Rare Book Monthly
Articles - September - 2002 Issue
Book Collecting in the Age of the Internet
Gods Protecting Providence, Mans Sureft Help and Defence,...[by] Jonathan Dickenfon, Printed in Philadelphia...,1700.
The internet can provide extremely valuable information about pricing. It is not possible to entirely rely on it but it certainly helps. Internet prices are not the spot market. They are asking prices. On the average, books offered for sale on the net are available for about 3 years before they find a buyer. Often it is longer. That is one of the reasons that the total number of books on line is growing so fast. They come on and they stay. So my advice to buyers is to be patient. I have waited a full year to buy a book available on line. Some copies will disappear, but often the book you are interested in will still be available months later. With the passage of time, the seller may be willing to talk. Particularly when you know that a book has been available a long time you can say you’re interested but only at a better price. Often, but not always, the seller will negotiate. Your books should be fun but they should also be an investment. No demands by a seller should overrule economic logic. If the price doesn’t seem right, walk away. The buyer is in the driver’s seat. It just doesn't always feel that way.
If one part of the economics of book collecting is not over-paying, the second part of the equation is to concentrate on adding value through your collecting approach. Focused collections are worth more than unfocused aggregations. This means that the same book in two different collections may well have a different resale value. Single owner auction sales that are a hodge-podge of material typically more reflect a dealer's ability to sell than a collector's ability to choose. Be discerning about what you collect and try not to be side-tracked into purchases of otherwise attractive material that has no particular relevance to your collecting theme. Sometimes it is difficult. If you visit a great dealer who may also be a friend, of course you want to buy something. Remember that your purchase has to make sense in the context of your collection, though, or don't do it. If they are good friends, in addition to being great dealers, they will understand.
It is worth it to be disciplined. Stay within your budget and stay within your theme. Have plenty of lines in the water. Use the AE database to develop categorical approaches. Identify all books within your area(s) of interest and post them as wants lists to major book selling sites. Alternatively, maintain your own lists and periodically check them against what’s available on various listing sites. Fill your shelves with books that fit with your theme. The payoff will come when you sell. A well focused, consistent collection is simply more valuable than an unfocused one. Auction houses will compete for the opportunity to sell it as will dealers try hard to buy it because your focused collection is much easier for them to market. At the upper extreme, your bookplate, your permanent tie to your books no matter who buys them in future, is something to seriously consider. A bookplate that ties a collector to a well thought out collection is something that many fellow collectors value highly. Among my own books are those I purchased both for their appropriateness to my collection as well as for their provenance. I find that provenance, the history of the books ownership matters a great deal.
Another thing to note is that collecting is a subjective endeavor. Books are not worth the same thing to everyone. I bought a book at the first Frank Siebert sale in 1999 that cost fully 5 times the high estimate. The book is the second edition of Gods Protecting Providence, Man’s Sureft Help and Defence, by Jonathan Dickenfon (all spellings are per the book). It is certainly rare but I paid far too much. It is no consolation that there was an under-bidder who was equally obsessed. I lived in Florida at the time and this book was very appropriate to my collection. But it wasnt worth what I paid and it still isn’t worth that much today. It is the nature of book collecting that you will sometimes overpay. Do it when you must but don't do it very often. If the book really matters to you, buy it. Whether youll tell anyone is another story.
