Rare Book Monthly

Articles - October - 2014 Issue

How to Search the Auctions All from One Place

The results page after a “Churchill” search.

The results page after a “Churchill” search.

As summer comes to a close, and the temperatures begin to cool, the auction season starts to heat up. Fall is always the busiest time for auctions, and with the number of lots in the books, manuscripts, and ephemera field rising significantly over the past few years, there will be much to consider. Last year, over 158,000 lots came up for sale during the last four months of the year. This year, it will likely be even more.

 

Naturally enough, the challenge is finding the lots that are of interest to you amid all of the clutter. The lots you seek will be buried among dozens of auction houses and a couple of hundred auctions, some with lots in the thousands. How do you find them? Do you have to go to each auction house's website, see which have auctions that include works in the books and works on paper category, and then scroll through all of their listings? No. That would be impossible.

 

The Americana Exchange website allows you to search all of these listings from one place. It takes a fraction of a second to find all of your matches. Here's all you have to do. Near the top of this, and most other pages of the AE website, you will see a search box. Chances are, it is already set to search “Upcoming Auctions” (look just to the left of the long search bar). If not, click the little arrow “for additional selections” below the setting and it will allow you change the selection to Upcoming Auctions.

 

Next, enter the keywords you wish to search and click the “Search” button. That's it. In some fraction of a second, your results will be displayed. You will notice a link to the right of the “Search” button for “Advanced Search.” Unless you are overwhelmed with matches, stick with the keyword search. Broader keyword searches are less likely to miss something you want than are tighter advanced searches. The advanced search is meant mainly for use with the other databases, which contain millions of records, than the upcoming auctions database that maxes out around 40,000 in the busy season.

 

Once you conduct your search, you will see a page listing all of the matches. It concisely provides the pertinent information – author, title, auction house and auction date, publication date, estimated price, and a brief description. Your search terms will be highlighted in yellow to make it easier to see why the listing is a match. To see the detailed record for each lot, click the book's title. If you would prefer to see the detailed record in a new window, click the rectangle after the title. If there is a camera icon after the title, it means the detailed listing contains one or more pictures of the item.

 

When you click on the link to the individual lot listing, you will find the complete description and more information about the particular auction, including a link to the auction house. If you have not bid at the house before, you will need to set up an account first, usually at least a day prior to the auction, as they will want to be sure you are a real bidder. Of course that won't require you to bid. It will just enable you to bid if you so choose.

 

When you conduct your search, you will see two links near the top left, just under “Auction Search Results.” One is to “Books for Sale.” These are listings offered by booksellers. People often assume they will get the lowest price at auction. That is not always the case. You may be surprised at how often a book will sell at auction for a price higher than the same title is offered by a dealer. It's what assuming can make of us. Research is always worth the effort. Additionally, there may be a difference in the copies, perhaps condition, issue, etc. Again, the more information you have, the better will be the decision you make.

 

The other link near the top is to the “AE Database.” To access this, you will need to be an AE member at any paid level (everything else described here is free). The AE Database is a collection of over 5.4 million bibliographic records, most being priced records from past auctions. If you are a serious collector, the wealth of knowledge this database provides is way more than worth the cost, both for making good decisions and avoiding bad ones.

 

One final point – our name, “Americana Exchange,” is a leftover relic. You will find books and other works on paper in every imaginable field, and from auctions all over the world – Europe, England, South Africa and Australia, as well as Canada and Latin America. You will also find most ship all around the world, and sometimes, they have books you would never expect from an auction at their location.

 

Come back here often as new listings are added almost everyday. Some auctions only post their lots a few days in advance of their auctions, so if you wait a week, some items will slip by without your ever knowing.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby'sSell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts Sotheby'sSell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
  • SwannPrinted & Manuscript African AmericanaMarch 20, 2025 SwannPrinted & Manuscript African AmericanaMarch 20, 2025
    Swann
    Printed & Manuscript African Americana
    March 20, 2025
    Swann
    Printed & Manuscript African Americana
    March 20, 2025
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 7: Thomas Fisher, The Negro's Memorial or Abolitionist's Catechism, London, 1825. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 78: Victor H. Green, The Negro Travelers' Green Book, New York, 1958. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 99: Rosa Parks, Hand-written recollection of her first meeting with Martin Luther King Jr., autograph manuscript, Detroit, c. 1990s. $30,000 to $40,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 154: Frederick Douglass, Autograph statement on voting rights, signed manuscript, 1866. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 164: W.E.B. Du Bois, What the Negro Has Done for the United States and Texas, Washington, circa 1936. $3,000 to $4,000.
    Swann
    Printed & Manuscript African Americana
    March 20, 2025
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 263: Susan Paul, Memoir of James Jackson, Boston, 1835. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 267: Langston Hughes, Gypsy Ballads, signed translation of García Lorca's poetry, Madrid, 1937. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 274: Malcolm X, Collection from Alex Haley's estate, 38 items, 1963-1971. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 367: Solomon Northup, Twelve Years a Slave, Auburn, NY, 1853. $2,500 to $3,500.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 402: Anna Julia Cooper, A Voice from the South, Xenia, OH, 1892. $2,000 to $3,000.
  • Koller, Mar. 26: Wit, Frederick de. Atlas. Amsterdam, de Wit, [1680]. CHF 20,000 to 30,000
    Koller, Mar. 26: Merian, Maria Sibylla. Der Raupen wunderbare Verwandelung, und sonderbare Blumennahrung. Nürnberg, 1679; Frankfurt a. M. und Leipzig, 1683. CHF 20,000 to 30,000
    Koller, Mar. 26: GOETHE, JOHANN WOLFGANG VON. Faust. Ein Fragment. Von Goethe. Ächte Ausgabe. Leipzig, G. J. Göschen, 1790. CHF 7,000 to 10,000
    Koller, Mar. 26: Hieronymus. [Das hochwirdig leben der außerwoelten freünde gotes der heiligen altuaeter]. Augsburg, Johann Schönsperger d. Ä., 9. Juni 1497. CHF 40,000 to 60,000.
    Koller, Mar. 26: BIBLIA GERMANICA - Neunte deutsche Bibel. Nürnberg, A. Koberger, 17. Feb. 1483. CHF 40,000 to 60,000
    Koller, Mar. 26: HORAE B.M.V. - Stundenbuch. Lateinische Handschrift auf Pergament, Kalendarium französisch. Nordfrankreich (Rouen?). CHF 25,000 to 40,000

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