Searching The Old Book Sites:<br>Just Who Is The Best?
- by Michael Stillman
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Here is an oddity of these sites that leads us to the last reviewed site, Froogle. The ABAA (and ILAB) search boxes don’t take too many characters (I did not count exact numbers). The result is that it has trouble finding titles like History of the Expedition Under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clarks. Somewhere in the “captains” it shut down. I could select out just the more important keywords in the title which helped, but wasn’t perfect. It never could find the copy of the Expedition to the Great Salt Lake where the seller added a few extra words to call it Expedition and Survey of the Great Salt Lake. Here’s the oddity. Froogle searches many sites for its books, including the ABAA. However, its search box accepts more words, and its formula can deal with less than perfectly matched titles, such as those with an extra word or two. Since it searches the ABAA listings through its own search engine, not the ABAA’s, it was able to find books on the ABAA site I was not able to find on that site itself! I found a copy of the Lewis and Clark book and one of the Salt Lake offered on the ABAA site through Froogle I could not find on that site itself.
The first item I attempted to track down was the Stansbury Salt Lake title. I found that most offered for sale were either the 1852 original or a 1966 reprint. Here’s what I found:
Book Site
1852 original
Price Range
1966 reprint
Price Range
Abebooks
5
$135-$623
14
$9.50-$35
Alibris
0
--
8
$9.90-$24.95
ABAA
1
$350
1
$25
ILAB
2
$350-$613
1
$25
Froogle
2
$350-$1600*
2
$15-$25
Barnes and Noble
0
--
10
$10.05-$26.47
Amazon
0
--
5
$12-$107
*The $1,600 copy was the one offered on the ABAA site that I could only find through Froogle. It is priced so high because it includes the original, loose maps.
I hope I found everything from Amazon. I first attempted searching "used books" for the title, only to get 21,895 "matches." None of the first ten were actual matches, and not having the time to wade through 21,885 more listings, I went to "collectible books," where I found five.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
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Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 156: Cornelis de Jode, Americae pars Borealis, double-page engraved map of North America, Antwerp, 1593.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 206: John and Alexander Walker, Map of the United States, London and Liverpool, 1827.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 223: Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, hand-colored double-page engraved world map, Antwerp, 1575.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 233: Aaron Arrowsmith, Chart of the World, oversize engraved map on 8 sheets, London, 1790 (circa 1800).
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 239: Fielding Lucas, A General Atlas, 81 engraved maps and diagrams, Baltimore, 1823.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 240: Anthony Finley, A New American Atlas, 15 maps engraved by james hamilton young on 14 double-page sheets, Philadelphia, 1826.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 263: John Bachmann, Panorama of the Seat of War, portfolio of 4 double-page chromolithographed panoramic maps, New York, 1861.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 265: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1558.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 271: Abraham Ortelius, Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Antwerp: Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 283: Joris van Spilbergen, Speculum Orientalis Occidentalisque Indiae, Leiden: Nicolaus van Geelkercken for Jodocus Hondius, 1619.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 285: Levinus Hulsius, Achtzehender Theil der Newen Welt, 14 engraved folding maps, Frankfurt: Johann Frederick Weiss, 1623.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 341: John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, Plate 26, London, 1827.
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/00d5fd41-2542-4a80-b119-4886d4b9925f.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.")
