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ANTIQUARIAN BOOKSIN THE
TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
Julian WilsonAssociate DirectorBooks and Manuscripts Specialist
KATH’S EMAIL
“If you could talk about yourself and your experience of the Rare Books market, and how it is changing/ values of books ie is the price on Abe a work of total fiction?”
(13 May 2014 14:10)
NOT RARE(but well known)
Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species. London: John Murray, 1859
Fine copy in original, unrestored, green cloth has a current auction estimate of £80,000 – 120,000
Frequency at auction: 2 – 3 times a year
GENUINELY RARE(and well known)
F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby. New York: Charles Scribner, 1925
Fine copy in original, unrestored, dust-jacket has a current auction estimate of $120,000 – 180,000
Frequency at auction: approximately once every 15 years
GENUINELY RARE (but unknown)NASA & USGS. Geological Maps of the Moon. 1972-1998
Frequency: occasional sightings on the internet, but increasing.Individual maps sell between £30 - 300
Definition of an“Antiquarian” book
“An antiquarian book is asecond-hand book
that one can sell at a profit” (conversation with John Collins, c.1997)
The Big Six• The internet has caused a paradigm shift in the antiquarian book
market
• The recession of 2008/2009 has accelerated this paradigm shift
• Book collectors’ taste has fundamentally changed
• There is an ongoing change vis-a-vis online listings and auction offerings
• I believe there will be a splintering of traditional bookselling that bodes well for an elite few and ill for many
• The upside is that there has never been a better time for collectors
Adam Smith(1723-1790)
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
London: 1776.
Price Realized
£68,500
Estimate
£45,000 - £65,000
SALE 1584 —
YATES, THOMPSON AND BRIGHT: A FAMILY OF BIBLIOPHILES
16 July 2014
London, King Street
EMERGENCE OFELITE GROUP OF
BOOKDEALERS
SMALL SPECIALIST
DEALERSWITHOUT
SHOPS
DIFFICULTY OF SMALL DEALERS
TO MOVE UP
GENUINELY RARE (but unknown)NASA & USGS. Geological Maps of the Moon. 1972-1998
Frequency: occasional sightings on the internet, but increasing.Individual maps sell between £30 - 300
The Rothschild Prayerbook.Book of hours, use of Rome [Ghent, or possibly Bruges, c.1505]
Sold for $13.6 million
Christie’s New York, 29 January 2014