Big Data to the old Rare Book trade?

June 7, 2013
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The new Big Data technological innovation has the potential to usher in an information-based, scientific revolution in a number of industries and human endeavors. Like all scientific revolutions however, it will take some time to transition to all sectors of businesses and society, especially in cases where markets are relatively heterogeneous and imperfect, such as […]

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Something old and something new for Photography Month

May 31, 2013
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Last weekend I had the opportunity to visit a magnificent French style chateau which is a contemporary English museum, none other than the Bowes Museum in the town of Barnard Castle, Teesdale, County Durham, England. The exhibition that drew me in is called Dreamscapes, and it will run through the summer, exploring photographer Tim Walker’s […]

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New technologies, old books

May 24, 2013
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Rare Books Digest occasionally hosts opinions and views of international book trade professionals such as this week’s contributor, technology engineer, book collector, and book dealer – Jim Sekkes (www.linkedin.com/in/sekkes/). Since the invention of the printing press in the middle of the fifteenth century, an estimated 130 million books have been written and published. It took […]

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Play it again, F. Scott Fitzgerald – The Great Gatsby

May 17, 2013
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There has scarcely been a time when the name F. Scott Fitzgerald and the title The Great Gatsby has been so frequently mentioned with curiosity and awe. While the 1925 debut of the modern first novel certainly received its due fame, and while the 1974 film rendition made its premiere to the “watching” world, the […]

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Dune, Science Fiction Epic

May 10, 2013
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In June of 2011, Abebooks sold a first edition of the science fiction epic Dune, signed by the author, for $7,500. The amount matched the Chilton Book Company editor’s advance offer made to the book author, Frank Herbert, back in 1963. It proved to be a tough sell at the time, as publisher after publisher […]

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Luigi Serafini’s Storie Naturali

May 3, 2013
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Luigi Serafini’s tribute celebration to Jules Renard’s Histoires Naturelles or The Natural Stories of the eternal vitality of natural history is a whimsical book of botanical constructions, with leaves forming a forest of enchanted trees and animated and mutant plants. This herbarium of imaginary plants comes to life in a botanical fantasy painted by the […]

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A Perfect Book Sale

April 23, 2013
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The 2013 Five Colleges Book Sale, now on its 52nd year was held this past weekend at its usual location in Lebanon, New Hampshire. The event proceeds benefit New Hampshire and Vermont students who receive scholarships to attend the five colleges of Smith, Vassar, Wellesley, Mt. Holyoke and Simmons. The event has always been one […]

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The Final Issue in a Comic Book Series

April 19, 2013
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We have talked about the first issues, rare issues and the first appearances of comic books before, but now I will let you in on a little secret. Until recently, the last issue of a comic book series didn’t seem to matter at all. It was simply a comic book that gradually aged and collected […]

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Rare Book Sale Monitor update – 1st Quarter 2013

April 12, 2013
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  The first quarter of the year was another quarter of solid growth.  As always, some of the genre and some of the authors in our Rare Books Sale Monitor (RBSM) performed better than others, but healthy fluctuations from one quarter to the next is the way sale pricing behaves. Take, for example, last quarter’s […]

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Tax tactics for the book dealer, investor, collector

April 5, 2013
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Rare books are collectibles and the month of April brings capital gain, estate or gift tax considerations to those of us residing in the United States. Whether you have decided to sell off parts of your collection or bequeath it to an heir, Uncle Sam wants to know. Failing to manage valuable asset holdings properly […]

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