Energy Non-Crisis (Paperback) $1,999.99

[keep_it_real]

Un-believe-a-ble; am I really reading that dollar amount as pretty much 2,000.00 for a paper back about the energy crisis? Tell me I haven't lost it please.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0890510687/ref=pd_bbs_sr_olp_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214768041&sr=1-1

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Here ya go in "Comments".

Comments: Good used condition. Price of $1999.99 is correct. Very rare book. 2nd edition, 2nd printing. Copyright 1980. 240 numbered pages. Updted and enlarged edition. Very good condition, spine isn't creased, but pages are yellowed. Signature required for delivery.

[PDJane]

2. No, you haven't lost it.

I think the bookseller might be a tad optimistic, but that's another story.

[anigbrowl]

3. It's rare, is why. That's not so unusual

I wrote a little nothing book about the Internet in 1995 that hardly sold at all, but now it goes on Amazon for $145.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Who says it's rare?

According to this, it ran to at least a 4th printing of a 2nd edition.

Given its contents ("BAPTIST John D. Rockefeller BOUGHT the U.S. government ") , I think they're hoping a gullible conspiracy theorist will think it's been banned by the Illuminati or something.

[anigbrowl]

8. It depends on the edition

A particular printing of an otherwise widely available book may be very rare indeed. It's possible the bookseller is just trying to hook a gullible customer, but rare and unusual books often go for prices this high or far higher. You just haven't seen them in the past, is all; it used to be the provice of obscure specialist bookshops, not they pop up on Amazon. http://www.abebooks.com is a website just for dealers and collectors, and the prices on there would curl your hair.

[Lorien]

5. I have a very rare first edition of a French book on spirituality dated 1643

all hand printed as most late Renaissance / early Baroque books were, with a few illustrations. The leather cover has wear and small cracks, but the binding is tight and there are no loose pages. Price: $65 . The most I've ever paid for an out of print book is the much sought after Andrew Loomis book on Creative Illustration ($250.00-first edition with dust jacket). 2k is usually reserved for VERY old, ornate, or signed first editions of important works. The seller is dreaming, imho.

[anigbrowl]

9. Sorry, untrue

A signed first edition of an important work (say, 'The Catcher in the rye' by Salinger) can easily go for $30-50,000. That Andrew Loomis Book you mention? Typical prices as $500 nowadays, up to $750 for a perfect example., even though it's easy to find. You mya have paid $65 for that French book, but I'd have an independent person value it if I were you. If it's authontic it's probably worth a lot more on the open market.

I have no particular opinion about the 'Energy Non-Crisis', but if it's a very short-run edition that was withdrawn due to a lawsuit or major printing error, that can be worth a lot.

[Lorien]

11. I don't know where the heck you shop for rare books

but there are dozens of little out of the way shops in New England and throughout Europe where a Loomis book that a top seller on Amazon sells for $600 can easily be purchased for $25 (I know, I bought "the eye of the painter" for that much just a few years ago. Perfect condition too). Right now Amazon has a collectible quality edition of "Creative illustration" for $109, while the top price from another seller is $750. There's a sucker born every minute, and they know it. My French book is absolutely authentic; it would sell for a good bit more in the states, but such books can be found all over small towns throughout Europe. Buy it on eBay and you'll pay ten times as much-or more. I have a massive collection from the days when I actually could travel and actively collected such things, but even now, when nearly everyone has hit the net, there are still those small, dusty bookshops tucked away all over the world where it's rare to find anything over $300-no matter how rare, old, or ornate. Some older sellers sell books because they love being around books and reading, and they have no use for the internet, so they price them as they see fit, without regard to whatever the collector's manuals have to say.

[Occam Bandage]

6. For a 'rare' out-of-print book from 1980 claiming imminent American energy independence?

Very high, but not out of the ordinary. Probably hoping for a wealthy collector who cares about Having It Now more than they do about actually looking up its value; people often do that with semi-worthless 'rarities.'

I myself once sold a multi-volume set of late-1800s history-of-the-world books, which I purchased for a dollar each (and which were worth maybe $10-20 each), for $100 each on eBay. :shrug:

[tama]

7. Sounds like a very smart joke n/t

[End Of The Road]

10. You can get a bargain, used/rare copy, from Barnes & Noble for a mere $575.00!

Never pay top dollar if it's not a 1st. Unless there is something DAMN special about a 2nd ed 2nd printing.

Better yet, go to YouTube and watch the movie.

BTW, the book is available at 62 libraries, if you want your local branch to get it for you via inter-library loan.

[Lorien]

12. Or just keep an eye out for it at a used or library bookshop

I find "rare" and "highly collectible" books like that all the time in stuffy, cramped old bookshops where some of the tomes look as if they haven't been moved in decades-but you usually have to go to small towns far outside of major metropolitan areas to find them.