In 2005, 29% sold for less than the low estimate, versus 27% in 2004. This 48%-29% ratio is a bit misleading, since unsold items are also items that were unable to attain the minimum bid. If these are added to items sold below the minimum, below minimum offers exceeded above maximum ones by a ratio of 48%-35%. Last year, it was 45%-37%. It would appear that anticipated selling prices in 2005 rose faster than did actual prices.
Results from individual auction houses are always intriguing, though the data may be more of a curiosity then meaningful. For example, high median prices primarily reflect the quality of material handled, rather than the performance of the auction house. However, this information can help a buyer determine which houses are most likely to offer items they can afford, or inform the seller which ones are appropriate to handle the level of books they wish to sell.
In 2005, as in 2004, the highest prices were achieved by the various Christie's and Sotheby's locations. These two houses have long dominated the very high-end book market, and 2005 was no exception. Christie's Paris auction had both the highest median and average sale, just as they did in 2004. Their median price was $6,696, down from $7,344 last year, but their average price rose from $22,391 to $24,899. Sotheby's New York just missed the top with a median of $6,600. Ten of the twelve highest medians were held by the five Christie's and five Sotheby's locations. Only Dorothy Sloan, of Austin, Texas, with a median price of $1,725, also broke into the top ten. The lowest for the big two was Christie's of London-South Kensington, still at a healthy $1,310. Four other houses had a median sale price over $1,000: Skinner's of Bolton, Massachusetts, Bonham's San Francisco, and Swann's and Doyle's of New York. Only four houses had a median sale of under $100, a sign that the level of material sold at traditional auctions still remains well above that of eBay.
The most active of houses was Bloomsbury's of London, with almost 15,000 lots. That was about 600 more than runner-up Christie's, though their number came across all five locations. Of course, Christie's and Sotheby's do enormous volumes of other material, but we are including only books and book-related items.
Much more information can be gleaned from the data made available to the public by the Americana Exchange. However, the AE cautions against drawing any wrong inferences from the data. For example, figures about selling over and under maximum and minimum estimates say more about the way the house estimates than about their success at selling. Some houses tend to estimate low, others high. It is a double-edged sword. Estimating low can encourage more people to bid, a positive, but may also encourage them to bid low, a negative. However, this information can be useful to the bidder in determining how to bid at a particular house. For example, a bid below estimate is less likely to be successful at a house that rarely sells below the low estimate than at one which often does.
Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 1: Bob Dylan, his high school classmate's yearbook with his senior portrait, signed and inscribed to her, 1959. $10,000 to $20,000.
Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 1: Bob Dylan, his high school classmate's yearbook with his senior portrait, signed and inscribed to her, 1959. $10,000 to $20,000.
Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 4: Various entertainers, Group of 30 items, signed or inscribed, various dates. $1,500 to $2,500.
Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 27: John Adams, Autograph Letter Signed to Benjamin Rush introducing Archibald Redford, Paris, 1783. $35,000 to $50,000.
Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 36: Robert Gould Shaw, Autograph Letter Signed to his father from Camp Andrew, Boston, 1861. $10,000 to $15,000.
Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 53: Martin Luther King Jr., Time magazine cover, signed and inscribed "Best Wishes," 1957. $5,000 to $7,500.
Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 127: Paul Gauguin, Autograph Letter regarding payment for paintings, with woodcut letterhead, 1900. $6,000 to $9,000.
Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 169: Suck: First European Sex Paper, complete group of eight issues, 1969-1974. $800 to $1,200.
Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 173: Black Panthers, The Racist Dog Policemen Must Withdraw Immediately From Our Communities, poster, 1969. $2,000 to $3,000.
Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 187: Marc Attali & Jacques Delfau, Les Erotiques du Regard, first edition, Paris, 1968. $300 to $500.
Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 213: Andy Warhol, Warhol's Index Book, first printing, New York, 1967. $800 to $1,200.
Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 215: Cookie Mueller, Archive of 17 items, including 4 items inscribed and signed. $3,000 to $4,000.
Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 249: Jamie Reid, The Ten Lessons / The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle; Sex Pistols, chromogenic print with collage, signed, circa 1980. $20,000 to $30,000.
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
Bonhams, Apr. 8: First report outside of the colonies of the American Revolution, from American accounts. Printed broadsheet, The London Evening-Post, May 30, 1775. $20,000 - $30,000
Bonhams, Apr. 8: Joyce, James. The earliest typescript pages from Finnegans Wake ever to appear at auction, annotated by Joyce, 1923. $30,000 - $50,000
Bonhams, Apr. 8: Joyce's Ulysses, 1923, one of only seven copies known, printed to replace copies destroyed in customs. $10,000 - $15,000
Bonhams, Apr. 8: ATHANASIUS KIRCHER'S COPY, INSCRIBED. Saggi di naturali esperienze fatte nell' Accademia del Cimento, 1667. $2,000 - $3,000
Bonhams, Apr. 8: Bernoulli's Ars conjectandi, 1713. "... first significant book on probability theory." $15,000 - $25,000
Bonhams, Apr. 8: Aristotle's Politica. Oeconomica. 1469. The first printed work on political economy. $80,000 - $120,000
Bonhams, Apr. 8: John Graunt's Natural and political observations...., 1662. The first printed work of epidemiology and demographics. $20,000 - $30,000
Bonhams, Apr. 8: William Playfair's Commercial and Political Atlas, 1786. The first work to pictorially represent information in graphics. $15,000 - $25,000
Bonhams, Apr. 8: Anson's A Voyage Round the World, 1748. THE J.R. ABBEY-LORD WARDINGTON COPY, BOUND BY JOHN BRINDLEY. $8,000 - $12,000
Bonhams, Apr. 8: La Perouse's Voyage de La Perouse autour du monde..., 1797. LARGE FINE COPY IN ORIGINAL BOARDS. $8,000 - $12,000
Bonhams, Apr. 8: Charles Schulz original 8-panel Peanuts Sunday comic strip, 1992, pen and ink over pencil, featuring Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Lucy as a psychiatrist. $20,000 - $30,000