Rare Book Sale Monitor Update – 1st Quarter 2016

April 15, 2016
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The value of books determined by the Rare Book Sale Monitor (RBSM) is achieved by selecting comparable sales and adjusting the prices according to the differences between the comparable sales and the item being evaluated. RBSM comparative pricing is produced by adjusting the sale price of a particular title that is closely monitored, by accounting […]

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Rethinking the Grading of Old Books

April 1, 2016
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Since 1949, AB Bookman’s Weekly, which ceased publication 50 years later, strived to establish the criteria for grading the condition of used books. AB’s definitions of “Very Fine” (or “As New”), “Fine”, “Very Good”, “Good”, “Fair”, and so forth, have basically become the industry standard. The condition of each book is, in a very real […]

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The Second Sex is undervalued

March 18, 2016
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“For a long time I have hesitated to write a blog post on woman. The subject is irritating, especially to women; and it is not new,” is how the opening sentence to Simone de Beauvoir’s book The Second Sex reads. She did write a “book” of course, rather than a “blog post”, a very important […]

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The Slave Bible

March 4, 2016
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Privacy concerns have disrupted lives long before investigators attacked Apple for refusing to aid federal agents bypass a security passcode function on a terrorist’s iPhone. These days, anything that happens through our lives is collected, shared, analyzed, marketed and remarketed, sometimes with our consent, and often without. New generations find it hard to imagine a […]

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Auction Activity Signals

February 19, 2016
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Last year’s financial results from two of the largest auction houses have signaled the prospect of an art-market slowdown. Christie’s reported $6.5 billion in auction sales for the year, down 4% from a year ago, while rival Sotheby’s reported $6 billion last year, down 2% from a year earlier. Furthermore, this year’s art auctions got […]

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Dada is 100 Years Old!

February 5, 2016
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While critics of German Chancellor Angela Merkel are becoming increasingly vocal against her open-door policy that allowed 1.1 million migrants to enter Germany last year, history may be on her side. A century ago in the middle of World War I, immigrant artists from all over Europe, energized by a sense of outrage against the […]

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Rare Book Sale Monitor Update – 4th Quarter 2015

January 22, 2016
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How exciting to investors could the introduction of a mutual fund that invests solely in rare books be? Before you rule that everything about it is controversial, consider this: The mutual fund industry has embraced alternative investing 1 sixty plus years later from the time that Harry Markowitz conducted his breakthrough research on portfolio theory based […]

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New Year Wishes from Shakespeare & Company

December 31, 2015
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Forty years ago, John Lennon, in his Christmas melody song “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” wished everyone: So this is Xmas And what have you done Another year over And a new one just begun …. A very Merry Xmas And a happy New Year Let’s hope it’s a good one Without any fear As […]

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Kay Thompson’s Christmas Message to All

December 17, 2015
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As Christmas steadily approaches, it is nearly impossible to refrain from experiencing some form of stress or another, when one reflects (often with dread) on the countless lists of tasks and responsibilities that demand one’s attention before December 25th arrives. It is during these frantic and frenzied moments that a simple pause in a comfortable […]

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The Death-Effect in Rare Books

December 4, 2015
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The most collectible P.D. James novel is the 1962 London first edition, of “Cover her Face” that comes with its original dust wrapper and is signed by the author. During the later years of the crime mystery author’s life, the book had been trading around £6,000. A year ago, when Faber & Faber announced the […]

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