Mondo and Ebay!

Audrey · Post by **Audrey** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 11:29 pm

Stefani is costing me money!

I have bid on and won the auctions for the

Shots in the Dark book and the Panarizon cards!

The book has the clearest photos of the Borden crime scene I have ever seen....

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 1:14 am

She is not selling those things, right? She is just talking about them? Yes Shots in the Dark are very clear and very cool. If you can skip the rest of the pictures!

Audrey · Post by **Audrey** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 1:34 am

You are right-- she is not selling them, just passing on the info.

The photo book is like a car accident you see while driving-- you want to look away but cant.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 2:48 am

I recently stumbled upon a book that was full of old photos of murdered people and tragic deaths. That's all it was. I looked at every one. It was like I was testing myself. I had never done that before. I don't look at car wrecks either. I was always careful about that. But I did see a big hulk of a guy had been looking at the book and when I came up he shelved it and walked away.
That's when I decided to see what he had been looking at. It really was awful.

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 6:15 pm

As a friendly rebuttal to Stefani's post on the Michael Martin's book, "The Knowlton Papers," which she posted on Mondo, I would like to add that though you may find it for 20 dollars in some hide-a-way bookstore, don't count on it. The market seems to have set a price of 130 to 200 dollars as a fair asking price. A knowlegable small dealer may place it on his shelf for 60 or 100 dollars as a more reasonable price, but I don't know about 20 dollars.

(Would be interesting if anyone could enlighten us to how many copies were printed.)

Not that it can not happen, but for the average book seller to function and still turn a profit he must do some homework. Even if it's a Mom and Pop in-the-barn bookstore, one would be foolish not to research past prices. To find a copy for 20 dollars may be possible but would be very uncommon.

Though, I hope someone proves me worng, and with any luck I hope it's Stefani.

To any collector who may be interested, a Shakespheare Folio sold today for 5 million dollars. Only 200 of these are known to exist.

Stefani · Post by **Stefani** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 8:03 pm

Mbhenty, I got that $20 copy at Gotham Book Mart in Manhattan! I always look for Lizzie books wherever I go and usually the true crime are tucked away somewhere inconvenient. I was crouching on the floor and reading the titles (yes they were shelved that low) and saw the spine. Whoo hoo I said to myself. I thought for sure that when I brought it to the counter they would say that they had made a mistake. They didn't and so the $20 purchase. From a very famous bookstore, owned and run b people who know the value of books. So it isn't that unusual.

You have to admit that $600 is off the hook as a price for that title, no matter the condition.

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 10:03 pm

Oh yes!!! 600 dollars is off the chart.

I will need to call Michael and find out how many copies were actually printed. But good for you Stefani. As I was writing the post above I was thinking to myslef, "watch Stefani make me eat my words."

But, as I mentioned above 60 to 100 dollars would be a fair and reasonable fee for a title that is hard to find. On the ABE there is only one copy right now. I can see someone asking 150 or 200 and getting it.

But probably like you, I can go into a used bookstore and a Lizzie title will jump right out at me. The spines of the common titles have become so familiar to me.

Funny story................

The first time Len and I had any sort of converstation about Lizzie Borden. I was sitting at one end of the counter at my favorite restaurant and he was at the other. While I was eating I heard someone say, "You think she did it?" At first I said nothing. I didn't know what he was talking about. Then I looked down on the counter in front of me. There sat Radins book but without the jacket. I dare say he recognized the binding and what I was reading by the color. (White spine and off pinkish red.) Yes, after a while you can spot a Lizzie title a mile away, even by the color and cloth used.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 11:19 pm

I don't think The Knowlton Papers is worth more than $150. If the Historical Society was selling it and the money benefited those who worked on it then it might be worth more to me.

I think we've purchsed 3 or 4 copies between us? I think we paid usually close to the original price of $49.99, except for Stef's coup in NY for $20! That was so low she gave it as a gift!

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 1:32 pm

As posted on Mondo and Ebay a short note about Ruth Whitman's book of poetry.

There is actually only one poem about Lizzie. It's nine pages long. Very passionate, somewhat sexual, slightly graphic and no rhyme. The rest of the book is general poetry about people and life by Whitman. So you must decide whether it is worth the purchase. Of course to a book nut such as myself, it's a must have. Also, I enjoy poetry.

I purchased my copy over 25 years ago at the Bookhaven bookstore in Fall River. Eight dollars.... I remember being disappointed by the book at the time, since I thought the entire book was poetry about Lizzie. You would think that a title that takes up 3/4 of the front cover would have more than one poem based on the title.

Whether Ruth Whitman used the title to sell books we can only speculate. If handling the book in a bookstore one can thumb through and inspect it's content, but to purchase it unseen, one may be misled by the title. After all "Lizzie Borden" sells books, today more than ever.

qtpiegurl77 · Post by **qtpiegurl77** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 1:56 am

Oh, I'd love to read that poem! Sensual poety is a passion of mine!

doug65oh · Post by **doug65oh** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 12:49 am

Okay, buckle your belts boys and girls. I just did a title search for the Knowlton Papers on bookfinder.com. The cheapest available copy is $473.75... How much worse can it get? (I can hear you asking even all the way over here.

) Well, try $772.49. But that price includes shipping of approximately $16. Jussodarnthoughtful, are they not??

I was just looking at signed authentic Robert Frost editions earlier tonight. Believe it or not, they're cheaper!

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 12:12 pm

Yes doug65oh: Knowlton Papers are selling for big bucks. That's because some "are" being sold. Some well known dealer sells a copy for big bucks, or just lists it that way, all the rest follow. Some dealer gets his/her price, presto, it becomes the industry norm----- as still other greedy dealers creap up the cost.

It is a scarce book. There was just about 1100 copies printed. But the price is definitetly inflated. I dare say these are collector prices. Most want the book for the information it has to offer.

The FRHS has hinted about coming out with a paperback copy. For them it would be a simple matter of money. All the work has been done and a print on demand publisher can publish it in a short fortnight. A new edition in soft cover would sell between 25 and 35 dollars, I would think?

Of course the FRHS is busy with other publications, but if they follow such sites as bookfinder or the ABE, I'm sure rational thinking will win over and they will publish it once again.

Robert Frost is one of those authors, like Bradbury and Miller, who signed a lot. Good for us. Two hundred dollar signed Frost's can be easily had.