Rare Book Monthly

Articles - October - 2008 Issue

Smart Phones: Database Access for Geezers


By Tom McKinney

Rare Books on the Go

Mobile computing is changing the world. From online banking, to social networking, to bidding on eBay, everything is being streamlined for the mobile net. I say "streamlined" here because there's one major difference: our view on a phone is at best 3.5" wide, and at worst, around 2", depending on the age of the device. There is an array of phones that can connect to the web, or a mobile version of it. The spectrum runs from top-of-the-line smartphones built for the Internet, like Apple's iPhone, and Research in Motion's Blackberry series, to what you might call "normal" phones, which have a very limited browser feature. The reason mobile computing is important is because the smartphone idea has caught on and moved beyond the business market. So while normal cell phones may have full or limited access to the Internet, this article is targeted for smartphone users, and for prospective buyers.

My perspective is as an iPhone user. However, I have also used a Palm Treo 650, Motorola Blackjack, and RIM Blackberry 8800. This list is made up solely of smartphones, which are optimized for the Web in comparison to regular cell phones like the Motorola RAZR.

There is a place for the mobile Internet in the realm of rare books. Being successful in the business is all about information and applying that knowledge appropriately. With a smartphone in your pocket, there are now ways to stay in touch and online anywhere you happen to be.

Having email in your pocket changes the way you do business. Depending on your perspective, it could be a blessing, or a curse, to have your email available to you twenty-four hours a day! One thing's for sure. If you're in the dark about your material, you're liable to make an unfavorable deal. Email is one way to combat this.

Being a smartphone user is about more than just email, though. With a viable browser, quick searches of the Americana Exchange's AED, or perhaps a price check on AbeBooks or other listing sites could yield the critical data you need in making a decision to buy or not. Or maybe you’re an avid eBay treasure hunter? EBay has a mobile-optimized site. Now, I wouldn't suggest trying to type and post a five-page description for a new listing, but the horizon is definitely broadening. Again, the point here is information, and saved time. Let me give you an example.

I'm at the local flea market that's put on every Saturday a few blocks from my apartment. There are always a couple vendors who are selling used books, and I like to stop by occasionally to check on what they have, maybe find a gem in a pile of otherwise debris. On this particular Saturday, I notice something that just looks old, and could be important. It's a little rough on the edges, but otherwise sound. I decide to investigate a little further. I pull out my smartphone, pull up the AED and do a few searches to see if anything comes up. There are a lot of matches, and none of them seem promising. Oh well, I just saved $15! However, if this had been something good and I didn't have a way to look up material on the spot, I might have left it there for someone else.

The book business isn't something new, but the integration of the Internet with it is. There are of course other ways to effectively collect and sell as you wish. But the Internet is going mobile. There is no doubt about that. I see the ability to research and recall information on the go as a significant advantage. Why not use it?

If you have any further questions, feel free to get in touch with me personally via email at thomascmckinney@gmail.com, and I'll do my best to answer them.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Book of Hours by the Masters of Otto van Moerdrecht, Use of Sarum, in Latin, Southern Netherlands (Bruges), c.1450. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Albert Einstein. Autograph letter signed, to Attilio Palatino, on his research into General Relativity, 12 May 1929. £12,000 to £18,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: John Gould. The Birds of Europe, [1832-] 1837, 5 volumes, contemporary half morocco, subscriber’s copy. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Ian Fleming. A collection of James Bond first editions, 8 volumes in all. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.R.R. Tolkien. Autograph letter signed, to Amy Ronald, on Pauline Baynes's map of Middle Earth, 1970. £7,000 to £10,000.
  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
  • DOYLE
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    July 23, 2025
    DOYLE, July 23: WALL, BERNHARDT. Greenwich Village. Types, Tenements & Temples. Estimate $300-500
    DOYLE, July 23: STOKES, I. N. PHELPS. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909. New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1915-28. Estimate: $3,000-5,000
    DOYLE, July 23: [AUTOGRAPH - US PRESIDENT]FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. A signed photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Estimate $500-800
    DOYLE, July 23: [ARION PRESS]. ABBOTT, EDWIN A. Flatland. A Romance of Many Dimensions. San Francisco, 1980. Estimate $2,000-3,000.
    DOYLE, July 23: TOLSTOY, LYOF N. and NATHAN HASKELL DOLE, translator. Anna Karénina ... in eight parts. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., [1886]. Estimate: $400-600
    DOYLE, July 23: ROWLING, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000. Estimate $1,200-1,800
  • Freeman’s | Hindman
    Western Manuscripts and Miniatures
    July 8, 2025
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FRANCESCO PETRARCH (b. Arezzo, 20 July 1304; d. Arqua Petrarca, 19 July 1374). $20,000-30,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF THE VITAE IMPERATORUM (active Milan, 1431-1459). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF ATTAVANTE DEGLI ATTAVANTI (GABRIELLO DI VANTE) (active Florence, c. 1452-c. 1520/25). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FOLLOWER OF HERMAN SCHEERE (active London, c. 1405-1425). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. An exceptionally rare, illuminated music leaf from a Mozarabic Antiphonal with sister leaves mostly in museum collections. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Exceptional leaf from a prestigious Antiphonary by a leading illuminator of the late Duecento. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF MS REID 33 and SELWERD ABBEY SCRIPTORIUM (AGNES MARTINI?) (active The Netherlands, Groningen, c. 1468-1510). $10,000-15,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Previously unknown illumination from one of the most renowned Gothic Choir Book sets of the Middle Ages. $6,000-8,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum, July 17: Lucianus Samosatensis. Dialogoi, editio princeps, second issue, Florence, Laurentius Francisci de Alopa, 1496. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, July 17: Boccaccio (Giovanni). Il Decamerone, Florence, Philippo di Giunta, 1516. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, July 17: Henry VII (King) & Philip the Fair (Duke of Burgundy). [Intercursus Magnus], [Commercial and Political Treaty between Henry VII and Philip Duke of Burgundy], manuscript copy in Latin, original vellum, 1499. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum, July 17: Bible, English. The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New, Robert Barker, 1613. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, July 17: Bond (Michael). A Bear Called Paddington, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1958. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum, July 17: Yeats (William Butler). The Secret Rose, first edition, with extensive autograph corrections, additions and amendments by the author for a new edition, 1897. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, bound in dark green morocco elaborately tooled in gilt and with 3 watercolours to fore-edge, by Fazakerley of Liverpool, 1841. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, July 17: Miró (Juan), Wassily Kandinsky, John Buckland-Wright, Stanley William Hayter and others.- Spender (Stephen). Fraternity, one of 101 copies, with signed engravings by 9 artists. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Sowerby (George Brettingham). Album comprising 22 leaves of original watercolour drawings of fossil remains of Cheltenham and Vicinity, [c.1840]. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Mathematics.- Blue paper copy.- Euclid. De gli Elementi, Urbino, Appresso Domenico Frisolino, 1575. £12,000 to £18,000.

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