Rod Collins

Illuminated manuscripts must be one of the most impressive areas in book collecting. Collecting seriously, is, well beyond most individuals. That though, should not stop us all appreciating them.
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Something of a redux post here. Word has just reached us of a new James Bond Seamaster limited edition.

A slightly different design to the previous one
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The internet is widely regarded to have depersonalized many things, bookselling and collecting included. Just search for something, click a few buttons and make the order, no contact needed!

Wrong, contact is everything.
If you are serious, then build personal connections with dealers, that’s how you get the best books.
Remember, Read the rest of this entry »

PG Wodehouse created two of the greatest characters in English literature. Everyone has heard of Jeeves and Wooster. The books sold in huge numbers when originally published and are still sought after today by first edition collectors.
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James Bond has had a long movie association with the Omega watch, and rightly so, they are the essence of quality and understated style.
We recommend anyone aspiring to be a gentleman to purchase one immediately!
That said, you may want to keep your powder dry. Word has it Daniel Craig will be sporting a different model. As yet unconfirmed, but we understand it may very well be this one.

Omega Deville

If so we heartily approve, even though it may be a matter of some expense to us here. We could
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Libertine in Horncastle is a fantastic shop we were in today.
Now dear reader, we here celebrate style and good taste and would seek to engender such priorities in others.
This can be an uphill battle with some but others are starting to see the light. To that point, Libertine is something of an oasis in the desert and, as such, a place to go.

There is vintage clothing, textiles, antique jewellery and much more. The shop oozes style and good taste. Situated right in the middle of Horncastle it is a ‘must visit’ shop if you are in the town.
If you are not in the town - then why not ? - travel it’s well worth it !

At the time of writing, I am halfway through The Vesuvius Club by Mark Gatiss and a damn fine piece of work it is too.
It was something that never came to my attention on publication, or indeed afterwards.

The hero/villain of the piece is Lucifer Box, and what a delicious creation he is, depravity, wit and style in equal measure. The book has an excellent prose style likened in the blurb to a cross between Oscar Wilde and HP Lovecraft.

The author himself is, I am given to understand, something to do with a television show, being largely unfamiliar with this medium I cannot expand further.

For minor amusement I may model myself somewhat on good old Lucifer Box, for a period in time, the threat of jail puts me off some of his proclivities but there are still some that present the opportunity for an amusing diversion and only a shortish prison term, if caught!

We have had some amusement poking fun at ebay auctions for so called ‘first editions’ and so called ‘rare books’.
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When is a first edition not a first edition?
Answer: When it’s a reprint of course

This seems fairly simple, as indeed it should be, some people seem not to have grasped the priciple though.

After all the mentions of true first edition etc, you may just notice the mention of 25th print at the bottom.
So far from being collectable, this is a worthless Harry Potter paperback, not even worth the cost of the postage they are charging.
Why then put it in the gallery ?, a £12+ listing fee, well, some naive or half-witted bidder will buy this for a great deal more than it is worth.

So the lesson for us here is that in ebayland there is no such thing as a reprint, everything is a first edition, even if it is actually a 25th edition.. Sorry my mistake 1st edition, 25th impression

This is something we are pretty keen on. If you are going to have the temerity to inflict your efforts upon the world then the least you can do is try to make a coherent job of it.

Now, having been educated at a comprehensive during a time when grammar and punctuation were actively not taught you could be forgiven for thinking we have abandoned any hope of success in this field.
Far from it dear reader, we are as keen as mustard and will not be satisfied until grammatical perfection has been achieved.
This may be a good time to thank our mentor, he knows who he is, for his time and efforts. He has acted as a beacon in the night - a lighthouse in a storm - guiding, slowly but surely, us towards our ultimate aspiration.
To be…. A Man of Letters !

To that extent we would advise all readers that there are, and will be, no spelling mistakes or grammatical errors in this blog!
Should you happen to see an error, it is in fact a typo and not a mistake, the result of typing at a speed not commensurate with our keyboard skills.

The importance of domain names cannot be overstated. We would recommend everyone buy the most appropriate name for themselves or their business.
You do not have to build a website etc, simply secure the rights to the name.

It does not cost a great deal and is very important for the future, even if you do not use it for a while.
It can also stop misunderstandings should others buy it and get confused for you.

So anyone who is dealing in books, or indeed thinks one day they may, get your domains bought asap, you’ll kick yourself if you leave it and then someone else snaps it up.

There are huge implications for optimisation as well, this is something we will go into further in a separate post

Abebooks Sucks ! for booksellers.
As the company has expanded they have become ever more greedy. Continually
raising fees or introducing new fees. Read the rest of this entry »

The World Book Market is the idea of the Australian bookseller Guy Weller, also known on the abebooks board and others, as Mr Pickwick.

The idea is laudable, and we here at Goldeneye wish them all success. The idea is to build a network of bookshops that span the world but unite via a website and online database.

Guy Weller has a solid background for this both having been involved in both the required technology industry and the bookselling business running the well known Mr Pickwick’s Books in Katoomba Australia.

We recommend anyone who has a ‘bricks and mortar store’ to check them out, you never know it could be another string to your bow!

One of our resource sites has become something of a resource for collectors of the Collins Crime Club publishers imprint. This publishing house is very popular amongst collectors of first edition mystery fiction books - but still one would have to think something of a limited appeal. Read the rest of this entry »

Abebooks have steadily transformed, or ruined depending on your opinion, their site over the years.
Sadly we have only seen a decline and the downside, so much so that after nearly 8 years on abe books website we have left!

We hear a lot of other disgruntled sellers complaing about the changes, it will be interesting to see how many of those actually have the courage of their convictions and leave.

We believe very few of the professional sellers actually will.
We intend to devote separate posts to the particular problems and issues at the website as well as including the latest news and rumour.

Because we no longer list on there don’t make the mistake of thinking we don’t know what is going on
Our spies are everywhere!

Having numerous different websites is very handy in terms of diversity and spreading yourself over a greater area, personally, like £50 notes, I don’t think you can have too many.

Some numbnut once asked me:
Why do you have all those websites?
I replied
Would you ask Lord Sainsbury why he has all those shops?

Anyway, I digress, but you get the point.
There is a downside however, the more you have the more potential technical difficulties there are waiting to bite you in the arse.

I finally got one site fully sorted today, over 2000 internal links to a ssl server had to be changed, when another went down.
Out all day, 500 internal server error, the hosting company are as much use as tits on a boar and suggest:
Have you tried refreshing your browser?
Good job they’re in America or I’d refresh them
Anyway it’s back online now and tomorrow’s another day