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I was going to call this article, “Journal of the Plague Years Part II,” but despite operating in pandemic mode since March of 2020 most of us seem to have muddled through somehow and are still trying to figure out how much longer this crazy scenario is going to last.
During 2021 the Rare Book Hub Monthly carried a variety of news and opinion articles relating to the rare book world in particular and auctions, dealers and collectibles (not always books) in general. Here are a selection of links from 2021 that may shed some light on the year just completed. You might want to click on a few if you missed them the first time around.
Notice that increasingly high values in sports card collectibles made frequent appearances throughout the year; also there were a number of stories that either noticed or predicted the future of NFTs (Non Fungible Tokens). Unlikely candidates for roles in the “culture wars” were Dr. Seuss and Curious George, both of whom made appearances in RBH Monthly. These and other digital wrinkles to our venerable trade were duly noted.
As always there was news of thefts, frauds, forgeries and deceptions related to books and paper, old and new, and we also reported on a variety of disasters that struck unexpectedly, including a number of major fires. Sadly we also carried news on the passing of a number of notables in the book world, people who have made exceptional contributions to our area of special interest and will all be missed.
Wishing you and yours a happy, and prosperous 2022, here is a brief recap of some of our more relevant articles from 2021.
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Jan 2021
Crime: Twenty Years Later Cambridge University Concludes that Missing Darwin Notebooks were Stolen https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/2925
Forecasts: Thoughts on the Year Ahead from the Auction World https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/2933
Prediction from trade groups, dealers and on-line shows https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/2932
Feb 2021
Auctions Had a Good Year in 2020: Excerpt: “The reality is many dealers have been struggling for many years as the older models for book selling have not worked as well in the current market. Herein lies a potential long term bright spot for the dealers in the midst of this difficult year. One has been the emergence of paper collectibles other than books, such as manuscripts, photographs, prints, comic books, even baseball cards. Even among book buyers, more collectors are collecting a subject, rather than a type, that is, buying books, manuscripts, prints etc. pertaining to a favored subject, rather than buying only books or prints, etc. Many dealers are expanding their inventory to meet this changing demand, rather than limiting themselves to a single shrinking part of the market.” https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/2948
Obit: Everett Cleveland Wilkie Jr., noted librarian, scholar, moderator died of Covid-19 https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/2937
Auctions: New Record Price for Baseball card - $5.2 million paid for 1952 Mickey Mantle rookie card which sold for 5 cents new. https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/2941
March 2021
Obit: Death American Poet Lawrence Felinghetti at age 101. Iconic figure excelled in many areas https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/2959
Special Collections: Small Museum in Asheville Meets the Challenges of the Pandemic https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/2952
Digital: Virtual Tours Offered for California Book Fair https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/2955
Crime: Italian Senator Acquitted in Girolamini Library Massive Book Theft Case https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/2953
Auctions: Sports Cards Smashing All Sorts of Records https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/2978
April 2021
Obit: Dorothy Sloan, fifth generation Texan and one of the great Texas dealers https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/2973
Culture Wars: Some Dr. Seuss Books Will No Longer Be Published https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/2979
Culture Wars: Dr. Seuss Publishing Decision Ignites Furor on Many Fronts https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/2967 A recent Forbes article ranked the Seuss’ estate second in value only to the King of Pop - Michael Jackson, in the money making abilities of dead creative celebrities. Or as the magazine wrote, “Sam-I-Am now has a lot more green to go with those eggs and ham. The estate of Theodor Seuss Geisel (better known as Dr. Seuss) nearly doubled its income in 2020, earning an estimated $33 million in a very Grinch-like year.”
Obit: Edmund “Leigh" William Eveleigh Stein, exceptional bookman dead of Covid at 90 https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/2981
Forgery: Grolier Club Receives Rendell Collection on Detecting Forged Handwriting https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/2983
May 2021
Auctions: Another Record Price for Collectible Sports Card https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/2997
Digital: TikTok for Books https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/2991
Digital: Coming Soon - Digital Collectible books? NFTs (Non fungible tokens) make an appearance in world of collectible books https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/2998
June 2021
Film: “Booksellers” Debuts https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3011
Crime: Mexican National Archives - Scholars Turned Sleuths FindSource of Auctioned Cortes Letters https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3012
Auctions: Donald Heald Becomes an Auction House https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3008
Auctions: More Mega Prices for Sports Cards - this time it’s hockey https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3007
Dealers & Special Collections: ExLibris Listserv a Useful Forum and Offers Commercial Opportunities Too https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3001
Culture Wars: Curious George Joins Dr. Seuss as Part of Cancel Culture https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3005
July 2021
Dealers: Sotheran's Historic Bookseller Describes the Pandemic from London https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3015
Auctions: Where Are We? Recap of transition to online auctions and trends as observed mid-pandemic. “...This migration of catalogue - and fair-centric collectors to online auction platforms is not an isolated occurrence." https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3019
Auctions: Yet Another Record Price for Sports Cards - rookie card for Babe Ruth and related news. https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3026
Digital: Dr. Suess is Coming to Blockchain: Seuss collectibles to be offered as NFTs. https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3027
August 2021
Auctions: Christies to Sell William Reese Personal Collection in May 2022 https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3041
Censorship: Book Censorship Raising Its Head Again - becomes an issue in Hungary https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3039
September 2021
Dealers: Ken Karmiole ABAA Downsizing https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3054
Dealers: Mark Funke ABAA Expanding https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3058
Digital: Is This the Long Distant Future of Collecting? More on NFTs (Non Fungible Tokens) via Forbes https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3047
Library: Overdue Library Book Returned…. 300 Years Later https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3046
Auction: Yet Another Record Price: Baseball Card Sells for $6 million https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3052
October 2021
Valuation: What is Going on with Astronomical Prices for Collectibles, it's not just baseball cards https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3077
Scams: Confirmed: The Vinland Map is a Fake https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3071
Crime: 500 Comics and Other Items Stolen from Florida State uUniversity https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3070
Auctions: New Record Auction Price for Comic Book $3.6 million - “Amazing Fantasy #15 from Marvel, published in 1962. Back then it cost 12 cents. That is a 3 billion percent increase in value.” https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3062
Collecting: Is it Too Soon to Collect Covid Materials? https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3072
November 2021
Dealers: Extraordinary History of the Everyday - Langdon Manor creates a niche https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3082
Book Fairs: Old Books and Old Collectors Shout Harrah!! Return to In-person fair and sales. Firsts live event a success in London https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3089
Auctions: Do You Believe in Magic? Sotheby’s Ricky Jay sale of magic materials does well https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3090
December 2021
Obit: Richard Lan dies at 74 https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3106
Auctions: World Record Price: 1st printing of the U.S. Constitution in private hands sells for over $43 million https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3104
The Trade: Buying and Selling in Complicated Times: https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3107
Crime: Arrest Made in $1.5million Book Fraud Scheme https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3101
Disaster: Fire at Another British Bookstore https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3108
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How to find Rare Book Hub Monthly Archives by Year and Month
All articles from prior issues of the Book Hub Monthly can be found in the archives. Links to the archive are posted on the far right of each RBH monthly page about midway down. The most recent few months are shown in a list. To access earlier issues press the arrow for the drop down menu.
Reach RBH Monthly writer Susan Halas at wailukusue@gmail.com
