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Articles - June - 2013 Issue

The Debate and the Dilemma:  A Field in Transition

- by Bruce E. McKinney

A recent catalogue from Peter L. Stern

A recent catalogue from Peter L. Stern

Taken together all the many ways that dealers sell amounts to a stew that for each seller is unique.  How the elements of specialty, examples and price come together– are what makes the rare book magic, something that is rarely easy but always possible.  To that Peter Stern, the Boston rare book dealer adds, “There is no right way to do things.  What is successful today may sputter tomorrow.”  The book business, which for generations was a noun, has become a verb and a fast moving one at that.

All these options are possibilities for sellers.  On the other side buyers can consider the dealer’s predicament and help.  Buyers will always buy.  It’s in their blood but they can also consider the well being of the field and reward professional conduct.  I try to do this and find it well worth the effort.   Loyalty, built up over years if not decades, may turn out to be the crucial ingredient for a trade in transition.    

Links to booksellers interviewed for or referenced in this article in alphabetical order:

Stephen Blackmer, Chanticleer Books www.chanticleerbooks.com

Carl Blomgren, Carl Blomgren Fine Books blomgrenbks@comcast.net

Scott DeWolfe, DeWolfe and Wood www.dwbooks.com

George Fox, the rainmaker at PBA Galleries  www.pbagalleries.com

Will Monie, Willis Monie Books www.wilmonie.com

Jeremy Norman, HistoryofScience  www.historyofscience.com

Ken Sanders, Ken Sanders Rare Books www.kensandersbooks.com

Garrett Scott, Garrett Scott, Bookseller www.bibliophagist.com

Peter Stern, Peter L. Stern and Company www.sternrarebooks.com

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Posted On: 2013-06-01 00:00
User Name: Jacjacjac

The article distinguishes between "...the unique and valuable and everything else." It would probably take an additional article to do it, but it w

Posted On: 2013-06-01 00:00
User Name: Jacjacjac

Shouldn't reply to your own comment maybe, but I owe mentioning that this article provides excellent information on the very question I asked. Just

Posted On: 2013-06-01 00:00
User Name: AE244154

The easy but not entirely accurate answer is that the difference between the "unique and valuable and everything else" is whether an item, group of

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  • <b><center>Sotheby's<br>Fine Books, Manuscripts & More<br>Available for Immediate Purchase</center></b> <b>Sotheby’s:</b> Ian Fleming. <i>Casino Royale,</i> London, 1953. First edition, first printing. $58,610. <b>Sotheby’s:</b> A.A. Milne, Ernest Howard Shepard. <i>Winnie The Pooh,</i> United Kingdom, 1926. First UK edition. $17,580. <b>Sotheby’s:</b> Ernest Hemingway. <i>Three Stories And Ten Poems,</i> [Paris], (1923). First edition of Hemingway’s first published book. $75,000. <b><center>Sotheby's<br>Fine Books, Manuscripts & More<br>Available for Immediate Purchase</center></b> <b>Sotheby’s:</b> L. Frank Baum. <i>The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,</i> Chicago, 1900. First edition. $27,500. <b>Sotheby’s:</b> Man Ray. <i>Photographs By Man Ray 1920 Paris 1934,</i> Hartford, 1934. $7,860. <b>Sotheby’s:</b> Thomas Pennant. <i>Zoologia Britannica,</i> Augsburg, 1771. $49,125.
    Sotheby's
    Fine Books, Manuscripts & More
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s: Ian Fleming. Casino Royale, London, 1953. First edition, first printing. $58,610.
    Sotheby’s: A.A. Milne, Ernest Howard Shepard. Winnie The Pooh, United Kingdom, 1926. First UK edition. $17,580.
    Sotheby’s: Ernest Hemingway. Three Stories And Ten Poems, [Paris], (1923). First edition of Hemingway’s first published book. $75,000.
    Sotheby's
    Fine Books, Manuscripts & More
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s: L. Frank Baum. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, 1900. First edition. $27,500.
    Sotheby’s: Man Ray. Photographs By Man Ray 1920 Paris 1934, Hartford, 1934. $7,860.
    Sotheby’s: Thomas Pennant. Zoologia Britannica, Augsburg, 1771. $49,125.

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