Sacramento's Spring Book Fair, Eugene's Spring Book Sale... and a Word About Pricing
- by Karen Wright
Karen Wright's The Wright Book.
We jumped on the freeway and headed to the Gresham (and outskirt of Portland) FOL sale but it had opened at 10 a.m. and we didn't get there until noon, so most of the good stuff was gone. We found a couple of fun things and one very wonderful Cajun Creole Cookbook that must weigh 15 lbs.
Before I leave you for a month or two I just want to say something about prices. I'm sure I'll generate comments on this, but don't get after the folks at AEMonthly, this is strictly my opinion. I'm not looking to get anyone's wooly knickers in a twist, it is just an observation.
Bookselling has changed over the past ten years so that, in some cases, I barely recognize the business I was in fifteen or twenty years ago. When I say bookselling, I don't mean the very elite antiquarian market. That is still experts selling to experts, whether they are booksellers or book collectors. I'm talking about general bookselling. We go to most of the shows on the West Coast every year, or at least, every other year. I have to wonder at the booksellers who are still pricing their more common books at pre-Internet prices. Sure, that book was once worth $30 when there were thirty copies available in the whole world, but now there are 3,000 copies online at $3 each.
I frequently hear booksellers complaining that they aren't selling any books. I am not surprised. I can't tell you how many folks come into my shop and look for a while, pick up a book that I am charging $7 for (and probably paid $3.50 for) and they say, "Why should I pay $7 when I can get this book for $1 online?" My standard comment is; "You'll pay about the same for the book after you include shipping and you'll have to wait at least five to ten days to get it. And you don't know, when you buy online from the $1 sellers, what condition the book is in. If you get a lemon, it will be more expensive to return it and wait another week or two, or forever, to get a good copy." Sometimes that scores with them, sometimes not.
Booksellers' prices at shows don't make too much sense to me. They go to book shows and price an unsigned, recent, first edition John Grisham, of which there were probably five million printed (and which one finds in every thrift store in every town) at $20 to $30. Do they not want to sell any books? Would they rather go out of business than lower prices? Heaven knows, they bitch nonstop about how they don't sell anything at shows. They price an old, raggedy copy of Taylor's Gardening Book at $25. What's up with that?
I hate it when I have to take a book I bought four years ago for $5 and put it online for $5.50, or even less, sometimes. ABE or Alibris will eat $1 of that or more. But, I don't have much choice when I see 20 copies for $1, $2, $3. I think that we, as booksellers, must get with the times and try to either stop selling common books at fairs or start lowering prices. I'll be happy to hear your comments, maybe for a future article, at wrgtbook@yahoo.com. And don't put on your snippy hat, I'm just asking for opinions. Ta, ta, till next time.
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.")
