Rare Book Monthly

Articles - February - 2015 Issue

Book Prices Rose Another 5 % in 2014

Auction prices rose 5% in 2014.

Auction prices rose 5% in 2014.

Prices of collectible books and related ephemera continue to rise in tandem with the American economy, an analysis of sales at auction from 2014 reveals. Books sold at traditional auction houses (excluding high-volume, low-priced online auctions) saw their prices rise by 5% last year, based on the median price achieved. This follows an increase of 7% the previous year.

 

The median for 2014 was $423, versus $402 for 2013. As such, that was the second highest overall value achieved, equaling that of 2006. Only 2007, the year before the economic collapse, saw a higher median price reached. After bottoming in 2010, prices have been recovering ever since.

 

Volume sold at auction is also rising. Over 400,000 items were tracked by the Rare Book Hub last year, with more than 300,000 sold. That represents a little over 50,000 more items offered than in 2013, a little fewer than 50,000 more items sold. This was an increase of 15% in items offered, 18% in items sold.

 

The sell-though rate was also up, 2% to 74% in 2014, vs. 72% in 2013. This was also the highest number since 2007, and the first time since then that sell-through reached its traditional level of around 75%. At the bottom of this cycle, in 2009, sell-through was only 67%. As with the economy, collector confidence continues to rebound, though not with the “irrational exuberance” of 2007 when prices rose 15% in one year.

 

By far the largest volume of sales came from the online sales at Heritage Auctions of Dallas, which features many ephemeral items. They sold over 91,000 items. RR Auctions of Amherst, New Hampshire, also selling online, was second at 11,250. They were followed by more traditional book auctioneers, Bloomsbury of London with 10,989 items sold, Kiefer Buch of Pforzheim, Germany, with 10,223, and Swann Galleries of New York with 9,175. Bonham's would have crossed the 10,000 threshold if all locations (7) were combined.

 

The highest median price was achieved at Sotheby's in New York at $15,000, followed by Christie's London – King Street at $9,420. These two houses regularly dominate the high end and 2014 was no exception. The top seven positions were held by various locations of Christie's and Sotheby's. The next two were less traditional, on premises auctions held by the Arader Galleries or Guernsey's on their behalf, and bookseller Peter Arnold of Australia. The highest average prices came at Sotheby's New York at $50,038 and Christie's New York at $32,321.

 

For collectors just starting out, or not quite such high rollers, there were nine houses where the median was under $100. Most notable, in terms of volume, were the Heritage online auctions where over 91,000 items sold with a median price of $94. National Book, Keys, Knotty Pine, and Antiquarian Auctions of Cape Town also had a sizable number of lots under $100, but the prize goes to the auctions held by the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society where 2,448 lots sold at a median price of $10 and an average price of $21.

 

Another sign of potential bargains is a very high sell-through rate, an indication that most items are being sold without reserve. National Book Auctions again led the way, along with Alaska Auction at 99%. Aspire, Addison & Sarova, Carlsen Gallery, Dirk Soulis, Robert Siegel Galleries, and Stair Auctioneers all had at least a 95% sales rate, with Heritage Dallas' 91,000 just missing the cut at 94%. Often, these bargains come from auctions in out-of-the-way places, an opportunity for those who search thoroughly and bid online.

 

Once again, November was the busiest month of the year. A total of 13.2% of the lots were offered during that month alone. However, May has, in effect, become the November of the spring, with 12.7% of the lots offered in that month. The fourth quarter of the year was also again the busiest, with 32.9% of the lots offered, while the second quarter saw 30.3% of the lots offered. However, as more auction houses attempt to reach people at a time when there is less clutter in the market, the off-season continues to grow. The greatest growth occurred in the slowest month – August – where offerings rose by 69%. Last year, August reached the 10,000 mark for the first time. This year, 18,576 lots were offered in the deepest part of the off-season.

 

When we compiled this report last year, we concluded with a note of caution. Four of the five lowest medians came in the last five months of the year. Did this represent a decline in pricing likely to carry over into 2014? Now we have the answer – no. The highest median prices this time were achieved in the fourth quarter of 2014, with the two highest months being November and December. The year 2014 went out with a bang.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Book of Hours by the Masters of Otto van Moerdrecht, Use of Sarum, in Latin, Southern Netherlands (Bruges), c.1450. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Albert Einstein. Autograph letter signed, to Attilio Palatino, on his research into General Relativity, 12 May 1929. £12,000 to £18,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: John Gould. The Birds of Europe, [1832-] 1837, 5 volumes, contemporary half morocco, subscriber’s copy. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Ian Fleming. A collection of James Bond first editions, 8 volumes in all. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.R.R. Tolkien. Autograph letter signed, to Amy Ronald, on Pauline Baynes's map of Middle Earth, 1970. £7,000 to £10,000.
  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
  • DOYLE
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    July 23, 2025
    DOYLE, July 23: WALL, BERNHARDT. Greenwich Village. Types, Tenements & Temples. Estimate $300-500
    DOYLE, July 23: STOKES, I. N. PHELPS. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909. New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1915-28. Estimate: $3,000-5,000
    DOYLE, July 23: [AUTOGRAPH - US PRESIDENT]FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. A signed photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Estimate $500-800
    DOYLE, July 23: [ARION PRESS]. ABBOTT, EDWIN A. Flatland. A Romance of Many Dimensions. San Francisco, 1980. Estimate $2,000-3,000.
    DOYLE, July 23: TOLSTOY, LYOF N. and NATHAN HASKELL DOLE, translator. Anna Karénina ... in eight parts. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., [1886]. Estimate: $400-600
    DOYLE, July 23: ROWLING, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000. Estimate $1,200-1,800
  • Freeman’s | Hindman
    Western Manuscripts and Miniatures
    July 8, 2025
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FRANCESCO PETRARCH (b. Arezzo, 20 July 1304; d. Arqua Petrarca, 19 July 1374). $20,000-30,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF THE VITAE IMPERATORUM (active Milan, 1431-1459). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF ATTAVANTE DEGLI ATTAVANTI (GABRIELLO DI VANTE) (active Florence, c. 1452-c. 1520/25). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FOLLOWER OF HERMAN SCHEERE (active London, c. 1405-1425). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. An exceptionally rare, illuminated music leaf from a Mozarabic Antiphonal with sister leaves mostly in museum collections. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Exceptional leaf from a prestigious Antiphonary by a leading illuminator of the late Duecento. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF MS REID 33 and SELWERD ABBEY SCRIPTORIUM (AGNES MARTINI?) (active The Netherlands, Groningen, c. 1468-1510). $10,000-15,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Previously unknown illumination from one of the most renowned Gothic Choir Book sets of the Middle Ages. $6,000-8,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum, July 17: Lucianus Samosatensis. Dialogoi, editio princeps, second issue, Florence, Laurentius Francisci de Alopa, 1496. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, July 17: Boccaccio (Giovanni). Il Decamerone, Florence, Philippo di Giunta, 1516. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, July 17: Henry VII (King) & Philip the Fair (Duke of Burgundy). [Intercursus Magnus], [Commercial and Political Treaty between Henry VII and Philip Duke of Burgundy], manuscript copy in Latin, original vellum, 1499. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum, July 17: Bible, English. The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New, Robert Barker, 1613. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, July 17: Bond (Michael). A Bear Called Paddington, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1958. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum, July 17: Yeats (William Butler). The Secret Rose, first edition, with extensive autograph corrections, additions and amendments by the author for a new edition, 1897. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, bound in dark green morocco elaborately tooled in gilt and with 3 watercolours to fore-edge, by Fazakerley of Liverpool, 1841. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, July 17: Miró (Juan), Wassily Kandinsky, John Buckland-Wright, Stanley William Hayter and others.- Spender (Stephen). Fraternity, one of 101 copies, with signed engravings by 9 artists. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Sowerby (George Brettingham). Album comprising 22 leaves of original watercolour drawings of fossil remains of Cheltenham and Vicinity, [c.1840]. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Mathematics.- Blue paper copy.- Euclid. De gli Elementi, Urbino, Appresso Domenico Frisolino, 1575. £12,000 to £18,000.

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