October 14, 2012
HOW TO VALUE A RARE BOOK
APPRAISING AN 18th CENTURY RARE BOOK ON CLOCKS AND WATCHES
We just received in the mail a very interesting work on watch and clockmaking from 1732: Johann George Leutmann’s Vollständige Nachricht von den Uhren. This is a complicated work and typographically intimidating. It is printed in black-letter script with only occasional Roman script, a style that remained common in Germany until the end of the 18th century. It is not a book, like a signed limited copy of the Little Prince, for example, that can more easily be looked up on the internet for a range of prices. So, I thought it would be instructive, to outline what goes through the mind of a bookseller when appraising a book’s value:
There are several factors one must reasonably consider:
IMPORTANCE: When evaluating an old book, and once it has been identified, it is necessary first to get a sense of its importance. Some books are rare, but not necessarily important and therefore not very valuable. The book here is important. A little research indicates that it is considered to be the “The first detailed treatise on clocks and watches.” (Baillie, Clocks and Watches, p.147). Book dealers are often fond of books that can be labeled “the first of this” of the “first of that”, and while they sometimes go to extremes to elevate a particular book’s importance with such descriptive labels for the purpose of marketing, this is truly a breakthrough work in horology. It is particularly fascinating, as while some other earlier works had touched upon clock mechanisms, Leutmann delves into the relatively newer area of pocket watches and portable time pieces, with a chapter even on how to tell the age of a watch (albeit that is not much use today if you like a glitzy Rolex or a more subdued vintage Patek Phillipe)
THE BINDING: The binding of this book is a scarce and collectible binding. It is a Brocade paper binding that is almost certainly contemporary with the book (i.e. from the 1730s). The paper was originally printed in bright colors, with an abundance of decorative leaves and flowers. It is now worn, and like many things that suffer the ravages of time, only displays a glimpse of its former beauty. Still, it is a quite fascinating as an example of innovative and inexpensive 18th century European bookbinding.
RARITY: The book is not a first edition, as it was originally issued in 1718. Still, it is a work that very rarely appears at auction in any edition. I have only been able, in fact, to trace two copies at auction in the last thirty years. There are several subscription databases to check auction results such as the ABPC, AmericanaExchange, and in the case of German books, the JAHRBUCH der Auktionspreise für Bücher. A quick and free option to ascertain rarity is to look at Worldcat.org. This is a solid, albeit not entirely comprehensive, database of holdings of books in Institutional Libraries (how many libraries have copies of a particular book). Worldcat has its flaws, such as duplicate listings, incorrect listings of actual books vs. microfilmed copies etc. Still, it is very helpful, and certainly one can also get the collation (page count) and cataloger’s notes of many rare books. Through Worldcat, I was able to trace only 9 other copies of this 1732 edition- so it is quite rare.
PROVENANCE: It is essential when evaluating a book, to look for signs of previous ownership, bookplates, annotations, inscriptions etc. and to assess their importance. In this book, we do have some ownership signatures in a fairly illegible hand, but which read “Ex Libris W.W. Eckark” Now, if that was an important and identifiable watch or clockmaker, that would certainly raise the value of the book. Unfortunately, there is scant biographical information on who that is and as such it does not contribute much to the value. Additionally, there are some mid-18th century notes to the inside of the front cover (paste-down) of the book. These notes however just reference and re-state part of the text and do not appear to be significant.
COMPLETENESS: The work should contain 2 parts in 1 volume with 2 engraved frontispieces, 30 engraved plates and 16 tables (mainly folding, or double-page). One must carefully check and count all pages. While all the text pages are present as well as the 2 engraved frontispieces, this copy only possesses 18 of the 46 plates and tables and therefore must be considered severely defective.
VALUE: While the book is extremely important in the history of horology and is bound in an interesting 18th century binding, it is incomplete. It is a unfortunate fact that collectors and dealers want complete books even if that means passing over otherwise interesting and rare works. Condition and completeness are extremely important when it comes to assessing the monetary value of a book. Were this a complete example, it would have a value in the range of $1500-2000. Sadly, with so many plates missing, it is just an antiquarian curiosity to those interested in watchmaking or bookbinding, but something not likely worth more than $300.
