Rare Book Monthly

Articles - December - 2023 Issue

MatchMaker: A Useful Tool

A necessary tool for the serious collector

A necessary tool for the serious collector

For many years we have offered an automated search tool to identify interesting upcoming material at auction in the quickest time.  On our toolbar it’s called MatchMaker. 

 

Auction lots tend to be posted about 10 days ahead of a sale’s completion.  If you find something of interest, it’s often essential to know about it early.  MatchMaker tells you within 24 hours that you have a match.

 

These days, the norm is to have at least 50 upcoming auctions for collectible paper every week. They are fascinating to look through but can be time consuming.

 

With MatchMaker, when you can define what you are looking for, you can create an automated daily search and receive a daily report.

 

Here is an example:  E A Poe.  We have 4,703 records in Rare Book Transaction History.  Here is another:  Edgar Allen Poe has 9,610 records.

 

During the past 5 years here are the number of lots that matched Edgar Allan Poe during 2019-2023:

 

2023 246

2022 252

2021 209

2020 163

2019 243

 

MatchMaker would have identified them for you.

 

So, if you’re a serious player use MatchMaker and start using this service soon.  It’s free for everyone who has signed up!

Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR

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