Rare Book Monthly

Articles - May - 2014 Issue

Antiquarian Bookseller Completes Successful Stock Market IPO

Shapero Rare Books is a world leader in rare and antiquarian books.

New offerings in the stock market, IPO's (initial public offering), are common these days, particularly in the high tech field. Those from well-known brands like Facebook and Twitter received enormous publicity and billions of dollars in investments. Everyone, it seems, wants to participate. What you don't expect to see is public offerings in old technology, and what could be more old technology than antiquarian books? Of course, yesterday's technology can be today's collectible, and that was the justification for a recent IPO you might have missed. The company was Scholium Group. The IPO was not covered by Bloomberg News, nor debated by the talking heads on CNBC. The stock had no dramatic movement, either up or down, on opening day. This one definitely slid under the radar of the financial news beat.

 

Scholium Group, a name you may not recognize, has three major divisions. There is South Kensington Books, a London shop selling newer titles, and Ultimate Library, which provides books for libraries in luxury hotels and personal residences. However, the division that will be familiar to those in the rare and antiquarian book trade is Shapero Rare Books. Shapero has been selling high-end rare and antiquarian books and other works on paper since it was founded by Bernard J. Shapero in 1979. Scholium acquired Shapero Rare Books a few years ago when its finances became tight, but Mr. Shapero remains with the firm in senior management.

 

While many dealers have found these to be challenging times in the rare book trade, evidently Scholium's CEO, Philip Blackwell, doesn't see it that way. He exudes confidence. Blackwell has long been involved in the book trade if not the rare book trade, he being of the English bookselling Blackwell family. He was previously Group CEO of the Oxford based Blackwell's book stores and international wholesaler. As for the antiquarian market, it should be noted that Shapero's segment, the high end, has been the most robust in recent years. In its registration statement, Scholium reported that Shapero had £5.38 million (roughly US $8.95 million) in sales last year. The average price per book sold was £6,100 ($10,140), the highest £400,000 ($665,000).

 

Scholium provided the following reasons for its seeking additional capital in the public market:

 

“provide it with capital to increase the stock of its business dealing in rare and antiquarian books and works on paper;

 

“provide it with capital to trade, in affiliation with other dealers, in the wider rare and collectibles market;

 

“provide it with access, in due course, to further capital to finance ongoing growth of the business, both organically and by acquisition of related businesses;

 

“attribute a value to its Ordinary Shares to increase employee motivation intended to be achieved by the employee incentivisation schemes; and

 

“enhance its public and corporate profile.”

 

Offered were 8 million shares at £1 each, for a total of £8 million, or US $13.3 million. Trading began on March 28 with listing on the AIM division of the London Stock Exchange. While the offering was not flashy, it was successful. All shares were sold. Adding retained shares, the company ended the day with a market value of £13.2 million ($21.9 million).

 

In a statement released prior to the offering, Mr. Blackwell said, “We are delighted to bring our company to market. The market for rare and collectible items is growing internationally alongside global wealth, and London is a key centre for this trade. The first step is to grow Shapero Rare Books, one of the most respected international dealers in rare books and other works on paper. Supportive capital from the London IPO market will allow us to take advantage of the attractive economics of the more general rare and collectibles market. High end dealers in these markets have limited access to capital and this will put us in a fantastic position to trade alongside these established specialist dealers to find and acquire high value items and collections beyond the reach of their normal capacity. These works will be sold on to the customers of Scholium and its dealer partners. We have an exciting opportunity to provide investors with exposure to the growing global high value collectibles market.”

 

After the IPO was completed, Mr. Blackwell concluded, “We are delighted to have received strong support from both institutional and retail investors. The market for rare and collectible items is growing internationally alongside global wealth, and London is a key centre for this trade.”

 

One point specific to Shapero is that they have connections with collectors to the east, Russia and other remnants of the old Soviet empire. Russia may not be filled with rich people, but there are a few of extreme wealth. Some are interested in acquiring the most important books of their own heritage, many of which found their way to Europe in the years when personal wealth was not considered a good thing in Russia. Shapero is helping facilitate that return.

 

Scholium's plan is to return a share of its profits to investors. They stated their first dividend, subject to “the Group's profitability, underlying growth, availability of cash and distributable reserves, and the need for funding to support the development and expansion of the business,” is envisaged as occurring in June 2015. They add that “the Company will adopt a progressive dividend policy thereafter.” For anyone who has ever dreamed of owning an antiquarian bookstore, but never wanted the hassle of actually running one, you can become a co-owner for as little as a pound, more or less. If you would like to track the stock, its ticker symbol on the London Exchange is SCHO (you may find it on U.S. sites as either SCHO.L or SCHO-GB).

Rare Book Monthly

  • Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000
  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas
  • Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD

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