re: Dealer Catalogue Listings

I think this unbelievably ambitious project will do much to add meat to the bones of your data-base. I do not sell 'great books' but I do sell some 'good' books and I am frequently unable to find them in your DB even as comprehensive as you are. It seems that most of these are earlier works that may not have come to auction in the last 50-100 years. Some are victims of the search engine.

With that said, I have a hard time imagining surviving without your resources. Your listings of Sabin et al. has been of an immeasurable help to me. Maggs type descriptions are extremely useful to any antiquarian dealer.

Sincerely yours,
Kenny Parolini

Thoughts on Adding Dealer Catalogues to the AED

I am a long-time collector of Western Americana with emphasis on Californiana, with a particular concentration on the Gold Rush Period. As a Research Member of the Americana Exchange, I am a very frequent user of your database which I find to be a truly wonderful resource for the advanced collector. Although I have a large collection of my own of several hundred Americana catalogues dating back to the 19th century, no single collector or dealer could ever amass what you have made so readily accessible.

As far as the letters "A" and "B" are concerned, in my areas of interest I would encourage you to consider more of the 1915-1930 auction catalogues of the American Art Association /Anderson Galleries, which are a wonderful resource on rare Western Americana. Also, additional catalogues from Alta California Books would be a fine addition.

Further along in the alphabet, additional catalogues of Holmes Book Company (Oakland), Talisman Press (Georgetown), John Howell Books (San Francisco), and Dawson's Book Shop (Los Angeles) would also be great additions.

Among the major dealers further east, if the firms are willing to permit their inclusion the marvelous catalogues of William Reese Company (New Haven) and Michael Heaston (Austin) would be truly wonderful additions. As I don't recall having seen any of their catalogs referenced in the database, I suspect they may be unwilling to permit their inclusion. If that is the case, I hope this will some day change.

William J. Coffill (Sonora, CA)

Thoughts on Adding Dealer Catalogues to the AED

Dawsons Book Shop of Los Angeles.... Book catalogs since 1905. Best collection of Californiana & Western Americana.

Catalogs are available.

denny kruska

RE: Too Good to Be True

Bruce,

Although you didn't mention it, I would state the obvious, that the Ebay seller appears to actually have committed an insurance fraud against the US Postal Service. Obviously knowing that the piece was a reproduction, what better way to guarantee they get their selling price of $275 other than by packing the piece to ensure breakage during transit? You get your purchase price back from Ebay because the item was a fake, AND the seller gets to keep the $275 insurance claim paid by the Post Office because the piece was damaged in transit. A great way to "launder" reproductions by the unscrupulous seller and to leave the USPS holding the bag...

Dear Mr. McKinney,

Your article about the book consigned to Jeff Thomas illustrates one of the problems that can arise when books are consigned.

A more frequent problem, in the antique trade--but also the book trade, is the permanent loss of consigned items in a dealer bankruptcy IF the very exact procedures of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) are not followed.

Consigned books may also be permanently lost, or spend years in limbo, should the IRS seize a dealer's business.

It would be helpful, for both dealers and collectors, if the exact requirements of the UCC--as they pertain to consigned items--were discussed in a future article.

Dear Mr. McKinney:

I read with great interest your "Too Good to be True" column on your experience with acquiring a refund from Ebay on a purchase you found -not- to be a Currier & Ives lithograph.

For your information, Currier & Ives actually sold chromist-made reproductions, -not- lithographs. This link to my monograph documents that fact: click here.

Any questions or comments, please contact me.

Respectfully,

Gary Arseneau
artist, creator of original lithographs, scholar & author
P.O. Box 686 Fernandina Beach, Florida 32035
(904) 277-3721
gwarseneau@hotmail.com (email)
garyarseneau.blogspot.com (blog)
garyarseneau.com (website)