Rare Book Monthly

Articles - October - 2017 Issue

The World as it will be

The RBH Database, almost 400 sources, all in a single search

The RBH Database, almost 400 sources, all in a single search

The world of books, maps, manuscripts and ephemera seems to have always lived within its own reality.  Decades ago rare and unusual examples were often obscure and required experts to first find, explain and then place material in important library and private collections.  It was business but often a scholarly field populated by celebrated luminaries on both sides of the transaction.  Taken together the field, steeped in history, was also soaked in prestige.  The heyday was arguably the later decades of the 19th century.  Families were creating fortunes but often lacked social recognition to match their economic standing.  Many became the great collectors of their age and in some cases, among the greatest collectors of all time.

 

Today success is measured in many more ways.  The wealthy tend to be better educated and to sometimes achieve financial success that dwarfs their ability to spend it. Some choose printed material as a collecting focus but it is simply one option among many.  Some buy airplanes or boats.  Paintings seem to be very important, both for their visibility and emotional appeal.  Across all categories, It’s widely said that the best sells best, suggesting that the finest examples find new homes while lesser copies struggle to some extent.  In the works on paper category particularly this is widely reported.

 

Availability and pricing, be what they may, we are entering a new phase, the era of the highly-focused collector/collection and this will further transform how material is understood and marketed.

 

Books, as well as manuscripts, maps and ephemera are desirable but it is increasingly possible to contextualize and “place” material in contexts that will further define appropriateness for collecting generally and some collections specifically.  Whether offered at auction, by a dealer or marketed directly by a collector there will be two distinctly different valuations; the general valuation and the value of an item to a specific collector/collection.

 

Some dealers work hard to contextualize their material, a process that often begins with the question; is this important and if so why?  They then go onto telling its story.  They do not necessarily charge more but they are more likely to make sales because, context, for the acquirer, is very valuable.

 

Most dealers though rely on would-be buyers to know it’s of interest to them.  Sellers simply pick up the bibliographic details that make the “finding” easy.  And if a scholarly dealer has explained the significance they’ll often crib the details without ever really knowing the story.  In this difference is the very essence of what separates the best rare book sellers from used book sellers:  knowing the material.

 

In this transition, many more sellers will need to become scholarly in their approach.  Auction houses have been adjusting to this rising bar for decades and this is part of the reason that their sales have strengthened.  The emerging next generation of collectors will have more knowledge and acquire more narrowly.  For the dealer then the challenge will be to explain their material in fresh incisive ways.

 

The RBH Transaction Database will help.  Now in its fifteenth year this database includes more than eight million records that span auction and, to a lesser extent, dealer activity over the period 1860 to yesterday.  Relative pricing is interesting and probability of reappearance now essential facts that the would-be serious seller needs to be mindful of.  As to why?  It’s because buyers increasingly know some of the story and expect dealers to complete it.

 

For that, we are an extraordinary resource.  It’s where the best dealers have long been and it’s where the next generation of scholar-booksellers, collectors and institutions are today.

Rare Book Monthly

  • RareBookBuyer.com
    We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
    ABAA Dealer
    RareBookBuyer.com
    Specialized in Purchasing
    Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
    RareBookBuyer.com
    We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
    ABAA Dealer
    RareBookBuyer.com
    Specialized in Purchasing
    Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
    RareBookBuyer.com
    We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
    ABAA Dealer
    RareBookBuyer.com
    Specialized in Purchasing
    Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
    RareBookBuyer.com
    We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
    ABAA Dealer
    RareBookBuyer.com
    Specialized in Purchasing
    Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
    RareBookBuyer.com
    We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
    ABAA Dealer
  • 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.
  • 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.

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