If you're a serious photobook collector and you live or can easily travel to the Washington, D.C. area, I have a hot tip for you. Or rather, I will have a hot tip for you, in a few days. I don't have all the details yet, but the rumor is that a used bookstore there has made a massive acquisition of not one but two major photobook collections, and will soon start releasing them for sale. The books are mostly in exceptional condition and will reportedly be priced very keenly, well below AbeBooks.com prices. (AbeBooks—ABE stands for Advanced Book Exchange—is the online portal for used book vendors from all over the country). From what I hear, the books will not be offered online in any way, shape, or form: it'll be walk-in only. That might be inconvenient for many, but, for those few who are able to take advantage of it, it also means there will be much less competition for the good stuff, and a better chance you'll find treasures awaiting you when you get there.
Watch this space. I'll report more when I know more.
Mike
Note: The books depicted (part of my collection) are for illustration purposes only.
Original contents copyright 2023 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below or on the title of this post.)
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Actually, ABEbooks comes from the company’s original name, “Advanced Book Exchange.” It is international in scope, with web sites in several different countries, and is headquartered in Victoria, B.C. (Canada). It was bought by Amazon in 2008 but still operates as an independent company.
Posted by: Ed Hawco | Thursday, 15 June 2023 at 09:23 PM
That's an appealing possibility. And on the book front, I am in LA photographing the US Open and visited the Taschen store in Beverly Hills a couple nights ago - kid in a candy store. An assortment of the sumo sized limited edition books that really are spectacular.
Posted by: JOHN B GILLOOLY | Thursday, 15 June 2023 at 11:03 PM
It's having the exact right density, which I think of as heft, that makes the now-ancient Pentax K-5 cameras so alluring in the hand. Similar in feel to the Nikon F100.
Posted by: Bob Keefer | Thursday, 15 June 2023 at 11:35 PM
At the old TOP site you have some instructions and how to look at a book without it getting a set, and several other useful things (I have a good memory, hut not good enough to remember it word-for-word). Reposting that would be useful.
Thanks!
Voltz
Posted by: V.I. Voltz | Friday, 16 June 2023 at 12:09 AM
Actually, ABE stands for the original name, "Advanced Book Exchange". I find it unaccountably annoying when people call it "Abe Books", as if run by some guy called Abe...
Mike
[Thanks Mike. Fixed now. --Mike]
Posted by: Mike Chisholm | Friday, 16 June 2023 at 03:51 AM