The material hasn’t changed much other than getting older. Books and manuscripts have long been appreciated and most of their secrets have been discovered. Maps too are understood. In most cases relating to collectible paper, when their authors, titles and dates are known there’s only three variables to understand: current condition, value, and how many people will be interested?
For this reason, transaction histories for collectible paper, like ours, have long played an important role in the worldwide field. Currently we’re providing 13.5 million records but surprisingly, there’s an entire category of old paper that hardly appears: ephemera. It’s huge but has long resisted easy description.
A small portion of our lots in Rare Book Transaction History [124,411 out of 13,536,471] presently fall into the identified ephemera category, but other than the small number of known, desirable and important examples that randomly appear and reappear in the auction rooms today, most ephemera will not soon find an easy place in databases like ours. No doubt, when the logjam is broken, gifted cataloguers will play an important part.
Why is this difficult?
Individual ephemera often relies on context and it takes both experience and time to figure out how a single piece of paper fits into a collecting story. Absent definitive proof for individual items, if there is a group of related items, it’s sometimes possible to feel confident but, if the evidence is only circumstantial or incremental, this may require the supporting evidence be included with the item. Without it, it’s just an opinion.
Enter stage right: Michael Brown, ABAA, offered electronic catalogues some years back filled with extraordinary archival collections that were deep in ephemera. In some cases, those collections were offered as single lots in his memorable catalogues, and every one of them easily met the highest standards for description. Voila! He didn’t announce he was going to change the role and function of ephemera in the field, but he nevertheless found a place in the history of works on paper that will remember his effort.
By his examples, I believe we have proof that ephemera with a convincing story, can and should be added to our Rare Book Transaction History. Individual pieces may be worth only $5 or $10 dollars, but in their totality, with a compelling story, such material will have a significant place in the future of collectible paper.
In this way, millions of pieces of ephemera will increasingly find themselves in those databases that support collectible paper. Count us in!
Editor’s Note. I sent a draft of this brief piece to Michael and he quickly mentioned his debt to the work of Rocky Gardner, Tim Trace and Steve Resnick from the 1970’s. No man is an island!
He has provided a link to one of his catalogues. Click here
Sotheby’s Bibliotheca Brookeriana: A Renaissance Library. The Aldine Collection D-M 18 October 2024
Sotheby’s, Oct. 18: Herodianus Syrus, Herodiani Historiarum, Venice, Heirs of Aldo & Torresano, 1524, Parisian binding for Jean Grolier by Jean Picard, ca. 1540
Sotheby’s, Oct. 18: Musaeus, Opusculum de Herone et Leandro, Venice, Aldo, 1495 (Greek text), interleaved with 1497–1498 (Latin text), English olive morocco by Charles Lewis, the Botfield copy
Sotheby’s, Oct. 18: Horatius Flaccus, Horatius, Venice, Aldo, 1501, Bolognese brown goatskin (between 1501 and 1503), arms of Mino Rossi and illuminated initials throughout
Sotheby’s, Oct. 18: Lucretius, De rerum natura, Venice, Aldo, 1500, English early eighteenth-century red morocco, the Fletcher copy
One of a Kind Collectibles Auctions Rare Autograph and Book Auction October 17th, 2024
One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: Abraham Lincoln Signed Letter on Executive Mansion Stationary To Secretary of The Navy re: Appointment for Naval Academy!
One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: Extremely Rare Ben Franklin Printed: Considerations on Keeping Negroes...Part Second. 1762.
One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: An impressively extra-illustrated copy; Including an Original leaf from Shakespeare’s 1623 First Folio!
One of a Kind Collectibles Auctions Rare Autograph and Book Auction October 17th, 2024
One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: Rarest Naval Autograph James Lawrence “Don’t give up the ship On " U.S. Ship Hornet June 19th 1812.
One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: Oversize Ernest Hemingway Signed Photo with long Inscription about Drinking Wine to his dear friend and Secretary Roberto Herrera.
One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: VOLTAIRE Signed Receipt about a partial payment of debt for the Duke of Wuerttemberg.
One of a Kind Collectibles Auctions Rare Autograph and Book Auction October 17th, 2024
One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: [Maps] Gio. Ant. Magnini, Italia, 1620.
One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: LAWMAN SALOON JUDGE ROY BEAN Signed Legal Document 1895-RARE!
One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: Autograph Album with James Garfield as President, Chester A. Aurthur as VP, William T. Sherman, Burnside, P.T. Barnum and many more!
One of a Kind Collectibles Auctions Rare Autograph and Book Auction October 17th, 2024
One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: Thomas Jefferson and James Madison Signed Four Language Ship's Paper.
One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: Hector Berlioz Autograph Musical Quotation Signed.
One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: Important Memorandum the Day after Gettysburg July 5th, 1863 where Lincoln asks all Department Heads of the cabinet to meet him at the Executive Mansion.
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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