ride, by Dennis Potter. Last year's number 1, Once a Runner, also disappeared from the hard-to-find list as a result of a recent reprint. Nora Roberts' Promise Me Tomorrow is once again the bridesmaid in this category.

The category of History has seen a wide range of subjects at number 1. Three years ago it was the Civil War, two years ago a defunct New York Restaurant, and last year a New Orleans' French Quarter Hotel. This year continues the run of obscure, rather than major historical titles: Folklore of Hamilton County by Violet Morgan. That's Hamilton County, Ohio, that is described in this 1946 book.

Mysteries and Thrillers has a repeat atop its list: Legally Sane, by John Hahn and Harold McKenney. It is a story of a psychopathic killer who may be sane legally, but in no other way. There is also a repeat atop the Popular Science & Technology category where Carl Sagan lives on with his Murmurs of Earth. Other top ten titles include The Rifleman's Rifle Winchester's Model 70, The Rifle in America, and The Modern Gunsmith. Hopefully this means that in hard times people do more hunting for food, not something more ominous.

In Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror, Patricia Briggs' Masques replaces Stephen King's (as Richard Bachman) Rage, now number 2. This is the now-popular fantasy writer's obscure first work, published in 1993. Number 1 in the final category, Society and Culture, is Ray Garton's In a Dark Place: The Story of a True Haunting. It is a haunted house story that despite the contractually obligated title, not even Garton believes is true. However, four of the next five, all new to the top ten, could well reflect concerns with today's economy: Wall St. Under Oath, Secrets of the Federal Reserve, The World Order: Our Secret Rulers, and The Future of Money.

You will find all of BookFinder's Top 10 lists at the following link: BookFinder's Top 10.

Rare Book Monthly

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    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD
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    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Exceptionally rare first printing of Plato's Timaeus. Florence, 1484. $50,000 - $80,000
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    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Rare Largest Paper Presentation Copy of Newton's Principia, London, 1726. The third and most influential edition. $60,000 - $90,000
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    Doyle, May 1: The Prayer Book of Jehan Bernachier. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Doyle, May 1: Van Dyck's Icones Principum Virorum Doctorum. $10,000 to $15,000.
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    Doyle, May 1: A remarkable unpublished manuscript of a voyage to South America in 1759-1764. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Doyle, May 1: Bouchette's monumental and rare wall map of Lower Canada. $12,000 to $18,000.
    Doyle, May 1: An rare original 1837 abolitionist woodblock. $8,000 to $12,000.
    Doyle, May 1: An important manuscript breviary in Middle Dutch. $15,000 to $25,000.
    Doyle, May 1: An extraordinary Old Testament manuscript, circa 1250. $20,000 to $30,000.

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