Rare Book Monthly

Articles - November - 2013 Issue

Monday in San Francisco: An opportunity to discuss the future of rare books

An 1888 lithograph of the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa

An 1888 lithograph of the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa

 

Based on following AE over the years, you might know that a rapidly growing auction market where prices are determined by competitive bidding is competing with the dealer-centric fixed-price market for books, manuscripts, maps, and ephemera in place for some 500 years. These two markets have long coexisted, the auction market for three centuries a wholesale redistribution mechanism for dealers that since 1980, beginning with Sotheby’s declaration to pursue the retail trade, increasingly become an alternative market.  Thirty-three years later auctions, in number, by lots and realizations are rapidly increasing while the traditional dealer market declines.

 

In my view, we are at a turning point, on the rim of a volcano. Join me at the Book Club of California on Monday, November 4th at 5pm for a reception and a talk at 6pm followed by questions and answers.

 

Book Club of California

312 Sutter St, Suite 500

San Francisco, CA 94108

 

Nearby BART Stations: Powell, Montgomery

Nearby Muni lines: 2, 3, 10, 30, 45

Nearest Parking Garage: The Stockton Street Garage

Rare Book Monthly

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  • 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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