Virtually all Zubal customers visit electronically rather than in person. On any given day several hundred thousand books are for sale. That makes its active inventory about three times the size of the largest Barnes & Noble Bookstores. And as quickly as this material heads out the door a mountain of unprocessed material waits its chance to enter the selling ring. Few will ever penetrate the mysteries of the Zubal warehouses but everyday hundreds, even thousands of customers peruse the Zubal inventory online and many find the material they want at prices that are right. I could have stayed longer but managed to have most of a day there. It was unforgettable.
On Tuesday, the 16th, we visited Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. Tom headed for an admission interview and I met Bruce Kinzer, Professor of History. Here I had the opportunity to discuss how the Æ could be effective and interesting to colleges, professors, and universities and received some valuable insight and perspective along with some suggestions about how to proceed.
On Wednesday, we visited Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Here I met Megan Adams, Social Sciences librarian and learned that educational institutions are increasingly looking for the ability to monitor the burgeoning population of databases that are quickly populating the net. In some sense, libraries have the same concerns as the websites do. Are the students using the database? And how are they using it?
In the afternoon we visited the University of Pennsylvania. This is a very impressive school.
On Thursday we visited Lehigh University in Bethlehem. This is an “engineering school” but is actually much more although an analysis of the databases available in their libraries show how strongly slanted to engineering they are. Of about 115 databases I saw listed only two looked to be obviously tied to American history. But Lehigh seems to be onto something. I doubt there are many colleges as technologically advanced and we, on the Æ, can see convergence ahead as the technical side of the world merges with humanities databases to empower both the left and right brainers. One senses the future is now.
On Friday Tom visited New York University. It’s located in Greenwich Village. For Tom, who goes to school in Haight Ashbury, this seemed very comfortable. The size of the liberal arts school means there are plenty of courses with the ability to experiment in different disciplines before declaring a major.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
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…
![<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.")
