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Recent Auction Update(s)
Upcoming Auctions ->
Recent Auction Update(s)
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| The Week ending July 24th
Five Auctions this week suggest recovery
Just as the auction business is rolling up the awnings and heading for summer vacations we are reminded that the mosaic of auctions that together comprise the books, manuscripts, maps and ephemera cash market will not be defined or categorized by anyone but bidders. Five auctions: Piasa, Dominic Winter, Australian Book, Pacific Book Auctions, and National Book combined for an exceptional 85% sales rate in the most recent report; their individual rates 88.61%, 78.35%, 85.56%, 71.69% and 100%. These sales took place in Italy, England, Australia and on the US east and west coasts. This week extends the recovery trend that just a few weeks back looked uncertain. With all auctions through June 30th priced and now consigned to history we have updated the three trend graphs for month by month change in median auction lot price, year to year change in the 12 month moving average, and 12 month moving .... Click here to continue | | | Click here to view full list |
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| The Week ending July 17th, 2008
Taking the Medicine to Feel Better
This past week four auctions were archived in the AED. Sotheby's held two sales this past week in London achieving inconsistent results. In Germany the results of Jeschke - van vliet Buch und Kunstauktione's sale on the July 3rd was archived as was New England Auctions' Americana sale on June 29th. Together these sales raised $2.2 million against a total high estimate of $3.57 million. On the face of it the results were disappointing. A closer look suggests something else.
One of the Sotheby's sales, "Books for Cooks," did very well. Cook books are an appealing category that is not often the focus of an entire sale. The event was small by Sotheby's standards, raising only $607,150 but 143 of the 154 lots offered sold for a 93% rate of sale. Such sales encourage collecting. It suggests Sotheby's is adapting to the austere market we are in.
New England Book, as is their.... Click here to continue | | | Click here to view full list |
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| The Week Ending July 10th, 2010
School is almost out!
Summer is upon us and it can't come soon enough. There will be good days ahead but the three way struggle between demanding consignors, skeptical bidders and auction houses caught in the crossfire has left everyone in the books, manuscripts, ephemera and maps fields looking to get away for a month or so. Auction houses have been providing clarity all spring and the picture hasn't been pretty. Are we in a cyclical or secular bear market? The very definition of "auction-able" is up for reconsideration.
In the rooms there's ample evidence that the market is adjusting efficiently but it's disconcerting to dealers who have, for generations, set prices and made them stick. That the market may impose valuation on the field will be something new if prices decline. Throughout the past century outbreaks of rising prices have been signaled in the auction rooms, then to be mirrored in upward revisions to.... Click here to continue | | | Click here to view full list |
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| The Week Ending July 3rd, 2010
A Difficult Time
Economies everywhere have got the sniffles and pundits are using their 15 minutes of fame to come down on one side or the other of the "greater fear question." Should we fear deflation or inflation? If you are in the rare book business you don't have to choose. You can fear both. Book prices are coming down while the cost of living is going up. It's nice to have that out of the way. This week's auction results give us some idea of what's happening.
We archived 11 auctions this week; 6 in mainland Europe, 2 in the United Kingdom, 2 in the United States and 1 in Mexico. Eight-thousand-four-hundred-sixty-nine lots were offered and 4,415 sold for a 52% sale rate. The aggregate high estimate for all lots was $7,583,067, total sales $5,353,262, for an overall percentage of high estimate of 71%. Sales were soft. The general goal is 100%. Two auctions, Gallerie Koller and Gallerie Bessange achieved .... Click here to continue | | | Click here to view full list |
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| The Week Ending June 26, 2010
The Market Struggles
This week a dozen sales were archived. Six were conducted in the United States, another in US Dollars as an internet auction [AntiquarianAuctions.com], four in Europe in Euros, and one in the United Kingdom. It was generally a tough week continuing the noticeable slowing that has been evident since March. Five thousand and eighty-seven lots were offered and 3,352 sold for a 66% success rate. Seen another way, one third of all lots offered failed to sell and will be returning to disappointed consignors soon. No doubt, these consignors were hoping for cash. Taken together, market expectations seem to be falling faster than reserves. To keep the percentage of sales up the quality of the material will have to rise or estimates on lesser material fall. The market is signaling an adjustment.
For the week only one auction, Kapandji Morhange, had total sales that exceeded their total high estimate. T.... Click here to continue | | | Click here to view full list |
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| The Week ending June 19, 2010
Sotheby's delivers, the market firms
Sixteen auctions were archived this past week; five denominated in British Pounds, five in Dollars, six in Euros. In New York Sotheby's continued to sell the James A. Copley Collection. The bellwether was an early printing of the Declaration of Independence which sold for $572,500, less than expected but nevertheless a substantial price. The two parts of the June 17th sale together brought almost $2.8 million. Swann, a $10 cab ride downtown sold "Maps, Atlases, Literature, Art & Illustrated Books" the same day for $591,005. The next day Sotheby's New York sold "Books and Manuscripts" for $2.350,314. Cowan's on the 11th, in Cincinnati, sold $558,536 of "American History including the Civil War".
In England the sales this week were somewhat smaller; altogether five events raising $1,125,182. Bloomsbury sold "The Stock in Trade of the Late Keith Oliver" and Dominic Winter "Printed.... Click here to continue | | | Click here to view full list |
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| June 14th, 2010
A Message from Germany
Fourteen sales were archived during the week of June 7-13, ten of them recent. The four others were sections of the Reiss and Sohn auctions conducted April 27th and 28th in Germany. Altogether 8,046 items were offered and 5,777 sold for a 72% success rate. Eight million dollars were raised.
Reiss and Sohn represented 4,521 of the lots offered and 3,275 of those sold and still managed to achieve a marginally higher sell-through-rate than the other ten sales: 72.4%. No auction house in the United States today conducts sales of such magnitude. Single events of 4,000 to 5,000 lots, over multiple days, have not been the norm in the United States since the late 19th century. American, and for that matter most other, sales today are in the 50 to 400 lot range because experience has shown that the absorption rate is low. The Reis and Sohn sales are therefore important because they demonstrate that, at least in Eu.... Click here to continue | | | Click here to view full list |
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June 7th, 2010
Summer Arrives
Seven auctions, achieving $8.0 million in sales, were archived this past week. Three sales were denominated in Pounds, three in Euros, one in dollars. Together these auctions achieved 87.50% of their aggregate high estimate, a very good performance. Alde, offering the Library of Vincent Labouret, sold 91 of 94 lots for almost twice [188%] the high estimate. New England [Book] Auctions, on a smaller scale, also did well. Per usual they sold virtually all lots, 229 of 234, and sold them well above the high estimate [124%]. Artcurial Briest-Le Fur-Poulain-F. Tajan, selling "Printed and Illustrated Books" also achieved 100% of their total estimate.
Where the market was weaker it was generally still very good. Christie's" Valuable Books and Manuscripts" made 93% of their overall high estimate in London on June 2nd: converting books and manuscripts into $2.3 million in paper money. Keyes, selling books on May.... Click here to continue | | | Click here to view full list |
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| May 30, 2010
The Doldrums Beckon
Nine auctions were archived this past week. Three denominated in dollars, two in pounds, four in Euros. Total sales were $4.8 million when converted into dollars. The emerging story is one of extremes. The recent introduction of a comparison between each sale's total and its total high estimate is providing a clearer picture of what's happening in the auction rooms.
Three auctions archived this past week achieved total sales greater than their total high estimates. Bloomsbury in London realized $2.4 million against their total high estimate of $2.3 [107%]; Samuel Freeman in Philadelphia $304,000 against $238,000 [127%]; Lyon and Turnbull in England $558,000 against $436,356 [128%]. At the other end PBA on May 27th realized only $165,912 or 21% of their $784,800 high estimate. It is difficult to understand how three auctions can surpass 100% of the high estimate and another achieve only one fifth of the high. F.... Click here to continue | | | Click here to view full list |
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| May 23, 2010
A Busy Week in the Auction Rooms
Nineteen auctions were archived this past week: four in dollars, five in British pounds, two in Swiss francs and eight in Euros. With these sales occurring while financial markets around the world have been in turmoil it's not surprising that the results were disappointing. That the markets continued to function every day indicates their resiliency. This said, we can only assess bidding. By late summer we'll learn how consignors feel about the current uncertainty. If they are reluctant to send material into the rooms the fall season may be a replay of 2009: a thinner market with good to very good prices for the relatively few very good items available.
Total sales by currency after conversion to dollars were: BP $4,086,654 for 5 sales; Euro $3,590,801 for 8 sales; SF $113,383 for 2 sales and US$ 1,561,311 for 4 sales. Altogether these sales totaled $9,352,149. As a percentage of the total high est.... Click here to continue | | | Click here to view full list |
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