Rare Book Monthly

Articles - April - 2015 Issue

Collecting: a changing perspective

It was, not so long ago, established thinking that book collections, with some exceptions, would be a collection of books. This is the way it was for generations. The basic unit of book collections was of course the book, and over the past 150 years impressive, increasingly complete bibliographies were created and revised to reflect ever-broadening perspective. The book field and all its component parts became knowable.

 

Books however were never the exclusive component of book collections, only their most common part. Manuscripts also found a place, as did maps, objects, and ephemera. But the bibliographic research documentation and focus of the dominant selling venues were, in the works on paper category, mainly books and these other categories much thinner and in some cases almost non-existent.

 

This circumstance kept books at the center, the best known and best understood component in the works on paper category. But these other portions were equally appealing, if not so well documented, and in time saw their sectors become important categories; for example, maps becoming collectible objects on their own.

 

Twenty-years ago, the Internet began to change the collecting game, first with the emergence of thousands of online sellers, and later with the development of what have become the premier selling platforms—eBay and Abe Books. For the first time, less appreciated and often less valuable, material began to be easily found and widely seen. Now two decades later, much that was once invisible has become visible, and we are learning that subject collecting rather than book collecting exclusively is increasingly the natural focus for many collectors. And it’s a huge change,  - made possible by the minutia within collecting subjects that is now available.  The impact has grown to be astounding. This almost always low level material, much of it ephemera and pamphlets, has made it possible for collectors and institutions to refocus their purchases [and their collecting] toward something they increasingly prefer—intense personal collecting—and something very different from pure book collecting.

 

For myself, my interest has been in the area where I grew up, generally the Hudson Valley, and Ulster County, mid-way between New York City and Albany, specifically. For me, this has meant an intensification of collecting I never thought would be possible.

 

My collection, which holds about 4,000 items, is now a subject broken down into sub-categories. There are paintings, some of them valuable, all of them relevant to an Ulster County collection. There is a set of watercolors by Frederick Copley, some 160 of them painted between 1848 and 1858, of scenes along the Hudson River and inland along the emerging rail lines, photographic in their dimensional accuracy, a timeless picture of a world long gone. There are collections of the work of two printers, Joel Munsell of Albany and Paraclete Potter of Poughkeepsie. The Munsell imprints, more than 400 of them, are mainly works identified in Mr. Munsell’s Munselliana. The Potter imprints reflect the bibliographical work that the American Antiquarian Society has done, coupled with ten years of my searching for them. Neither printer is fabulously important, but they are terribly interesting.

 

And then there are the chance collections of assorted images on varying subjects. I have about 60, mostly photographs printed as post cards at the beginning of the 20th century, that document local trolley, boat, fire and railroad accidents in Ulster County. It’s a wonder anyone got out alive back then. There are also hundreds of pictures of Poughkeepsie fires. These photographs, which seem to have once been owned by the fire department, document fires fought over a 50-year period spanning 1890 to 1940. In a million years, I would never have expected such material to exist, much less be available. And then there is the ship building industry in Newburgh from 1880 to 1950. Newburgh had several boat builders and a beautiful habit of documenting boats at their launching. I have about sixty images of the yards and some of the boats, most notably the private yacht of John D. Rockefeller.

 

And there are, of course, run-of-the-mill post cards, possibly a thousand of them. They document the early decades of the 20th century when post cards were a cheap-to-mail obsession.

 

And there is manuscript material; maps, letters, documents and petitions including interesting letters, two from George Washington written to and from his Newburgh headquarters during the American Revolution.

 

And Sanborn Atlases, intense local maps created for insurance purposes, that show in spellbinding detail the physical composition of communities.

 

And money and early stock certificates.

 

And, furniture, much of it early Gustav Stickley.

 

And of course books; hundreds, perhaps a thousand of them.  They are old friends if not quite the stalwart elements I expected them to be when first I collected the Hudson Valley almost 60 years ago.

 

So it is turning out that extraordinary collections can still be built, as much with diligence as with money. Certainly some of the material is quite valuable, but the essence of the collection is the thousands of mosaic pieces that together tell stories that probably cannot be divined or understood in any other way.

 

And this leads to what outcome? I have sold two book collections at auction, and they did well, in part because I acquired the material from exceptional dealers whose connection with these books made them more valuable. Their provenance attracted bids, and in some cases, spirited bidding. For such material there is a steady, certain market.

 

But for my Hudson River Valley collection, the future is less certain. Will some of the individual collections be sold to a single bidder, in which case some of the best auction houses in the world will sell them? Or, if such collections are sold as individual lots then the lot values will be much lower and the material going to less ambitious houses, even to eBay.

 

I think they will be sold intact. And in approaching it this way, we’ll learn something more about the nature of this new collecting. Many of the lots will be once in a lifetime groups.

 

Of course it’s my hope that I have many more years to collect and that there will be further collections and items within my focus to acquire. But I’ll have to know how to handle their dispersal. Years ago, I discovered how to find such material. In time I’ll have to figure out how to dispose of this both sprawling and intense collection. Collecting is catch and release.


Posted On: 2015-04-01 05:19
User Name: 19531953

No matter the outcome; you have won! You discovered so many things that transcend dollar values. Many of my favorite things are certainly relatively worthless to others but priceless to me!
Eric Caren


Posted On: 2015-04-04 16:34
User Name: sylvester7

Great article on the possibility of a collecting evolution! Interesting how my Montana collection mirrors your Hudson River collection..........


Posted On: 2015-04-04 16:35
User Name: sylvester7

Oops.....previous post fromThomas Minckler..........


Posted On: 2015-04-04 16:56
User Name: sylvester7

Oops.....previous post fromThomas Minckler..........


Rare Book Monthly

  • Forum Auctions
    Online Sale:
    The Detective Fiction Collection of John Cooper
    Ending 7th November, 2024
    Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). The Thirteen Problems, first edition, The Crime Club, 1932. £15,000 to £20,000.
    Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Dumb Witness, first edition, 1937. £3,000 to £4,000.
    Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Cards on the Table, first edition, The Crime Club, 1936. £2,000 to £3,000.
    Forum, Nov. 7: [Carr (John Dickson)], "Carter Dickson" and John Rhode. Drop to his Death, first edition, Heinemann, [1939]. £600 to £800.
    Forum, Nov. 7: Berkeley (Anthony). Jumping Jenny, first edition, Hodder and Stoughton, 1933. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions
    Online Sale:
    The Detective Fiction Collection of John Cooper
    Ending 7th November, 2024
    Forum, Nov. 7: Marsh (Ngaio). Overture to Death, first edition, The Crime Club, 1939. £600 to £800.
    Forum, Nov. 7: [Day-Lewis (Cecil)] "Nicholas Blake". The Beast Must Die, first edition, 1938. £750 to £1,000.
    Forum, Nov. 7: Brand (Christianna). Green for Danger, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, John Lane the Bodley Head, 1945. £600 to £800.
    Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Murder is Easy, first edition, signed by the author, 1939. £3,000 to £4,000.
    Forum, Nov. 7: Sayers (Dorothy L.) Lord Peter Views the Body, first edition, Gollancz, 1928. £6,000 to £8,000.
  • Doyle
    Stage & Screen
    November 14 & 15
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: A studio-sanctioned Darth Vader Touring Costume from The Empire Strikes Back. $50,000 to $100,000.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: An original Al Hirschfeld's illustration of the cast of On Golden Pond. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: The largest trove of personal Grace Kelly letters to come to market. $60,000 to $80,000.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: An Important Archive of Musical Manuscripts of Truman Capote and Harold Arlen's House of Flowers. $40,000 to $60,000.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: The archive of an original Merrily We Roll Along Broadway cast member. $5,000 to $10,000.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: Jerry Herman's Yamaha Model C7 Ebonized Grand Piano. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: A large group of Jerry Herman musical posters. $300 to $500.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: Group of awards presented to Jerry Herman. $300 to $400.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: Six pages of original art for "The MAD Game of Basebrawl," a complete story published in MAD #167, pages 31-36, June 1974. $3,000 to $4,000.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: A MAD book made for Al Jaffee, containing original art and writings from many MAD contributors. 2011. $1,200 to $1,800.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: A Jaffee-themed MAD Fold-In - "What honor should the creator of the MAD Fold-Ins be given?" $800 to $1,200.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: MAD Fold-In - "What developing news story has many Americans totally transfixed?" $800 to $1,200.
  • Sotheby's
    Fine Books, Manuscripts & More
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s: J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. 11,135 USD
    Sotheby’s: Edgar Allan Poe. The Raven and Other Poems, 1845. 33,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Leo Tolstoy, Clara Bow. War and Peace, 1886. 22,500 USD
    Sotheby’s: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1902. 7,500 USD
    Sotheby’s: F. Scott Fitzgerald. This Side of Paradise, The Great Gatsby, and Others, 1920-1941. 24,180 USD
  • Freeman’s | Hindman
    Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana
    November 14
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: LEROUX, Gaston. The Phantom of the Opera. FIRST AM. ED, FIRST ISSUE IN THE VERY RARE DUST JACKET. 1911. $6,000 – 8,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: GOULD, John. A Monograph of the Trochilidae...Humming-Birds. L., [1849-] 1861. $60,000 – 80,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: A COMPLETE RUN of Limited Editions Club publications, v.p. [mostly New York], 1929-2010. $50,000 – 60,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: ORWELL, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. Lon., 1949. FIRST EDITION IN A VERY FINE DUST JACKET. $6,000 – 8,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: GOULD. A Monograph of the Ramphastidae...Toucans. L., [1852-] 54. SECOND ED. $35,000 – 45,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: The Federalist. NY, 1788. FIRST EDITION, THICK PAPER COPY. $60,000 – 80,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: SELBY. Plates to Selby’s Illustrations of British Ornithology. Edin., [1833-] 34. $20,000 – 30,000.
  • Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    APRES DE MANNEVILLETTE
    Le Neptune Oriental
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    CASSAS
    Eaux fortes de la Sicile et quelques vues d’Espagne
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    CASSINI DE THURY
    Carte générale et particulière de la France.
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    JOUY; GARNERAY
    Vues des côtes de France dans l'Océan et dans la Méditerranée
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    LA PÉROUSE
    Voyage autour du monde
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    LE GENTIL DE LA GALAISIERE
    Voyage dans les Mers de l’Inde
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    LICENT
    Hoang Ho, Pai Ho, Loan Ho, Leao Ho. Itinéraires suivis dans le bassin du golfe du Pei Tcheuly
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    FRENCH SCHOOL FROM THE 19th CENTURY
    Panorama d’Athènes
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    PEETERS
    Description des principales villes, havres et isles du golfe de Venise
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    PÉRON; FREYCINET
    Voyage de découverte aux terres australes
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    STACKELBERG
    La Grèce : vues pittoresques et topographiques.
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    VALENTINER
    Atlas des Sonnensystems.

Article Search

Archived Articles

Ask Questions