If the pursuit of exceptional material requires money, patience and judgment, the pursuit of intensive narrow collections rely on filtering software, patience and experience. Narrow collections can be expensive but most are not. What is similar with these approaches is the satisfaction they bring. They are light-years apart in style but both will be celebrated when sold or donated to institutions in the years to come.
For dealers this transition in collecting style is complicated by the fixed nature of inventory which tends to be more general than a successful collector's focus. As a result, even if a collector prefers to deal with a few dealers, if they search randomly they encounter more sources and more options. As a consequence the new collector, simply using the resources available, tends to replace traditional dealer-client relationships with an ever-changing group of sources that provide material to collections they generally have no idea about. In this new world the collector builds the collection. In the world that slips away the dealer built the collection for the collector.
So is the dealer done for? I think not, particularly at the top of the market. Many collectors and institutions prefer the assurance of the money back guarantee that dealers often provide; the higher cost offsetting the reduced risks of defective and made-up copies. As well, to bid at auction, a collector, In my opinion, needs representation and if a consistent client of a dealer, can expect such service.
For most collectors however, their exceptionalism will manifest itself in the building of self-directed collections. They will, by degree, focus on a field, follow availability, note the frequency of appearance, develop opinions about condition, remember the sources and track the analogous material that vies for inclusion within their ever-refining scope of collection. In a few years this jiggering with the equation that begins as chopsticks becomes a Brahms concerto.
Either way, or employing the more traditional middle ground of collecting techniques, 2010 looks to be doubly difficult for many dealers and a rich opportunity for collectors.
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
