The Board also announced that, based on their decision to "explore strategic alternatives," the company's founder and largest shareholder, Leonard Riggio, intends to consider the possibility of forming an investment group to acquire the company. In other words, he is considering an attempt to take the company private, and one can't help but wonder whether expressions of such an interest on Mr. Riggio's part was a leading cause of the Board's decision to put the company up for sale. That said, there are a couple of other large shareholders, and it is possible that they will have ideas of their own.
The market immediately reacted favorably to the news. Buyouts generally come at a premium to current stock price. Barnes and Noble's stock quickly shot up over 20%. However, it must be remembered that even with this spike, the stock was still barely over half of its high price of the past year. Except for the preceding few weeks, if you bought the stock any time during the last 12 years, you lost money.
In another announcement, and one more targeted to improving the performance of their stores, Barnes and Noble announced that it would be expanding its "Nook" displays to include "full service e-reading boutiques." The "Nook" is Barnes and Nobles electronic reading device. These boutiques are more than just a display area for their electronic readers. It is a place to preview electronic books, something akin to what their stores have always provided for printed books. This looks to us to be a smart idea as it attempts to leverage that one asset B&N has that its competitors lack, a local presence, into sales. It also provides the social setting for reading electronic books they provided for physical books, and if they can make this work to their advantage, Amazon cannot encroach on their space. It is worth the try.
B&N will also provide Nook software for other electronic reading devices, such as iPads and iPhones, Blackberries and Androids, so that the electronic books they sell can be used on devices other than their own Nooks. The electronic reader missing from this list is the most popular of them all, Amazon's Kindle. This is not Barnes and Noble's choice. Kindles use proprietary software. B&N is open source. Time will tell whether Amazon's go-it-alone strategy generates more of fewer sales. Barnes and Noble will be cooperating with others in hopes of their combined forces successfully taking on Amazon.
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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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.
![<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.")
