Rare Book Monthly
Book Descriptions: The Key To Reselling
Americana Exchange Database Search Result Page
In fact, one aspect that makes a particular book especially valuable is possession of a sequential history of these written descriptions that a particular book builds up as it trades hands and is handled, researched, and described by notable dealers of different generations in the selling chain. How many collectors have found themselves charmed, spellbound and proud when confronted with a small pile of typed white sheets inside a book that they own, each white slip representing a written description of that very book prepared by some of the most stellar book dealing firms of the past (and perhaps of the present)? How many collectors have been sold books by dealers based in part on the power of these previous descriptions prepared by great bookmen or women of the past? The cumulative value of these descriptions, these building blocks, adds tremendously to the ultimate value of the particular book each and every time that book is resold, especially if these previous descriptions were prepared by dealers or firms noted for their thoroughness, their prowess, their research skills, and their book knowledge.
Let’s return from the past into the present, however. I have a proposal relating to these book descriptions as they are passed on from one collector to another. The rule should be: all material, once used to define and elaborate a book, becomes part of the book it describes, so long as all written descriptions involved are credited to the dealers or firms who wrote and researched them initially. In time, a building succession of dealer descriptions and collector comments along with bibliographical references and auction records will make the book almost self-explanatory. Premiums will attach even more to those books sold by dealers whose bibliographical work is especially valued for its thoroughness and expertise.
In time, all of this written descriptive information pertaining to a particular book will be maintained most efficiently and easily by collectors and dealers both on line. The net is creating an efficient resale market and with agreement on this point the collectors and their heirs will have a straight path to resale. Many dealers accept this view and they are to be commended.
This is no frivolous point; however: it is an essential one to collectors because it directly impacts on the value of their collections. Collectors will need to confirm their dealer’s perspective on this issue, and they will need to confirm it before a purchase is concluded. The ability of a collector to recapture his or her investment will hinge upon it. A hundred years from now great copies will have crystal clear provenances and a great portion of the value of the book will rest upon the interesting collecting history that may have attended a volume through the ages as well as on the quality of the written dealers’ descriptions that accompany that book. Many collectors now capture this history as they uncover it. It is one of the interesting aspects of book collecting. It simply needs to be understood by all parties that this history goes with the particular book in question, now and for all time, and will be reused by the book owners at the time of their choosing so long as the dealers/firms who wrote those descriptions are credited.
