Rare Book Monthly

Articles - February - 2011 Issue

A Personal View of 2010

- by Susan Halas

Blue Jacket Books of Xenia, Ohio.

I agree with Gene and here’s my own mantra for 2011:

 

Big, be it Amazon or Borders may come and go, but small is forever. As small dealers we’re in the knowledge business, whatever format it takes now or in the future. The more we know the better we’ll do. What the dealer adds is the frame of reference and credibility: why it’s important and who might want it. It’s that knowledge that differentiates the wheat from the chaff.

 

When I finished my year end numbers I found that 90 percent of my revenue came from 10 percent of my transactions, but there were also lots and lots and lots of small sales and at least a few repeat customers whose trade though small was welcome.

 

My thanks to all of you who helped me make it through.

 

Links to the booksellers mentioned in this month’s article

 

Better World Books – Antiquarian Division www.betterworldbooks.com

 

Blue Jacket Books www.bluejacketbooks.com

 

Book Fever www.bookfever.com

 

Books Tell You Why www.bookstellyouwhy.com

 

Lux Mentis www.luxmentis.com

 

Michael J. Osborne Books www.michaeljosbornebooks.com

 

Motte & Bailey www.mottebooks.com/shop/motte/index.html

 

Old Lahaina Book Emporium www.oldlahainabookemporium.com

 

Tavistock Books www.tavbooks.com

 

Susan Halas, a long time antiquarian dealer, writes for AE Monthly.

Reach her at halas@hawaii.rr.com

 

 

Here are the links for a year’s worth of Halas’ stories in AE Monthly

 

Feb. - Bookselling – It’s a Business (with Chris Volk) tinyurl.com/67hf9o2

 

March - ABAA – Data, Knowledge Charm, New Blood tinyurl.com/64nmdhr

 

April - Exit Strategies: Getting out of the Book Business tinyurl.com/63lb6ej

 

May - Richard Minsky on Decorative Bindings tinyurl.com/672dbmj

 

June - Cherokee Nation Puts History on Display tinyurl.com/5rn4awb

 

July- Bud Plant celebrates 40 years in Comics & Illustration - tinyurl.com/6xwheet

 

Sept. - Vic Zoschak Talks Bibliography tinyurl.com/6gxeokx

 

Oct. - Bookselling tips for eBay tinyurl.com/6xwdker

 

Nov. - Better World Books - tinyurl.com/6k8qk3t

 

Dec. - Nancy Pearl: America’s Favorite Librarian tinyurl.com/5wn2nj8

 

Jan. – 007: Bond for Booksellers tinyurl.com/6jbghya

 

 

See all the articles published by AE Monthly in the AE Archives at:

 

www.americanaexchange.com/ae/AEMonthly/AEMonthlyArchive.aspx

Rare Book Monthly

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    Modern First Editions
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    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
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    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
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  • Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Isaac Newton on chemistry and matter, and alchemy, Autograph Manuscript, "A Key to Snyders," 3 pp, after 1674. $100,000 - $150,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Exceptionally rare first printing of Plato's Timaeus. Florence, 1484. $50,000 - $80,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: On the Philosophy of Self-Interest: Adam Smith's copy of Helvetius's De l'homme, Paris, 1773. $40,000 - $60,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: "Magical Calendar of Tycho Brahe" - very rare hermetic broadside. Engraved by Merian for De Bry. c.1618. $30,000 - $50,000
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    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Heinrich Hertz scientific manuscript on his mentor Hermann Von Helmholtz, 1891. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: The greatest illustrated work in Alchemy: Micheal Maier's Atalanta Fugiens. Oppenheim, 1618. $30,000 - $50,000
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    Auction 51
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 14st 2024
    Gonnelli: Leonard Bramer, The descent from the cross, 1634. Starting price 3200€
    Gonnelli: Gustav Hjalmar de Morner Karel, Rome’s Carnival, 1820. Starting price 1000€
    Gonnelli: Various Authors, Mater Dolorosa, 1700. Starting price 200€
    Gonnelli: Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Carcere Oscura, 1790. Starting price 180€
    Gonnelli: Jan Brueghel, Marine fauna view, 1620 ca. Starting price 28000€
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    Gonnelli: Francesco Burani, Baccanale, 1630. Starting Price 280€
    Gonnelli: Giuseppe Maria Mitelli, Plance from Ventiquattr’ore, 1675. Starting price 800€
    Gonnelli: Giuseppe Angeli, Livorno’s Plan, 1793. Starting price 240€
    Gonnelli: XIV Century Artist, Capital “N” letter, 1350 ca. Starting price 340€

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