Rare Book Monthly

Articles - September - 2009 Issue

The Printed Word: a shrinking footprint

Collecting:  a debate the field needs to win

Collecting: a debate the field needs to win




Outside Forces: The ability of some portion of the online audience to be satisfied with pure content, be it Google Books or material from other providers, seems already established; the path to its wider use and acceptance now subject only to three variables; more content; easier, more intuitive software; and increasing public awareness. Its emergence alters the value of printed material in unpredictable ways because it will change the way people collect. That said, it will both encourage collecting by exposing hidden connections, but also eliminate the need to own a copy if information is the only goal. Overall it seems a great positive for the hundreds of thousands, if not ultimately millions of unappreciated items that will gain visibility. That said, it will take a self-directed collecting approach, that will have to be learned, to unearth them.

Collecting, as do all things, changes and if the confederation of markets, services and adherents, of which it is a part, are to prosper the relationship between collecting and other sectors of the book, manuscript and ephemera field will need to change. Today the field exists to support sellers who sell to libraries and collectors. The market in the future will more serve collectors. It will have no choice. Libraries, as the primary repositories of rare and important material, have peaked. Within these institutions battles will rage but the dollars, euros, and pounds over time are going to shift to funding the complex electronic presentations that will both open more material to broader access and also reduce the library's need to provide physical access. Such collections are already rarely visited. Many will inevitably be dispersed, traded or transferred.

New thinking is required.

Rare Book Monthly

  • High Bids Win
    Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines
    and Machine Manuals
    December 24 to January 9
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Ellis Smith Prints unsigned. 20” by 16”.
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: United typothetae of America presidents. Pictures of 37 UTA presidents 46th annual convention United typothetae of America Cincinnati 1932.
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec signed Paper Impressionism Art Prints. MayMilton 9 1/2” by 13” Reine de Joie 9 1/2” by 13”.
    High Bids Win
    Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines
    and Machine Manuals
    December 24 to January 9
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Aberle’ Ballet editions. 108th triumph, American season spring and summer 1944.
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Puss ‘n Boots. 1994 Charles Perrult All four are signed by Andreas Deja
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Specimen book of type faces. Job composition department, Philadelphia gazette publishing company .
    High Bids Win
    Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines
    and Machine Manuals
    December 24 to January 9
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: An exhibit of printed books, Bridwell library.
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur Court By Mark Twain 1889.
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: 1963 Philadelphia Eagles official program.
    High Bids Win
    Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines
    and Machine Manuals
    December 24 to January 9
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: 8 - Esquire the magazine for men 1954.
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: The American printer, July 1910.
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Leaves of grass 1855 by Walt Whitman.
  • Sotheby's
    Fine Books, Manuscripts & More
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s: William Shakespeare.
    The Poems and Sonnets of William Shakespeare, 1960. 7,210 USD
    Sotheby’s: Charles Dickens.
    A Christmas Carol, First Edition, 1843. 17,500 USD
    Sotheby’s: William Golding.
    Lord of the Flies, First Edition, 1954. 5,400 USD
    Sotheby's
    Fine Books, Manuscripts & More
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s: Lewis Carroll.
    Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, Inscribed First Edition, 1872. 25,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: J.R.R. Tolkien.
    The Hobbit, First Edition, 1937. 12,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: John Milton.
    Paradise Lost, 1759. 5,400 USD

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