The Strength of the Collectible Paper Auction Market continues to surprise as the market transforms.
These days we are living through turmoil. Politics, yes, the Collectible Paper market, no.
I ran some comparisons of what January auctions have looked like over the past 20 years. It’s been clear over the past decade that the market was shifting from dealer-retail to auction. The high-end now prefers to get a market-confirmed realization.
These days the mid-market too is finding auctions preferable. How can I say this?
The number of auctions are rising to surreal levels.
Let’s see what the past 20 Januarys suggest, In two words: massive growth:
Year
Month
CP Auctions in January
CP Auctions Archived
Total Lots Offered
% Lots Sold
% Lots Sold Under Low Estimate
% Sold Over High Estimated Price
2025
1
220
199
42461
33757 (80%)
6347 (19%)
20666 (61%)
2024
1
186
185
46363
39321 (85%)
7935 (20%)
24279 (62%)
2023
1
168
167
41969
35764 (85%)
6093 (17%)
23165 (65%)
2022
1
169
168
41065
34970 (85%)
4575 (13%)
24212 (69%)
2021
1
146
145
36432
32469 (89%)
5856 (18%)
19987 (62%)
2020
1
128
128
34180
29956 (88%)
7846 (26%)
16473 (55%)
2019
1
105
104
31624
25398 (80%)
6355 (25%)
14627 (58%)
2018
1
82
82
29404
24925 (85%)
8871 (36%)
10548 (42%)
2017
1
69
68
17728
14229 (80%)
2750 (19%)
9534 (67%)
2016
1
79
79
21252
17410 (82%)
3341 (19%)
11568 (66%)
2015
1
70
70
17386
14167 (81%)
3131 (22%)
9226 (65%)
2014
1
67
66
17906
14064 (79%)
2728 (19%)
8737 (62%)
2013
1
57
53
12676
9219 (73%)
3354 (36%)
3929 (43%)
2012
1
36
32
10361
8406 (81%)
2665 (32%)
3518 (42%)
2011
1
20
18
5891
4531 (77%)
1535 (34%)
1828 (40%)
2010
1
18
18
9080
7557 (83%)
1917 (25%)
3612 (48%)
2009
1
24
24
5385
3715 (69%)
1183 (32%)
1649 (44%)
2008
1
19
18
5615
4098 (73%)
1222 (30%)
1784 (44%)
2007
1
28
27
7615
5750 (76%)
1524 (27%)
2874 (50%)
2006
1
14
14
4339
3324 (77%)
936 (28%)
1510 (45%)
The number of sales continues to quickly rise.
The events are changing. There are more single owner and single subject sales.
In 2024 total collectible paper auction sales raised $1.37 billion dollars. There is nothing in the January numbers to suggest total sales in 2025 won’t go higher.
If you’ve been waiting. You can consign or even create your own auction house.
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: 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
![Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Bible [English]. [The Bible and Holy Scriptures conteyned in the Olde and Newe Testament, 1562]. £3,000-5,000](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/e47bb03e-3f3d-4f68-9e79-b0b2739ca87c.jpg "<b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 9:</b> Bible [English]. [<i>The Bible and Holy Scriptures conteyned in the Olde and Newe Testament,</i> 1562]. £3,000-5,000")
