D.H. Lawrence and the price of a book

I am currently reading one of D. H. Lawrence’s early travel books, Sea and Sardinia.  the edition I am reading is a Penguin paperback edition.  The Penguin edition was published in 1944, during the heart of World War II.  Because of wartime shortages, I assume, nothing was as it should be, and the paper stock was bound to yellow and dry out fairly quickly.  In addition, the cover has completely come off the book.

You can find this book for sale at www.abebooks.com for as little as $1.50.  Of course, that copy appears to be in much better shape than mine.

You can also by a copy of Sea and Sardinia on abebooks for $850.00.  It is a hardback, and a first edition.

So, two copies of the same book sell for a difference in price of $848.50.

And the text is the same.  And the reading pleasure is probably the same, as well.

Go figure.

How to reach A. Richard Books.

Until we get our website set up………

go to www.abebooks.com,

then click on “bookstores” on a top line towards the right,

then write A. Richard (don’t forget the period) in the line that says ‘name’ ,

then click on that line, and click on the only choice it gives you, A. Richard Books and More, LLC

OR, you can go directly to

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/StoreFrontDisplay?cid=51339573

You can search our entire inventory of 5500 on line books, or browse through our special categories (which together reflect about 50% of that inventory at this time)

So sales have slowed down

but I did register a domain name:  www.arichardbooks.com.  Not sure what I will do with it, but I appear to own it for the next five years.  I bought it through www.godaddy.com.  Hope that they are reputable.

“The Orientalist” by Tom Reiss

I am half way through this book and it is terrific.

Just thought I’d tell you.

Sometimes the Condition is Awful

Take “Toasts and Maxims”, published by Greening & Co., London, about 100 years ago.  There are nine copies for sale on www.abebooks.com.  Mine is the least expensive at $20, because the condition is so bad.  Actually, except for the cover, the condition is pretty good.  But the cover of this paperback is torn to pieces.

Well, you can’t judge a book by its cover, they say.  But it seems that you have to price a book at least in part on the basis of the condition of its wrappings.

Now some of the maxims are the obvious ones:  “Women don’t dress to please the men, but to worry other women”.

But what about: “You could not get a girl with freckles to worry about such trifles as Consols”?  What could that possibly mean?

Or:  “A bird on a bonnet is worth five on a plate.”

Or:  “Chop and there will be chips.”

Or even: “It’s always dark under a lamp”

I am going to ponder all of these.  And more.

The Institute of International Labor Research

I am not sure if this organization still exists (I could Google it, couldn’t I?), but in the 1950’s it issued a pamphlet called 50 Million Captive Women”, which criticized the world’s Communist regimes’ espousal of gender equality.  Basically, the conclusion was that women were at a decisive disadvantage in Communist countries because they had to do the same work as men, while having as well to do traditional women’s work.

The Institute was headquartered in Mexico City, with an office in New York.  The pamphlet was “printed in Mexico City by organized workers”.

So, is the Institute leftist/non-Communist?  Or is it rightist?  I am not sure.

But another question is what to do with a pamphlet (50 pages)  like this.  Should I list it for sale? (There appear to be no Institute pamphlets for sale at www.abebooks.com).  Or should I put it back on a shelf where it stay untouched for years?

Chicago

There are many books written about Chicago.  One was written by Eugen Seeger, a German immigrant to Chicago, who in the 1880s wrote Chicago: Die Geschichte einer Wunderstadt, or Chicago: the History of a Wonder City.  The book was reprinted several times.  I bought a copy today of the edition published in 1893, the year of the Chicago World’s Fair, the World’s Columbian Exhibition.  This was  a time of great pride for the city, and no group was more proud than its large number of German immigrants, many of whom helped populate the city’s professional and financial elite.

Five hundred pages long, written in Gothic script in German, with many interesting black and white photographs, this book will be offered for sale soon.

I Guess That’s Business

After three weeks with so many books sold, I am not used to the quiet.  Why are so few orders being placed this week?  There aren’t even many inquiries.  We have had a few sales (over the weekend), including some fairly high priced books, but yesterday and today have been exceptionally quiet.  I sold one book yesterday, have been told that another order is on its way today, and have been in conversations about a third book  But what has happened particularly to these foreign buyers, for whom the dollar is so cheap, and who purchased probably 20 books in January?

Interesting.

The Difficulty of Pricing

I am looking at a pocket size travel guide called “Practical Guide to Cannes – Grasse – Antibes” . Written in English, published in Lyon France, it seems to be dated 1907. Except for some pages that are torn at the bottom it is in good and sturdy shape. It includes a fold out map in perfect shape. There are not markings on it. What to see, how to get there and travel around, where to stay and where to eat. And, of course, many advertisements including, on the back for Villacabras Eau Purgative Naturelle. It is quite nice. But how would you price it?

There is one contemporary guide listed on www.abebooks.com.  It is a guide of Nice and Monaco, and is being offered for $48.  I guess that is the only comparable I have to work with right now.

It Takes a Village

I have received two interested sounding inquiries for my signed copy of Hillary Clinton’s “It Takes a Village”.  Will either place an order??