Bookseller Digest UK

November’s Most Expensive Sales on AbeBooks

1. Les Roses by Pierre-Joseph Redouté - £17,457
Published in 1935, this fine set of Redouté's best known work is a re-issue of the second octavo - the most complete edition published. It contains 23 additional plates, the portraits and a frontispiece floral wreath, the biographical note on co-contributor Claude-Antoine Thory plus additional text.

2. Voyage Pittoresque de la Grèce by Marie-Gabriel-Florent-Auguste de Choiseul-Gouffier - £16,181
Published in three volumes from 1782 to 1822, a “Scenic trip to Greece” was written over several journeys when de Choiseul-Gouffier was the French ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, which controlled Greece at that time.  The three volumes contain 285 engravings on 166 plates as well as numerous maps.

3. The History of the Royal Residences of Windsor Castle, St. James's Palace, Carlton House, Kensington Palace, Hampton Court, Buckingham House, and Frogmore by William Henry Pyne - £6,247
A first edition published in London in 1819 in three volumes. It contains the best record of Buckingham Palace before John Nash made alterations in 1825.

4=  Ezechiel [with] Explication de Quelques Chapitres du Prophete Daniel - £5,922
A French exegetical (critical explanation) manuscript from around 1700, covering the Book of Ezekiel and the Book of Daniel, published in two volumes written in ink in an accomplished, almost calligraphic hand on extremely thick, laid paper.

4= Sky Island, The Sea Fairies and Rinkitink In Oz by L. Frank Baum -£5,922
Three first editions from L. Frank Baum published respectively in 1911, 1912, and 1916. The Sea Fairies is a children’s fantasy tale and Sky Island is its sequel. Neither enjoyed the success of Baum’s Oz series.

6. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum - £5,486
A first edition hardcover published in 1900, with the copyright notice dated 1899. It also contains 24 colour plates and illustrations by W.W. Denslow.

7. Raccolta Di Statue Antiche e Moderne Data in Luce Sotto I Gloriosi Auspicj Della Santita Di N.s. Papa Clemente XI by Domenico De' Rossi - £4,987
A collection of engravings of ancient and modern Roman sculpture, containing 163 elephant folio plates, published in 1704 with text by Paolo Alessandro Maffei.

8. Musaeum Graecum et Aegyptiacum by Richard Dalton - £4,862
The antiquities of Greece and Egypt illustrated by prints from Dalton’s drawings, published in 1752 and containing 42 first state plates of scenes such as Mt. Aetna, Temple of Theseus, the Parthenon and more.

9. Jacobi Augusti Thuani Historiarum sui Temporis pars Prima by Jacques-Auguste de Thou - £4,675
A first edition of Thou’s  most important work - a masterpiece of French historiography covering the 16th century and published in 1604.

10. 1861 Civil War First New Testament Bible - £3,428
The Soldiers’ bible, the King James version, was published in 1861 by the Southern Confederate states during the American Civil War. This copy was published 1861 in Tennessee.  The Confederate editions of the New Testament are very scarce due to the lack of supplies during the war.

Upcoming Marketing Features

Below you'll find some of the planned upcoming marketing features. Be sure to upload any books and images you have that fit with these themes and the books featured in order to snap up some potential sales. Click on the links below to view the features online:

• Horse literature: Featuring titles from one of literature's deepest, yet often dismissed, genres. Including Black Beauty, National Velvet and War Horse.

• Most expensive sales of 2012: In addition to the top 25 overall sales, you can also discover the most expensive sales in various categories including children's literature, art, science, poetry, and others.

• 50 essential science fiction books: Featuring must-read science fiction titles such as Neuromancer, The War of the Worlds and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

• Here Be Dragons… in Literature: A collection of titles portraying dragons in all their forms.
  

• Jose Saramago:Featuring title from this prolific Portuguese writer including Journey to Portugal and The History of the Siege of Lisbon.

• Angelo Rizzoli Publishing: A selection of elegant editions from this Italian publisher.

Interested in Participating in AbeBooks Promotions?

We are looking for booksellers to be featured on our Book Sale page.

These promotions are run on a monthly basis and have proven to generate significant sales for participating booksellers. If you would like to be featured and have more than 1000 books online, have supplied images for many of your listings, and can discount your inventory by 10% or more, please contact us through the Customer Service Team for consideration.

We cannot guarantee that all applicants will qualify for participation in these promotions and only those selected will be contacted.

The AbeBooks Christmas Tree

Happy Christmas!

Get Your Account Ready for the Christmas Season!

Prepare your books and listings for the rush of the Christmas shopping season to ensure that your buyers receive their books ontime, are satisfied with their purchase and return to place more orders with you in the new year.

Here are some tips for a successful Christmas shopping season:

Keep you inventory up to date: Quickly remove any sold books  to avoid buyer disappointment.

Update your shipping matrix (and check it twice!): With the increase in orders and deliveries worldwide some shipments may experience delays. Be especially careful with your shipping times to ensure that your items arrive in time to make it under the Christmas tree. You can update your shipping matrix easily through your Members Menu.

Offer free shipping: Make your book prices even more attractive to buyers looking to simplify their holiday purchases by offering free shipping. Simply set your domestic shipping costs to £0 and your listings will appear in our Free Shipping page. (You can also offer free international shipping if you wish)

Use adequate packaging: Be sure that your books arrive with the buyer in one piece and undamaged. Use thick material to protect the cover and ensure that the corners and edges are protected if using soft envelopes.

Insure your shipments and use tracking: This is particularly important for high-value books. By opting for shipping insurance and tracking, both you and the buyer can be protected should the book not reach its destination. Tracking also protects you against refunds for the reason 'Item did not arrive'.

Vacation Tool: You have worked hard all year and it is time to put your feet up and enjoy the festive days! If you will be celebrating Christmas away from your bookshop or online bookseller account, make sure you your account on vacation in order to avoid receiving orders you will not be able to fulfill. Your inventory will be temporarily removed from the website and can easily be reactivated once you return. The Vacation Tool is easily accessible through your Members Menu.

If you have any questions about the above tips and suggestions feel free to contact our customer service team.

HomeBase 2.3 Update

Dear Bookseller,

As announced on November 7, 2012, we are introducing a new layer of security to the transfer of inventory data to or from AbeBooks via FTP.

AbeBooks now supports FTP Secure (FTPS or FTP over TLS) and will soon be making the use of FTPS mandatory. We have posted a detailed definition of FTPS, for your reference. 

A software update is now available for HomeBase 2.3 to accommodate the upgrade to FTPS, which will ensure your files continue to upload successfully to AbeBooks.

[Download the HomeBase 2.3 Update Now]

Note: Once you have installed the update, HomeBase will only store your password ‘per session’. This means that whenever you close the program, you will be required to re-enter your password the next time you open HomeBase to upload an inventory file.

Additional information is available on our HB 2.3 help pages.

To ensure your files continue to upload successfully, we recommend you download and install the HomeBase 2.3 update as soon as possible, before the use of FTPS becomes mandatory.

Thank you for your continued support and cooperation as we work to introduce this security improvement.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Customer Support and we’ll be happy to help.

Sincerely,

Your AbeBooks Team

October’s Most Expensive Sales on AbeBooks

1. Voyage de La Pérouse autour du Monde by Jean-François de Galaup - £12,153

Published in 1798 by
Plassan, this second edition set contains four octavo volumes and one atlas folio (pictured at right). They detail the journeys of explorer Jean-François de Galaup who was appointed by Louis XVI to lead an expedition around the world; and more specifically to complete and correct the Pacific maps of James Cook.

2. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie - £8,085

One of 12 signed and numbered leather-bound copies of Rushdie’s novel. Issued by Viking in 1988, this edition is printed on vellum, bound in goatskin and comes with a custom-made folding case.

3. The Christmas Books by Charles Dickens - £3,732

First edition copies of the following: A Christmas Carol, The Chimes, The Cricket on the Hearth, The Battle of Life and The Haunted Man - each published between 1843-48 by Chapman & Hall in London.

4. Poems, With Elegies on the Author's Death by John Donne - £3,420

Published in 1699, this fifth edition of Donne’s collected poems contains the first appearance of his classic elegy "To his Mistress going to bed," and four other poems. This copy was bound in mottled calf and re-backed with a fully gilt spine by Philip Dusel. It also has an engraved bookplate of William, Baron Craven of Hamstead Marshall, and a later morocco book-label of poet John Drinkwater, with his ownership inscription dated 1923. Libri Salomonis Proverbia, Ecclesiastes, Canticum Canticorum by Salomon

5. Libri Salomonis Proverbia, Ecclesiastes, Canticum Canticorum by Salomon - £3,236

Published in 1535 by the Kerver family press, who produced a number of bibles (including this one) throughout the 16th century.

6. Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming - £3,196

A first edition, first printing of Fleming’s second James Bond novel published by Jonathan Cape in 1954.

7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling - £3,161

A signed first edition, first printing of the final Harry Potter book signed by JK Rowling. The book features a security hologram and originated from a signing in London on 21 July 2007.

8. The Complete works of Arthur Conan Doyle - £3,109

The Crowborough edition of Doyle’s works. Published in 1930 by Doubleday, this was a limited edition of 760 and includes eight volumes.

9. The New and Improved Bartender's Manual or: How to Mix Drinks of the Present Style by Harry Johnson - £2,954

Self-published in 1882, this scarce cocktail book was written in English for the first 76 pages, and then in German from page 77 to 189.

10. Nützliche Hauß- und Feld-Schule by Georg Andreas Böckler - £2,899

A first edition from 1678 of this work written for the 17th century householder. It includes advice on construction, agriculture, cooking, baking, canning, cloth weaving, animal husbandry, beekeeping, and medical recipes as well as charts pertaining to calendars, sundials, weights and dimensions and also a market calendar. Böckler was a German architect and engineer in Nuremberg.

AbeBooks Conversion to FTP Secure

As part of AbeBooks’ ongoing effort to exceed industry standards for protecting the security of your information, we are introducing a new layer of security to the transfer of inventory data to or from AbeBooks via FTP.
  
AbeBooks now supports FTP Secure (FTPS or FTP over TLS) and will soon be making the use of FTPS mandatory. We have posted a detailed definition of FTPS, for your reference.
 
This change will mean that booksellers who send files to AbeBooks by FTP will need to make some updates to the FTP software or inventory tool they currently use.

• For HomeBase 2.3, we are developing a software update that will apply the required changes to the FTP facility built into the program. We will notify all HomeBase 2.3 users as soon as the update is available.  (Note that HomeBase 3.0 uploads are sent via web services, not by FTP, so no update is necessary.)

• For booksellers using most third-party FTP software, this security upgrade requires a simple change in your software settings. The required settings for some of the most commonly used FTP products can be found in our online Bookseller Help. To ensure your files continue to upload successfully to AbeBooks, we recommend you update your FTP software settings as soon as possible, before the use of FTPS becomes mandatory.

• For sellers who use third-party inventory management services that send files to AbeBooks via FTP, your service provider will need to update the settings they use to send your files.  We are already working with the most commonly used service providers to help them implement the necessary changes.

 
Thank you for your continued support and cooperation as we work to introduce this security improvement.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Customer Support and we’ll be happy to help.

Tracking Your Shipments

We encourage all booksellers to track their shipments and enter the tracking information in the orders. Trackable shipping helps to ensure the packages reach their destination and helps to resolve disputes about orders not arriving. In accordance with our bookseller policies, a bookseller is responsible for the book during the entire shipping process until it reaches the buyer.

We have had numerous enquiries from buyers who have received the tracking numbers by email. It is important that you enter the tracking number and shipping company into the fields provided as shown below:

Step 1: Update the order status and click 'Save Order Changes'

Step 2: Enter the tracking information and click 'Update'

An email like the one below will be sent to the buyer containing all the tracking information :

If you have any questions about shipping and tracking be sure to contact our customer service team.

Partipate in a Christmas Promotion

We are continuing to work hard in preparation for the Christmas Shop. Don’t forget, it will be online at AbeBooks.co.uk from 20^th November.

It is not too late for you to participate in some of this year’s promotions. Here is how to get involved:

 

1. Offer Free shipping 

Offering free shipping during the Christmas season will earn you a place in a special section of the Christmas Shop dedicated to this offer. You will also benefit from the promotion of free shipping in our buyer newsletters.  

2. Participate in a Sales Promotion

Get in contact if you would like to offer a sale during the Christmas season. You will be featured in the Christmas Shop and the bulletins to buyers. To participate in a sale, we have just a few requirements, you need to:

• Have at least 1000 books
• Have had at least 90% completion rating in the last three months
• Include images in some of your listings

If you would like to take part in either of these Christmas promotions please contact our Customer Service Team.