AbeBooks Top 10 Highest Prices for the First Three Months of 2017
- by Michael Stillman
The Whole Works of Homer.
Which books are bringing the highest prices on the listing sites right now? AbeBooks, the largest of them all, has released their list of the top 10 highest prices paid on their site during the first three months of 2017. The works range mostly from old to very old, including two pieces of incunabula (pre-1501). All but two are dated 1753 or earlier, the other two coming from a great 20th century writer and a great 20th century artist. Here is the list.
10. Danorum Regum (Danish Kings) by Saxo Grammaticus. Grammaticus was a Danish historian who wrote long before printing. He lived roughly from 1150-1220. This edition is much more recent, barely over 500 years old (1514). It is the earliest known edition of Grammaticus' work. It contains the story of Amleth, on which Shakespeare based his Hamlet, Price of Denmark. Grammaticus' work is not entirely historic, blurring the lines between reality and mythology. $11,436.
9. The Whole Works of Homer, Prince of the Poetts... Translated by George Chapman and privately printed for Nathaniel Butler in 1616. This was the first complete collection of Homer's works in English. $11,437.
8. Carmen des Carmen, by Louis Aragon, featuring one lithograph and four etchings by Pablo Picasso, published in 1964. $12,650.
7. The Ruins of Palmyra, otherwise Tedmor, in the Desart, by Robert Wood and James Dawkins, published in 1753. Sadly, this is the Syrian city where ISIS has been putting even the ruins to ruin. $12,926.
6. Actes and Monuments, by John Foxe, the sixth edition, published in 1753. Better known as "Foxe's Book of Martyrs," it was a favorite among English Protestants in the days when they were constantly at war with Catholics. The victims are Protestants, martyred at the hands of Catholics, without much balance for the other side provided by Foxe. $13,000.
5. The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger, a 1951 first edition, first printing of the schoolboys' favorite book when schoolboys still read books for excitement. $14,000.
4. Principia Philosophiae, and Specimina Philosophiae, two 1644 books by Rene Descartes, bound in one. This is where Descartes explained that he thought, therefore he was. $14,535.
3. Quadragesimale Aureum, by Leonardo de Utino, published in 1471. Utino was a celebrated theology professor and preacher from Bologna who spoke in various cities of today's Italy. This is a collection of his sermons, more likely valued today for the age and quality of the book than its content. $16,016.
2. Les Passions de L'ame (The Passions of the Soul). Once again we find Rene Descartes on our list, this time speaking of the mind-body connection and describing, for the first time, the reflex function. Published in 1649. $17,500.
1. Speculum Historiale, by Vincent de Beauvais. This is another one of those "later" editions of a book written in the 13th century, in this case published in 1473. Vincent de Beauvais wrote an encyclopedia in three parts, nature, doctrine, and historical. This is the historical section. The history begins with God and Creation, continues through biblical events to those of the history of the known world up to the Crusades, which was then contemporary times. $18,900.
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: APRES DE MANNEVILLETTE Le Neptune Oriental
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: CASSAS Eaux fortes de la Sicile et quelques vues d’Espagne
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: CASSINI DE THURY Carte générale et particulière de la France.
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: JOUY; GARNERAY Vues des côtes de France dans l'Océan et dans la Méditerranée
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: LA PÉROUSE Voyage autour du monde
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: LE GENTIL DE LA GALAISIERE Voyage dans les Mers de l’Inde
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: LICENT Hoang Ho, Pai Ho, Loan Ho, Leao Ho. Itinéraires suivis dans le bassin du golfe du Pei Tcheuly
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: FRENCH SCHOOL FROM THE 19th CENTURY Panorama d’Athènes
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: PEETERS Description des principales villes, havres et isles du golfe de Venise
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: PÉRON; FREYCINET Voyage de découverte aux terres australes
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: STACKELBERG La Grèce : vues pittoresques et topographiques.
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: VALENTINER Atlas des Sonnensystems.
Forum Auctions Online Sale: The Detective Fiction Collection of John Cooper Ending 7th November, 2024
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). The Thirteen Problems, first edition, The Crime Club, 1932. £15,000 to £20,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Dumb Witness, first edition, 1937. £3,000 to £4,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Cards on the Table, first edition, The Crime Club, 1936. £2,000 to £3,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: [Carr (John Dickson)], "Carter Dickson" and John Rhode. Drop to his Death, first edition, Heinemann, [1939]. £600 to £800.
Forum, Nov. 7: Berkeley (Anthony). Jumping Jenny, first edition, Hodder and Stoughton, 1933. £800 to £1,200.
Forum Auctions Online Sale: The Detective Fiction Collection of John Cooper Ending 7th November, 2024
Forum, Nov. 7: Marsh (Ngaio). Overture to Death, first edition, The Crime Club, 1939. £600 to £800.
Forum, Nov. 7: [Day-Lewis (Cecil)] "Nicholas Blake". The Beast Must Die, first edition, 1938. £750 to £1,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Brand (Christianna). Green for Danger, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, John Lane the Bodley Head, 1945. £600 to £800.
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Murder is Easy, first edition, signed by the author, 1939. £3,000 to £4,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Sayers (Dorothy L.) Lord Peter Views the Body, first edition, Gollancz, 1928. £6,000 to £8,000.
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RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide ABAA Dealer
RareBookBuyer.com Specialized in Purchasing Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide ABAA Dealer
RareBookBuyer.com Specialized in Purchasing Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide ABAA Dealer
Sotheby's Fine Books, Manuscripts & More Available for Immediate Purchase
Sotheby’s: J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. 11,135 USD
Sotheby’s: Edgar Allan Poe. The Raven and Other Poems, 1845. 33,000 USD
Sotheby’s: Leo Tolstoy, Clara Bow. War and Peace, 1886. 22,500 USD
Sotheby’s: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1902. 7,500 USD
Sotheby’s: F. Scott Fitzgerald. This Side of Paradise, The Great Gatsby, and Others, 1920-1941. 24,180 USD
Freeman’s | Hindman Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana November 14
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: LEROUX, Gaston. The Phantom of the Opera. FIRST AM. ED, FIRST ISSUE IN THE VERY RARE DUST JACKET. 1911. $6,000 – 8,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: GOULD, John. A Monograph of the Trochilidae...Humming-Birds. L., [1849-] 1861. $60,000 – 80,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: A COMPLETE RUN of Limited Editions Club publications, v.p. [mostly New York], 1929-2010. $50,000 – 60,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: ORWELL, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. Lon., 1949. FIRST EDITION IN A VERY FINE DUST JACKET. $6,000 – 8,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: GOULD. A Monograph of the Ramphastidae...Toucans. L., [1852-] 54. SECOND ED. $35,000 – 45,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14:The Federalist. NY, 1788. FIRST EDITION, THICK PAPER COPY. $60,000 – 80,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: SELBY. Plates to Selby’s Illustrations of British Ornithology. Edin., [1833-] 34. $20,000 – 30,000.