I received a printed catalog from Librairie Archéologique today. I occasionally use their website to order French books so I've made it on to their mailing list. This isn't really news, of course.
It was surprising to find volume 20 of the Journal of Roman Archaeology offered on page one of the catalog for the price of 180.00 Euros. According to XE.com, that's $284.35! The JRA's own website gives a list price of $135.00 and an individual price of $68.75 + shipping. No matter how you calculate it, that's a steep markup.
Perhaps the most telling part of seeing this price was guessing that it's not a typo. Between the dollar being so low and European books being so expensive, it's probably pretty easy to get to that number.
I suppose my point is that in a world of overpriced books, it's still worth commenting when the system for distributing printed information so clearly mis-serves its audience.
Or maybe it is just a typo. If so, I can always be outraged that D. and N. Soren's A Roman Villa and a Late Roman Infant Cemetery: excavation at Poggio Gramignano, Lugnano in Teverina costs $608.00 from Amazon.com. As of writing, there are only two left in stock so get it while you can!
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