Review of Reviews: Articles on Collecting Stock Certificates, Las Vegas Booksellers, from AbeBooks
- by Michael Stillman
Bauman Rare Books and Amber Unicorn Books in Las Vegas.
Meanwhile, down the road, Amber Unicorn Books is located in a far less ostentatious location - a strip mall. Myrna and Lou Donato specialize in cookbooks. They have 18,000-20,000 of them. However, they also stock science fiction, fantasy, and other genres. Their store is frequented by many local collectors, yet it still manages to draw in plenty of tourists and convention attendees despite not being located on the strip. While business is down a little with the economy, they do not feel it is anything to worry about, nor are they concerned that the internet will destroy their business.
For those with a canine collection, Abe also has an interview with a specialist in dog books. Click here. Another article discusses the "Biggles" books, novels of the fictional wartime fighter pilot James Bigglesworth, created by Captain W.E. Johns. Click here.
AbeBooks issued its Top 10 list of most expensive books sold in February. Here they are:
10. The Colonization Scheme Considered, in its Rejection by the Colored People, by Samuel E. Cornish & Theodore S. Wright. These African-American clergymen in 1840 rejected a plan to colonize Africa with American blacks. $3,500.
9. Le Maitre-d'Hotel Francais, Traité des Menus a servir a Paris, a St-Pétersbourg, a Londres et a Vienne, by Marie Antonin Carême. The author cooked meals for King George IV, Czar Alexander I and Emperor Francis I of Austria. Now you can see how the other half eats. $3,588.
8. Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing. Eighty bound issues of the scientific journal about... you guessed it - plasma. $3,999.
7. An 18th or 19th century Persian hunting manuscript decorated with ten paintings. $4,004.
6. De Urbibus, Arcibus, Castellisque Condendis, ac Muniendis Rationes Aliquot, Praesenti Bellorum Necessitati ac Commodatissimae, by Albrecht Dürer. And you thought that French title was difficult! $4,200.
5. Forever Odd, by Dean Koontz, one of 26 signed copies. $4,550.
4. Peter Beard: Art Edition, by Owen Edwards, a 2006 elephant folio photo book signed by Beard. "Limited" edition of just 2,250 copies. $5,495. Hm... $5,495 x 2,250 = $12,363,750. Who says there isn't still money to be made in publishing?
3. Summa Theologiae, pars Secunda, by Antoninus Florentinus, a 1496 work on economics and ethics. $6,218.
2. Dreams From My Father, by Barack Obama, now better known as President Barack Obama, a signed first edition, first printing. $8,500.
1. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger. A first edition, first printing of this old standby appears at the top of the list. $11,000.
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.