Rare Book Monthly

Articles - March - 2003 Issue

The AE Book Collector Survey Conducted at the Recent ABAA Show in San Francisco

The 36th ABAA International Book Fair

The 36th ABAA International Book Fair


By Bruce McKinney

Under unseasonably clear skies in uncertain times the ABAA conducted its annual west coast trade show in San Francisco February 9th to the 11th. More than 2,000 collectors, most of them from California, seemed very pleased for the opportunity to examine rare and collectible books in person and a high percentage purchased material for their collections. A much smaller number brought books to sell, in some cases from overseas. Many dealers reported doing well.

The AE conducted a survey at the west entrance to the show where collectors, non-ABAA dealers and the simply curious purchased tickets that then let them enter from other entrances during the three day show. We brought 2,000 questionnaires and brought a significant percentage home unused. Nevertheless a clear picture of the Northern California book collecting community emerged.

The audience was collectors. Dealers also answered the survey but their answers are not included. Neither are those of a few dealers posing as collectors. People associated with libraries were uncommon if not quite as rare as some of the books. Only one person said they were thinking about becoming a dealer while about 7% said they were thinking about becoming book collectors. Rarer than a Columbus Letter was the book collector under 40. We didn’t seek to track the split between men and women but the percentage seemed to be about 70-30 men to women. There were many more women attending than we expected. There are clear distinctions between the male and female approaches to book collecting but the survey did not attempt to understand these differences. Future surveys will perhaps broach these topics.

As to collectors’ involvement with books, 87% have been collecting for more than 5 years and just 13% for less than 5 years. Whether newer collectors simply buy elsewhere or perhaps don’t exist we can’t yet say. One question for our own membership, 1,062 today, is whether they attend book fairs. The survey clearly shows collectors gravitating to the net but do collectors on the net gravitate to the traditional book collecting venues? We don’t yet know.

As to how book collectors view their passion – as an investment, a hobby or a hobby that is becoming an investment -- only 5% view book collecting as an outright investment, 62% as a hobby and 33% as an investment that began as a hobby.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby'sSell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts Sotheby'sSell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    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
  • Leland Little, Jan. 22: The First Issue of Robert Frost's A Boy's Will, In Extremely Scarce Binding.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: Knight's An Account of the Remains of the Worship of Priapus.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: First Edition of Locke's Important Treatise Some Thoughts Concerning Education.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: The Richly Illustrated First French Edition of Voyages de Corneille Le Brun par la Moscovie, en Perse, et aux Indes Orientales.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: Scarce First Issue of An Account of the Province of Carolina in America, Finely Bound and With Celebrated John Speed Map.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: Humphrey's An Historical Account, Complete with Scarce Folding Maps.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: First Edition of Chamberlain's Scarce Civil War Memoir The Passing of the Armies.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: A Rare Photograph of David Bruce Brown and #48 Fiat.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: George Cruikshank (England, 1792-1878), Archive of Sketches, Notes, and Letters.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: Extremely Scarce Copy of Die Samländische Ode (The Samland Ode), Signed by Max Pechstein.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: Andy Warhol's The Thirteen Most Wanted Men Exhibition Catalogue.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: Edward Ruscha (American, b. 1937), Every Building on the Sunset Strip.
  • RareBookBuyer.comWe Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide RareBookBuyer.comWe Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
    RareBookBuyer.com
    We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
    RareBookBuyer.com
    We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
    RareBookBuyer.com
    Specialized in Purchasing
    Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
    RareBookBuyer.com
    We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
    RareBookBuyer.com
    Specialized in Purchasing
    Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
    RareBookBuyer.com
    We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
    RareBookBuyer.com
    Specialized in Purchasing
    Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
    RareBookBuyer.com
    We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
    RareBookBuyer.com
    Specialized in Purchasing
    Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
    RareBookBuyer.com
    We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide

Article Search

Archived Articles

Ask Questions