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March 4, 2015

Sotheby’s Rare Books

Sometimes, after I evaluate a rare book collection, clients will reasonably ask themselves if they would they be better selling them privately or at auction.   The auction house that is often on the tip of everyone’s tongue is Sotheby’s (with no insult to their peer Christie’s as they are a fine house- but I just am asked about them less frequently).  After all, Sotheby’s is a household name, and despite the fact that the majority of their revenues these days comes from modern art sales (which Al Capp mocked as the product of the ‘untalented sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered”), they actually started as a rare book auction house in the 18th century with the  disposal of “several hundred scarce and valuable” books.  To this day, they maintain an active rare book and manuscript department even if their focus has shifted.

So, the question is more succinctly stated: Would I get more money at auction for my rare books or by selling them privately.

Auctions are an important venue for selling books, and one can often get fair market value for books.  However, that does or not mean that the net proceeds will be higher than a private sale or that certain types of books will do better at auction.

Let’s break them into the simple positive and negatives as viewed form an the perspective of an experience bookseller who loves books auctions.

Positives at auction:

1) These days, exceptional material does well.  The rarest and most unique material can command strong prices.  The auctions have to a large degree focused on selling such ‘highlights’.  There have been many times in fact when I have advised sellers to consider the auction route if I felt the material would honestly ‘fly’ there due to its obvious importance/rarity or fresh to market appeal.

2) Sellers feel they can trust the process that a fair market value will be established.  There is less of a “can I trust this person” concern than with private dealers.

Negatives at auction:

1) Auction houses are increasingly fussy about rarity, condition, and the minimum worth of a book that they will consider for consignment (at the big houses this is often in the thousands of dollars).  If you have a library, this means it will be quickly cherry picked without solving the issue of what to do with the remaining books.

2) Auction houses can and do make mistakes and miss things that would raise the value of a book substantially.  That is how dealers make money- by going to auction and hunting for these ‘sleepers.’  An honest dealer who is buying privately (but certainly not at auction) will often point out a unique attribute in a book that makes a book more salable, where an auction house that is swamped with material may not pay as much attention.  This can be especially true for manuscript material that requires a lot of time and energy to read and properly evaluate.

2) Some books command more money privately than at auction.   Many quality rare antiquarian books and manuscripts that are not obvious highlights can do substantially better through private sales than at auction.  I have purchased many early printed books at auction and have sold them at considerable profit – clearly that would not be possible if I did not recognize value in them that exceeded the auction price.  Also, some dealers may have certain clients or libraries in mind and are willing to pay a high price to obtain material for them – especially when it has the attractive veneer of being ‘fresh to market” in an age when internet exposure can hurt value by the draining excitement of a find that everybody else has seen and knows about.

3)  Auction estimates can be overly optimistic.  After all, auction houses do not have ‘teeth in the game’ as they don’t lay out money for inventory.  While they sometimes present themselves as esteemed houses that offer bias-free evaluations, they are of course in reality businesses that are interested in making money  (as we all are) and they can’t do that without a constant flow of consignments.  As such, they can on occasion entice clients with estimates that are too optimistic (and there is nothing that kills a final sale price like a high estimate)

4) There is uncertainty in terms of the proceeds- some may enjoy gambling but that is not for everyone.  Additionally, it often takes a long time to get paid from the start of the process (certainly 6 months on average from consignment to payment)

5) Auction contracts can be overwhelming to new consignors.  They say “sign here” but clients sometimes do not pay attention to withdrawal or reserve fees if items do not sell or more complex rescission clauses that permit the auction house – even years later- to demand money paid to consignors if the item is returned for material defects that were not properly described (this happens only rarely with books but is not infrequent in other categories)

Let me offer a concrete example of a book I was offered: A couple years ago a seller came to me with a handsome copy of  Chandler (Alfred) & William Beattie Booth’s Illustrations and Descriptions of the Plants which Compose the Natural Order Camellieae.  This is wonderful and important monograph that contains 40 sumptuous hand-colored plates of camellias grown in his father’s nursery in Vauxhall.

When this was offered to me, I made an offer of $13,000 cash.  I provided an auction record (and full transparency often works against dealers unfortunately) of a copy that sold for $37,957 in 2002 at auction, but explained that there was a large paper copy from an important collection and the market for fine botanical books had weakened considerably since a couple well known collectors that had inflated prices withdrew from the market.

Here is a photo of one of the plates:

The owner did not sell the book, which was perfectly understandable given what a copy had once sold for.   The owner  then consigned to auction to Christie’s with an $8000-$10,000 estimate, which although reasonably enticing, did not elicit much interest in a weak botanical market.  The book did not sell.   Given the transparency and wide availability of auction prices today, when a copy is unsold it can carry the scarlet letter of being unsold which can further hurt its resale value in the private market even if it is otherwise a lovely and important book.  In this particular case, the allure of a potential home run at auction (hopes that are infrequently, but sometimes, met) was too strong, and in the 20-20 hindsight none of us can possess, it would have been better to take the cash private offer.

Regardless of whether you wish to consider auction for your books or a private sale, I am happy to make free evaluations and you can contact me at webuyrarebooks@gmail.com or at 646 469-1851.   I will provide actual auction records for your books so you can reasonably estimate what your books would get at auction and make an informed decision.  I think you will also find that I devote the time and energy required to making discoveries that can often be overlooked.

February 15, 2015

Selling Rare Books in England?

A brief note as we are a NYC Based company but get a lot of enquiries from the UK regarding evaluating and possibly purchasing important rare books,  manuscripts and entire libraries.

Q:  Do we purchase books in the UK and can we visit?

A:  Absolutely.  We have a UK representative that is happy to make house calls for important rare books and manuscripts.  As always, it is first very helpful to send photos of the books and manuscripts you would like evaluated for free or wish us to consider for purchase.  Our email address is webuyrarebooks@gmail.com. For books  located books in the UK, kindly put “attn: Robert” in the subject to receive a quick reply and evaluation.

February 9, 2015

Rare Book Hub – Free Evaluations Rare Books – Rare Book Auctions

I sometimes recommend major auction houses to clients that are considering selling books (especially if they are important) so they can receive an additional and independent evaluation.  However, one must keep in mind that auction houses have their own commercial interests in getting material for consignment and sometimes their ambitious estimates are designed to encourage consignment (they don’t have risk after all in selling consigned material).   Also, on occasion, the wait to hear back from a specialist can be frustrating as naturally their departments are quite busy and focus on very valuable estates and individual works.  (Incidentally, if you go the auction route, I am happy to provide tips on which auction house you should use, where, and what estimates to encourage bidding)

An alternative for independent evaluations is the  Rare Book Hub  (formerly Americana Exchange, but recently changed as their focus is no longer strictly just Americana).  It is in fact one of the best and most comprehensive Rare Book Evaluation sites on the web.  To access the increasingly comprehensive records, there is a paid subscriber database, which has (along with the American Book Prices Current database) become an indispensable tool to evaluate books.  It is quite different than sites such as Abebooks and other book search engines online that provide retail values  or asking prices (which are often unobtainable for most sellers of old books).  Instead, the Rare Book Hub provides many actual auction records of books,  old dealer catalogues, as well as a great deal of informative bibliographical and descriptive information.  Anyone can subscribe and check values themselves, albeit it is still wise to consult a professional as comparing books and prices is an art and not a science as sometimes small and not readily apparent differences can greatly affect the value of a work.  When you have me evaluate your books, I certainly check databases such as these and can provide the records for individual works.  This transparency is very helpful when dealing with clients that do not necessarily know the value of what they have.  It allows for sellers to see what the books should reasonably sell for at auction if they went that route.  Dealers can even sometimes pay more than the likely auction values if a book is particularly rare.  As in the art market,  there is an added value for works that are fresh to market and privately sold and for which they may have specific clients.

As always, I am happy to provide free evaluations for old and rare books, and you can contact me anytime at webuyrarebooks@gmail.com.  If you do not hear from me within 2 days, please write “Attn. Adam” in the subject as this prevents email from accidentally falling into spam and delaying a reply. Sending photos of the bindings and title pages are an excellent start.

January 10, 2015

We Buy Americana – Free Rare Book Appraisals- Early American Binding

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL SECRETS HIDDEN IN THE BINDING

We recently bought a set of Matthew Henry’s well-known six-volume Exposition of the Old and New Testaments which provides an exhaustive verse by verse study of the Bible.  This is a relatively common work of the 18th century, and due to its its bulkiness and subject matter, doesn’t tend to hold much appeal for collectors.  A set can reasonably be obtained for a modest few hundred dollars.

So, why did we buy it?

What makes this particular set fascinating, and which shows there are plenty of discoveries to be made in old books, are the pages that were pasted as publisher’s waste inside the book.  Paper was expensive and bookbinders were loath to throw our scraps that could be re-used as binding material.   Many important discoveries are made from “binder’s waste” – even fragments of the Gutenberg Bible and otherwise lost manuscripts.

Here is a full description off our set that highlights the interesting leaves pasted-in.

Matthew Henry. An exposition on the Old and New Testament : In five volumes. … Wherein each chapter is summed up in its contents ; the sacred text inserted at large in distinct paragraphs ; each paragraph reduced to its proper heads ; the sense given, and largely illustrated: with practical remarks and observations. By Matthew Henry, late minister of the Gospel.  London : Printed for John and Paul Knapton in Ludgate-street, Thomas Cox under the Royal-Exchange ; Richard Ford and Richard Hett both in the Poultry, Aaron Ward in Little-Britain, and Thomas Longman in Pater Noster Row, 1737. [i.e. 1737-1738].   Five Folios, 40 x 26.5 cm., internally some toning, foxing and intermittent stains, Kings II in vol. I lacking some pages at rear, toning and discoloration to paste-downs with some cracking to boards and splitting of sheets,  t.p. of Vol. III pasted at a later date over a Roger and Fowle publishing sheet, corner to Vol. 1 of first signatures cut without loss and some singeing.  Bindings with general scuffing and discoloration, some chipping, and peeling to head of spine of Vol. 2.

WITH NINE UNCUT AND EXTREMELY RARE EARLY AMERICAN PUBLISHER’S SHEETS USED AS WASTE FOR PASTE-DOWNS AND, THEREFORE,  ALMOST CERTAINLY AN UNUSUAL EXAMPLE OF A SET OF EARLY AMERICAN FOLIO BINDINGS.

The nine paste-downs (more formally ten, but one is obscured at a later date) comprise repeated sheets of the first signature from a run of  “A letter from William Shirley, Esq; governor of Massachusetts-Bay, to His Grace the Duke of Newcastle : with a journal of the siege of Louisbourg, and other operations of the forces, during the expedition against the French settlements on Cape-Breton; drawn up at the desire of the Council and House of Representatives of the province of Massachusetts-Bay; approved and attested by Sir William Pepperrell, and the other principal officers who commanded in the said expedition. Published by authority.  [Boston] : London: printed 1746. Boston: re-printed by Rogers and Fowle, for Joshua Blanchard, at the Bible and Crown in Dock-Square, 1746.   Ref: Evans 5863

Shirley’s letter is one of the most important contemporary accounts of the French and Indian Wars, specifically King George’s War.  It was the first important English victory in America, when a New England colonial force, aided by a British fleet captured Louisbourg (present-day Cape Breton Island). “A provincial army under William Pepperell sailed from Boston on March 24, 1745, & was joined by a British fleet under Commodore Warren. Louisbourg surrendered on June 15—The diary spans March 24-June 17.” [Goodspeed Cat. 549, 1968]

This set is of particular American bibliographical importance.  Uncut sheets of the Boston printing could only conceivably have been available to the Rogers and Fowle or, possibly, the bookseller Joshua Blanchard with whom they corroborated.  Blanchard is recorded  by Isaiah Thomas in 1810 as “as a dealer in English editions, in stationery, &c., but finally he confined his trade solely to English goods.”  It is quite likely that Blanchard imported from London the unbound sheets of Carey‘s highly regarded Exposition and then had Rogers and Fowle bind them for a customer.  The bindings are almost certainly American; the leather is more coarse than typical English bindings and the boards have internal crude stitching under the paste-downs which one sees in  early American tree bark bindings, but generally not in their more refined English counterparts.

Evidence that ties these bookbindings to Rogers and Fowle is of particular interest as there is scant surviving information about their workshop.  Sometime prior to 1752 (and likely in the 1740s after this Shirley tract was issued), Isaiah Thomas  (who was earlier indentured as an apprentice to  Boston printer, Zachariah Fowle, where he learned his trade.) indicates that Gamaliel Rogers and Daniel Fowle printed “an edition of about two thousand copies of the New Testament, 12mo., for D. Henchman, and two or three other principal booksellers.” This would have been the first printing of the New Testament in America, but no copies have survived, and modern scholarship takes the unsurprising view that Thomas was mistaken in his claim.  Needless to say, if Rogers and Fowle indeed bound this large set of commentaries, as evidence suggests,  it would indicate a larger and more sophisticated workshop than previously supposed, and certainly one capable of undertaking a substantial printing run, by Colonial standards, of the  famous bibliographical ghost-printing of the NT.

Overall, this set is is interesting from many angles including the influence of Henry’s Exposition in the Colonies, with parallels to the extensive commentaries and writings of Cotton Mather and Jonathan Edwards.  It is also a fine example of the English-American book-trade, when it was illegal for any printer in the Colonies to produce the English Bible, and the import trade flourished.  Most importantly, it may shed important light on the operations of one of Boston’s early and important printing establishments.

So, what is the set worth?

As I said, if this was just a regular set, it would not be an easy set to sell and may well only command $250 or so – despite being an impressive undertaking that no doubt took countless hours of toil and sweat in the 18th century to produce.

If we had the complete tract of 31 pages of this very rare Boston printing of the Shirley’s famous Letter, it might reasonably command $4000-6000 at auction.  However, we only have several interesting uncut sheets from that printing – not the complete work.   The sheets are of great rarity, but the market for them is highly specialized and narrow.  It is one of those cases of rare books, but rarer buyers.  Still, they are a worthy addition to many University libraries and would be of interest to scholars.  As such, we have priced them at $1800.

December 31, 2014

WHAT IS THE VALUE OF AN INCUNABLE? – A BOOK PRINTED BEFORE 1500

WHAT IS THE VALUE OF AN INCUNABLE? – A BOOK PRINTED BEFORE 1500

AND ONE WITH A SECRET CODE!

Occasionally we are offered an “incunable“, or a book that that was printed— not handwritten —before the year 1501 in Europe. Incunabula (in plural) are not as rare in commerce as one would suppose — at least as a group — even if specific individual titles or editions can be exceptionally rare.  The printing press was such a success that its development spread throughout Europe with incredible speed and entrepreneurs quickly opened establishments to turn out these technological marvels. A commonly used referred work, The Incunabula Short-Title Catalogue, records at least 28,000 15th century editions.

It is natural to think a book from the 15th century would be worth a fortune, and this is especially understandable when one holds in their hands such a remarkable object. Unfortunately, this is often not the case and like other books, incunabula tend to have auction records that help establish a clear picture of their market value.

It is beyond the scope of this short post to review all the factors that can influence the value of an incunable from the binding, the work and edition, the illumination or rubrication (painting to make it look like a manuscript), rarity, and importance etc.

By way of example, however, I can illustrate how I evaluated a recent incunable we were offered (and purchased). To start with, here are some photos of the book:

First,  we can identify the book from both the “incipit” (the opening words of a text, manuscript, early printed book) and the “colophon” (often the last paragraph which gives info on the publisher, place, and date of publication).  From this we quickly learn that we have here a copy of Johannes Reuchlin’s  Vocabulari[us] breuiloqu[us] cu[m] arte.  This is a well known, and not particularly rare work of the 15th century.  However, Reuchlin‘s popular dictionary opened the door to German humanism, by providing the linguistic key to a study of the Latin classics. This edition was printed by Georg Husner on  25 August, 1495 in Strassburg, Germany.

Next we check the work’s “collation” or page count- to make sure all the pages are there.  A work that is incomplete — lacking even a single page — can often really hurt its value.  Checking the collation takes time and requires some familiarity with basic bibliographical references, notations, and the way an early book was printed. This copy, save for a blank leaf,  is thankfully complete.

After that,  we look at the binding.  Books can be rebound over the centuries and original bindings do not always escape the ravages of time.  We are fortunate here as well that this copy has retained the original binding, which is known as an “Augsburg binding”, with attractive rosettes and leaf ornaments stamped into the pigskin in “blind”. Those ornaments can be seen close-up in the second photo above.

A search of the auction records reveals a few recent copies that have sold, but one in particular which is comparable to our copy above, was auctioned at Christie’s New York, Apr 23, 2001, lot 106, for $8,000.  Naturally, an auction is a battle of buyers and sellers — and many times only one buyer and one seller pitted against each other.  Results, like the romantic glance of a first encounter with someone, cannot always be duplicated on a second occasion.   Therefore, while the auction records are a good guide, they still require a certain knowledge and connoisseurship to be properly used for evaluating another example.  In this case, however, and despite the copy at auction having come from the prestigious Helmut Friedlaender collection, $8000 is not an unreasonable evaluation (weighing the passage of time since that sale and looking at the condition of other copies that have sold for less).

Next we look to see if there are any distinguishing characteristics of this book — and there are!  In fact, they are quite fascinating.  In this copy, there is an  early manuscript on the inner rear board (in an early or near contemporary to the period German hand).  After some careful study this is revealed to be a sort of  code or at least a medieval word-game.  Specifically, it is acrostic poem with the columns spelling the first letters of the  Hail Mary — “Ave Maria,gratia plena, Dominus tecum.”    This can be seen in the photos below if one carefully reads the vertical column which spells out the latin letters  “A … V … E … M … A .. R .. I … E …” etc.  The owner of the work hundred of years ago used each letter as the start of a line of poetry.

One of the reasons  that this secret AVE MARIA “acrostic” (as it is called) is so interesting is it is a  formative example of early ciphers.  In other words, this word play (and the Ave Maria form in particular) started as fun (and maybe out of religious reverence) in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, but then someone said  “Hey — why don’t I use this type of code for writing secret messages?” Cryptography was born.

We are still left with coming up with a final value to place on the book, given this interesting and unique manuscript on the inner rear board.  In my estimation, it certainly adds a couple thousand dollars to the value of an identical edition without it as it is a rare surviving example of an acrostic and an intellectually exciting find.

Pricing books is an art and not a science — and when the book is unique as in the case here — even experienced dealers can underprice books as often as they overprice them.  The market quickly decides with the underpriced ones snatched off the shelves and the overpriced ones left to linger to collect dust and booksellers’ frustrations. Here, I have priced the book (given all the factors above) at $9500.