simple logic dictates that if it weren't awesome it wouldn't sell used for $130. Curiosity alone or a few references in some article or wherever won't drive a used price that high!
A few professors requiring it to be used in a class will certainly drive it up that high, combined with the limited printing done by academic publishers.
More like it is old enough that what number of copies were printed are owned. I personally perceive value, and I am willing to buy in at certain prices for the pay-off in knowledge and convenience. For instance, driving to a college, spending umpteen hours copying pages for a sub-standard replica of a book that I can have delivered for $130? I will buy it and do something else with the time saved.
I was looking at buying an old Lisp book, 'Common LISP Modules: Artificial Intelligence in the Era of Neural Networks and Chaos Theory'. I already own a copy, but not where I am living for now. It was $3 on Amazon. There was a thread on HN where I mentioned the book, and the author himself wanted a copy, so he ordered it.
