Rare Book Monthly

Articles - February - 2022 Issue

Sales of Books and Paper at Auction Surpass $1 Billion for the First Time

Going Up!

Going Up!

The good news kept getting better in 2021 in the rare book trade. 2020 had been a surprisingly good year, with prices of books and collectible paper at auction rising by 3.6%. 2021 was much better. This time prices rose 8.8%. This was based on the median, or midpoint of all lots sold during the year. While based on anecdotal comments booksellers did not participate in 2020's party, they did in 2021. Dealers' sales, unlike auctions, aren't public knowledge, but based on the upbeat comments we have heard, it sounds like the wealth has now been spread around. Covid may have lingered around another year, but the book trade seems to have developed immunity from its consequences.

 

The increase in prices was not based on a shortage of paper collectibles being offered. That number skyrocketed too. There were 636,853 lots offered, up from 521,422 in 2020, an increase of 22%. Lots sold rose from 430,544 to 521,461, an increase of 21%. The result was dollar volume of all sales increased from $725 million to $1.15 billion! That is by far a new record.

 

The sell through rate was also strong, with 82% of all lots offered being sold. That was down slightly from 83% the previous year, but it was still only the second time sell-through has exceeded 80% since we have been tracking sales in 2004.

 

In 2021, for the first time, over 50% of the lots sold for more than the highest estimated price. That number was 48% in 2020. Only 33% either sold under the low estimate or not at all. 17% sold within the range or did not have an estimated sales price. Prior to 2020, there were more lots selling either under the low estimate or not at all than over the high estimate. It is a sign that auction houses were not keeping up with the rise in prices when generating their estimated sales price.

 

In no surprise, the fourth quarter was again the busiest time of year. 30.5% of lots were offered in the fourth quarter, 27.7% in the second quarter, 22.2% in the third quarter, and 19.6% in the first quarter. The third quarter, summertime, has traditionally been the slowest time, but houses have been shifting more sales from the winter to summer months. Perhaps that is an aberration based on the intensity of the pandemic in the early months of the year. In a first, August was no longer the slowest month of the year. It constituted 5.9% of lots offered vs. only 5.7% in January. Ten years ago, only 5,213 lots were offered in August. Last year it was 37,459. So much for summer vacation.

 

The highest average price was reached at Christie's King Street – London location at $53,090. The previous year it was only $28,912 at Arader Galleries. Runner-up went to Sotheby's New York at $37,645. Next came Christie's New York at $26,889, Christie's Paris $25,775, Arader Galleries $20,681, Bonhams Los Angeles $17,223, Sotheby's London $14,812, and Freeman's $13,898. There was also plenty of material offered for those whose budgets are not in this range. Michael Treloar's auctions in Adelaide, Australia, averaged $51 per lot, Pot of Gold Liquidations $56, and the Mennonite Historical Society $70. There are lots of great deals for new collectors looking to get a toe in the water.

 

Once again, the runaway leader in lots offered was Heritage Auctions of Dallas, offering 218,619 in the category. Next was Catawiki with 20,935, RR Auction 14,990, Kiefer 13,464, and PBA San Francisco 11,721. Others offering over 10,000 lots in the category were Forum Auctions, Holabird Kagin Americana, Mirabaud-Mercier, Bubb Kuyper, and Trillium.

Rare Book Monthly

  • DOYLERare Books, Autographs & MapsJuly 23, 2025 DOYLERare Books, Autographs & MapsJuly 23, 2025
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    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 | HindmanWestern Manuscripts and MiniaturesJuly 8, 2025 Freeman’s | HindmanWestern Manuscripts and MiniaturesJuly 8, 2025
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    Western Manuscripts and Miniatures
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    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.
  • Sotheby’sBooks, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to ModernNow through July 10, 2025 Sotheby’sBooks, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to ModernNow through July 10, 2025
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    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.
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