Emotionally Satisfying Investments: Works on Paper
- by Bruce E. McKinney
For books, manuscripts, maps and ephemera: price change over 100 years
Arnoud Gerits, the President of ILAB, the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, was interviewed recently in the Hong Kong Economic Times and mentioned that book collecting should be understood as a passion, not an investment. He’s quoted on book collecting:
“ILAB does not recommend buying books as a financial investment.” “Don’t buy them as an investment: it is the wrong angle to look at books. Buy them because you love books, you love a subject..."
Is he suggesting it’s not possible to both love books and buy them as investments? Book collectors certainly believe their books are investments.
I thought it was common knowledge and so decided to contact collectors to see if their perspectives have changed. They haven’t. They still view and apparently always have viewed, these purchases as investments, albeit ones that mature slowly and are often pursued for ancillary benefits. They did not go into collecting expecting to be buried in their books and do not expect it now. In fact, I haven’t found a single collector who subscribes to the “abandon hope all yea who enter here” approach implicit in the “don’t buy them as investments” idea. Dealers always expect to make profits and Mr. Gerits seems to be saying collectors should not. Collectors choose to invest in books because they have a passion for them, but they do not buy them believing they are costume jewelry. They view them as long-term investments and over all but the last five years they have been.
Old World Auctions (Oct. 10): Lot 1. Rare First Edition of Oronce Fine Double-Cordiform World Map (1531) Est. $50,000 - $60,000
Old World Auctions (Oct. 10): Lot 2. French Edition of "Rudimentum Novitiorum" with Woodcut Maps of the World and Palestine (1543) Est. $27,500 - $35,000
Old World Auctions (Oct. 10): Lot 3. Complete Edition of Munster’s Cosmographia with over 100 Maps & Views (1560) Est. $32,500 - $40,000
Old World Auctions (Oct. 10): Lot 4. Purchas' Important Collection of Voyages with 88 Maps, Including John Smith Map of Virginia (1625-26) Est. $55,000 - $70,000
Old World Auctions (Oct. 10): Lot 5. Complete First Latin Edition of De Bry's "Grands Voyages," Parts I-IX (1590-1602) Est. $120,000 - $150,000
RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide ABAA Dealer
RareBookBuyer.com Specialized in Purchasing Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide ABAA Dealer
RareBookBuyer.com Specialized in Purchasing Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide ABAA Dealer
RareBookBuyer.com Specialized in Purchasing Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide ABAA Dealer
RareBookBuyer.com Specialized in Purchasing Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide ABAA Dealer
Gonnelli Auction 54 Books, Autographs & Manuscripts October 8th-10th 2024
Gonnelli: Menù di gala per l'incoronazione di Nicola II Romanov e di Aleksandra Feodorovna. Moskva, 1896. Starting price 1000 €
Gonnelli: Raccolta di 38 albumine, molte colorate a mano, di vedute della Cina, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Giappone e vari ritratti, 1880. Starting price 340 €
Gonnelli: Christie Agatha, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. A detective story. London: John Lane, 1921. Starting price 460 €
Gonnelli: Alberti Leon Battista, Ecatonphyla. Venice: Bernardino da Cremona, 1491. Starting price 10000 €
Gonnelli: Menabrea Luigi Federico, Sketch of the analytical engine invented by Charles Babbage Esq. London: Richard and John E. Taylor, 1843. Starting price 5000 €
Gonnelli: Bardi Giovanni, Memorie del calcio fiorentino. Florence, 1688. Starting price 1000 €
Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: J. R. R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. London, 1954-1955.FIRST EDITIONS, FIRST IMPRESSIONS, ALL IN THE EXTREMELY RARE FIRST STATE DUST JACKETS.
Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: Francesco Fontana. Novae coelestium terrestriumque rerum observationes... Naples: Gaffari, 1646. FIRST EDITION. Contains the first observations of spots on the surface of Mars.
Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. London: Printed for W. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1776. FIRST EDITION of “the first and greatest classic of modern economic thought” (PMM).
Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: Benjamin Franklin. Mémoires de la Vie Privée de Benjamin Franklin, écrits par lui-méme… Paris: Chez Buisson, 1791. FIRST EDITION OF FRANKLIN'S MEMOIRS IN THE PUBLISHER'S ORIGINAL WRAPPERS.
Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: Samuel Johnson, Jr. A School Dictionary… New Haven, [Connecticut]: Edward O'Brien, [1798]. FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST DICTIONARY IN ENGLISH BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR, AN EXCEPTIONAL RARITY.
Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: Joseph Smith, Jr. The Book of Mormon. Palmyra: Printed by E. B. Grandin, for the Author, 1830. FIRST EDITION.
Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: Miguel de Cervántes Saavedra. El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Madrid: Joaquin Ibarra, 1780. THE BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED IBARRA EDITION.
Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: James Joyce. Ulysses. London: John Lane The Bodley Head, [1936]. FIRST ENGLISH EDITION, SIGNED BY JOYCE. Designated a “Presentation Copy” in ink beneath Joyce’s signature.
Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: [Photoplay]. Delos W. Lovelace. King Kong. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, [1932]. FIRST EDITION of "a most sought after title" (Davis).
Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: Ray Bradbury. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon & Schuster, [1993]. 40th Anniversary Edition. PRESENTATION COPY, INSCRIBED AND SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR TO HUGH HEFNER.
Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: Neil Gaiman. Original manuscript for the "Neverwhere" BBC television miniseries. [London: Crucial Films, LTD., 1995-1996]. TYPESCRIPT "NEVERWHERE" WITH NEIL GAIMAN'S NOTES AND AMENDATIONS THROUGHOUT.
Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: [DICTIONARY]. Noah Webster. An American Dictionary of the English Language... New York, 1828. FIRST EDITION OF WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY, UNCUT IN THE PUBLISHER'S ORIGINAL BOARDS
Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: Stephen King. Full Dark, No Stars. Baltimore: Cemetery Dance Publications, 2010. WITH AN ORIGINAL TWO-PAGE COLOR ILLUSTRATION BY GLENN CHADBOURNE
Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: George Orwell. Nineteen Eighty-Four. London: Secker & Warburg, 1949. FIRST EDITION, IN THE ORIGINAL DUST JACKET.
Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: H. G. Wells. The Time Machine: An Invention. London: William Heinemann, 1895 [but 1897]. With a SIGNED PHOTOGRAPHIC POSTCARD laid in.
![<b>Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11:</b> Samuel Johnson, Jr. <i>A School Dictionary…</i> New Haven, [Connecticut]: Edward O'Brien, [1798]. FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST DICTIONARY IN ENGLISH BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR, AN EXCEPTIONAL RARITY.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/144d303d-fb7b-4c8f-90f8-93d2ee5b5473.jpg "<b>Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11:</b> Samuel Johnson, Jr. <i>A School Dictionary…</i> New Haven, [Connecticut]: Edward O'Brien, [1798]. FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST DICTIONARY IN ENGLISH BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR, AN EXCEPTIONAL RARITY.")
![<b>Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11:</b> James Joyce. <i>Ulysses.</i> London: John Lane The Bodley Head, [1936]. FIRST ENGLISH EDITION, SIGNED BY JOYCE. Designated a “Presentation Copy” in ink beneath Joyce’s signature.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/b96c89fb-e0c1-4ce9-99c1-c97b003d38bd.jpg "<b>Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11:</b> James Joyce. <i>Ulysses.</i> London: John Lane The Bodley Head, [1936]. FIRST ENGLISH EDITION, SIGNED BY JOYCE. Designated a “Presentation Copy” in ink beneath Joyce’s signature.")
![<b>Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11:</b> [Photoplay]. Delos W. Lovelace. <i>King Kong.</i> New York: Grosset & Dunlap, [1932]. FIRST EDITION of "a most sought after title" (Davis).](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/030395f1-e26d-4ae6-b120-43d881c17632.jpg "<b>Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11:</b> [Photoplay]. Delos W. Lovelace. <i>King Kong.</i> New York: Grosset & Dunlap, [1932]. FIRST EDITION of \"a most sought after title\" (Davis).")
![<b>Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11:</b> Ray Bradbury. <i>Fahrenheit 451.</i> New York: Simon & Schuster, [1993]. 40th Anniversary Edition. PRESENTATION COPY, INSCRIBED AND SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR TO HUGH HEFNER.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/593de668-7304-4f7b-af33-0f408183249a.jpg "<b>Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11:</b> Ray Bradbury. <i>Fahrenheit 451.</i> New York: Simon & Schuster, [1993]. 40th Anniversary Edition. PRESENTATION COPY, INSCRIBED AND SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR TO HUGH HEFNER.")
![<b>Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11:</b> Neil Gaiman. Original manuscript for the "Neverwhere" BBC television miniseries. [London: Crucial Films, LTD., 1995-1996]. TYPESCRIPT "NEVERWHERE" WITH NEIL GAIMAN'S NOTES AND AMENDATIONS THROUGHOUT.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/2f398c6b-072b-406e-ad66-55fff389034a.jpg "<b>Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11:</b> Neil Gaiman. Original manuscript for the \"Neverwhere\" BBC television miniseries. [London: Crucial Films, LTD., 1995-1996]. TYPESCRIPT \"NEVERWHERE\" WITH NEIL GAIMAN'S NOTES AND AMENDATIONS THROUGHOUT.")
![<b>Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11:</b> [DICTIONARY]. Noah Webster. <i>An American Dictionary of the English Language...</i> New York, 1828. FIRST EDITION OF WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY, UNCUT IN THE PUBLISHER'S ORIGINAL BOARDS](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/e3af12c5-4ae8-4f41-9567-382fc93f5eee.jpg "<b>Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11:</b> [DICTIONARY]. Noah Webster. <i>An American Dictionary of the English Language...</i> New York, 1828. FIRST EDITION OF WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY, UNCUT IN THE PUBLISHER'S ORIGINAL BOARDS")
![<b>Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11:</b> H. G. Wells. <i>The Time Machine: An Invention.</i> London: William Heinemann, 1895 [but 1897]. With a SIGNED PHOTOGRAPHIC POSTCARD laid in.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/1772ac84-200c-4c75-b633-5f918dbe2d54.jpg "<b>Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11:</b> H. G. Wells. <i>The Time Machine: An Invention.</i> London: William Heinemann, 1895 [but 1897]. With a SIGNED PHOTOGRAPHIC POSTCARD laid in.")