Scholium Group Experiences Slight Loss for the Year
- by Michael Stillman
Scholium Group, parent of rare book seller Shapero Rare Books, reported their financial results recently for the year ending March 31, 2019. They were essentially flat, sales up some, but the bottom line swung to a tiny loss from a miniscule gain the year before. The stock market yawned. Scholium's stock has been trading in a small range, the £40s, for over a year.
Scholium contains three divisions, with the largest being its bookseller, Shapero Rare Books. Earlier, Scholium indicated this was experiencing a difficult environment. It's trading business, where it partners with others in selling artworks, and its recently established stamp auction business, were seeing more growth.
Sales for the firm were up in total by 8%. Total revenue for the year was £7,137,000. However, starting up the stamp business also increased expenses. The result was a swing from a profit the previous year to a loss in 2019, but those profits and losses amounted to little more than rounding errors. For the year ending March 31, 2018, Scholium eked out a profit of £1,000; for 2019, they had a loss of £13,000. Management noted that the Group was profitable in the second half of their financial year and they are optimistic for the future, though that seems more focused on the trading and philatelic divisions than on rare books.
Chairman of the Board Jasper Allen commented, "We are pleased to have increased revenues in a difficult retail environment. While the small loss for the year was disappointing, the continued progress in developing our three revenue streams has been encouraging. The Group continues to look for acquisitions and is focused on opportunities to improve shareholder value."
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 28th May 2026
Forum, May 28: Book of Hours.- Heures de nostre dame a l'usaige de Romme, Paris, Antoine Chappiel pour Germain Hardouin, [1504]. £6,000-8,000
Forum, May 28: Colonna (Francesco). La Hypnerotomachia di Poliphilo, second edition, Venice, Sons of Aldus Manutius, 1545. £15,000-20,000
Forum, May 28:The Christ Child holding a crystal orb and surrounded by banderoles with devotional exhortations, on a leaf most probably from a Book of Hours, [Southern Netherlands, last decades of the fifteenth century]. £2,000-3,000
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 28th May 2026
Forum, May 28: Jackson (Shirley). The Haunting of Hill House, first English edition, signed presentation inscription from the author to Claude Fredericks, 1960. £2,000-3,000
Forum, May 28: Lennon (John). In His Own Write, first edition, first impression, signed by the author, 1964. £3,000-4,000
Forum, May 28: Doves Press.- Keats (John). [Poems], one of 200 copies on paper, Doves Press, 1914. £5,000-7,000
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 28th May 2026
Forum, May 28: Rodrigues (João Barbosa). Sertum Palmarum Brasiliensium, 2 vol., first and only edition, Brussels, 1903. £8,000-12,000
Forum, May 28: Newton (Sir Isaac). Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica…editio ultima, auctior et emendatior, Amsterdam, Sumptibus Societatis, 1714. £8,000-12,000
Forum, May 28: Kepler (Johannes). Ad Vitellionem paralipomena, wuibus astronomiae pars optica traditur, first edition, Frankfurt am Main, 1604. £5,000-7,000
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 28th May 2026
Forum, May 28: Tagliacozzi (Gaspare). De Curtorum Chirurgia per insitionem, libri duo, first edition, Venice, Gasparo Bindoni, 1597. £7,000-10,000
Forum, May 28: Lootsman (Jacobsz). The Lightning Colomne, or Sea-Mirrour, containing the Sea-Coasts of the Northern, Eastern and Western Navigation..., 1670. £8,000-12,000
Forum, May 28: Ribelles y Helip (José), Attributed to. An album comprising 33 finely executed watercolours of Spanish costume, bull-fighting scenes, and other genre subjects, [circa 1830]. £10,000-15,000
