BookFinder, then "MX BookFinder," in its early days.
By Michael Stillman
BookFinder celebrated a major milestone in longevity last month -- its 10th anniversary. Reaching ten years of age may not sound like much of a milestone to those in the antiquarian book trade, but BookFinder is an internet site, not a book. That was an eternity ago, the age of the dinosaurs (also called "dial-up modems"). According to some old numbers we found, only about 20% of the U.S. population, and 1.5% of the world's had internet access at the time. Today, there are more people on MySpace and YouTube at this very moment than had access to the internet in 1997 (okay, I made up that statistic).
In 1997, the top sites were those that connected your telephone line to the web, ones like AOL, Compuserve and Prodigy. When you wanted to find something, you went to Alta Vista or Infoseek or Excite because no one had ever heard of Google. You still got your browser from Netscape. Microsoft had not yet crushed them. eBay was still known as "Auction Web." File sharing was not an issue since Napster was still a couple of years into the future. So was the internet bubble. Investors had not yet even made the money on internet stocks they would lose when the bubble burst.
It was into this new young universe, still unknown to most of the world, that BookFinder was launched. Anirvan Chatterjee, a 19-year-old Berkeley student, with help from high school friend Charlie Hsu, took the site live on January 30, 1997. Theirs would search multiple bookselling sites, enabling users to find listings all in one place. The only shortcoming was that in those early days, there weren't a lot of bookselling sites to search. However, they did find five, including Amazon, Abebooks (known as "The Advanced Book Exchange" at the time) and Powell's Books. The others are forgotten, but among the earliest participants were Interloc (now Alibris), Bibliocity (merged with Alibris), Antiqbook, BookAvenue and YourBooks. BookFinder searched an inventory of 5 million books then (compared to 125 million today).
Actually, Abe and Alibris weren't the only book sites to undergo name changes. BookFinder itself was known as MX BookFinder when it first went live. Within a year or two it was decided to drop the apparently meaningless "MX" from the name. However, if you type www.mxbookfinder.com or www.mxbf.com into your browser, they will still take you to the BookFinder website.
If you expect sentimentality and reminiscing from BookFinder on this momentous occasion, you will be disappointed. This is a site created by computer wizardry, wonks or geeks or whatever, displaying as much corporate emotion over the milestone as would Mr. Spock. This site is all about technical expertise and function, not hugs and congratulations. When the announcement hit our mailbox, the heading was "Long Tail Book Search Engine Turns 10." Not only is that about as unemotional as it gets, we didn't even understand what it means. We immediately shot back "what is a ‘long tail' search engine?" They provided an explanation and a few links, and we think we more or less get the idea. It is an interesting concept that describes much of what is happening now in terms of internet commerce.
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.
Heritage Auctions Rare Books Signature Auction December 15, 2025
Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
Heritage, Dec. 15: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tender is the Night. A Romance.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
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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.")
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
