Rare Book Monthly

Articles - September - 2011 Issue

It's Been a Tough Month for Large Book Retailers

Borders bids its final farewell.

Borders bids its final farewell.

This has not been a good month for large, chain bookstores, especially so for their investors. Physical retailing has been battling online selling for a decade, and physical books have been battling electronic ones for the past two years. Neither has fared well. Both will survive for many years to come, but will continue to lose market share to their electronic counterparts. It makes for a difficult business, and tough investment.

 

A little over a month ago, the number one bricks and mortar book retailer, Barnes and Noble, its stock long in the doldrums, received some good news. Liberty Media, noted for buying up troubled companies, made an offer of $17 per share. Now this may not seem exciting for a company whose share price reached $45 five years ago, but it had spent most of the year under $15, and briefly hit an all-time low under $10. However, Liberty was less interested in its stores than its Nook electronic reader, a surprising success after belatedly entering the market way after Amazon's Kindle. Kindle remains by far the leader, but the Nook has become a solid number two, garnering around a quarter of the market and growing.

 

However, it appears that Liberty and Barnes and Noble could not agree on the value of the Nook, so Liberty withdrew its takeover bid and instead purchased $204 million worth of B&N preferred stock. It pays a hefty 7.75% dividend and can be converted into a 16.6% share of the company. This provides the company with welcome cash, but the dividend rate it must pay is high, and a conversion of the preferred stock to common will result in shareholder dilution. The investment may be good for the company, but not so good for shareholders. The stock price quickly dropped to $10, and recently was trading for $11. That $17 offer doesn't look so bad now.

 

For the number two physical retailer of books, there is really no more to say. In February, Borders filed for bankruptcy protection, and in July announced that no buyer for the chain could be found. Instead, it would close all of its stores and liquidate its assets. That liquidation should be completed by the end of this month, bringing a final end to Borders' 40-year career. You may find some bargains in the next few days at your local Borders store as discounts are large, but what is likely to be left now are the dregs. You can also find Borders stock at a cheap price. It has ranged between 2 and 4 cents a share the past few weeks. At its peak it cost $37. Don't waste your money. It isn't worth 2 cents. Eventually, it will settle at zero.

 

The third largest bricks and mortar book retailer in America, soon to be number two, is attempting to pick up some sales from the Borders bankruptcy. Books-A-Million, the southern-based bookstore chain, attempted to purchase the leases, fixtures, and inventory of 30 defunct Borders locations. The two could not reach a deal, but Books-A-Million will be taking over the leases of 14 closing Borders locations. BAM (as Books-A-Million is also known) is looking to expand its footprint north. Stores in Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Ohio are reportedly among those sought to be taken over.

 

While Books-A-Million has been swimming against the tide by actually expanding its physical presence, it still has not been an easy time for the growing chain. The firm recently reported a $2.9 million loss for the second quarter, compared to a $1.9 million gain for the same quarter in the previous year. Its recent stock price, below $2.50, is approaching historic lows. That's about one-quarter of its price of 20 years ago, not a great long-term investment. The troubling results showed an 11.4% decline in overall revenue and a 12.9% decline in sales at same stores year over year. CEO Clyde Anderson stated, "A soft publishing lineup, the effect of e-book migration and the impact of Border's liquidation all contributed to the decline in comparable-store sales."

 

However, there remains one positive book investment story - Amazon.com. The largest online bookseller, and leader in the electronic book field, continues to trade around the $200 per share level, near its record high price reached earlier this year. Indeed, if you bought Borders stock for $37 in 1998, you could have purchased Amazon for half that price. Now Amazon stock is worth $200 and Borders 2 cents. The challenge for investors today is to figure out which companies are the next Amazon, and which are the next… Borders.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Swann, May 15: Lot 4: Helena Bochoráková-Dittrichová, Z Mého Detství Drevoryty, Prague: Obzina, 1929. First trade edition, signed by the artist. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Swann, May 15: Lot 10: Nancy Cunard, Negro Anthology, with a tipped-in A.L.S. to Karl Marx's niece, 1934. First edition. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Swann, May 15: Lot 14: Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century, 1845. First edition. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Swann, May 15: Lot 17: Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun, inscribed first edition, 1959. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Swann, May 15: Lot 28: Margaret Hill Morris, Private Journal Kept during a Portion of the Revolutionary War, for the Amusement of a Sister, 1836. First edition. $3,000 to $4,000.
    Swann, May 15: Lot 38: Anna Sewell, Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse, 1877. First edition. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Swann, May 15: Lot 43: Gertrude Stein, Portrait of Mabel Dodge at the Villa Curonia, signed presentation copy with photograph of Stein, 1912. First edition. $8,000 to $12,000.
    Swann, May 15: Lot 48: Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse, first edition in the scarce dust jacket, 1927. $6,000 to $8,000.
    Swann, May 15: Lot 54: Katherine Dunham, large archive of material from her attorney, 1951-53. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Swann, May 15: Lot 55: Margaret Fuller Signed Autograph Letter, New York City, 1846. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Swann, May 15: Lot 92: Sonia Delaunay, illus. & Tristan Tzara, Juste Present, deluxe edition with original gouache, 1961. $20,000 to $25,000.
    Swann, May 15: Lot 93: Flor Garduño, The Sonnets of Shakespeare, 2006. Limited edition. $6,000 to $8,000.
  • Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction May 26th
    Ketterer, May 26: Th. McKenney & J. Hall, History of the Indian tribes of North America, 1836-1844. Est: €50,000
    Ketterer, May 26: Biblia latina vulgata, manuscript on thin parchment, around 1250. Est: €70,000
    Ketterer, May 26: M. Beckmann, Fanferlieschen Schönefüßchen, 1924. Est: €10,000
    Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction May 26th
    Ketterer, May 26: A. Ortelius, Theatrum orbis terrarum, 1574. Est: €50,000
    Ketterer, May 26: M. S. Merian, Eurcarum ortus, alimentum et paradoxa metamorphosis, 1717-18. Est: €6,000
    Ketterer, May 26: PAN, 9 volumes, 1895-1900. Est: €12,000
    Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction May 26th
    Ketterer, May 26: Breviarium Romanum, Latin manuscript, 1474. Est: €15,000
    Ketterer, May 26: Quran manuscript from the Saadian period, Maghreb, 16th century. Est: €10,000
    Ketterer, May 26: E. Hemingway, The old man and the sea, 1952. First edition in first issue jacket. Presentation copy. Est: €3,000
    Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction May 26th
    Ketterer, May 26: Flavius Vegetius Renatus, De re militari libri quatuor, 1553. Est: €3,000
    Ketterer, May 26: K. Marx, Das Kapital, 1867. Est: €30,000
    Ketterer, May 26: Brassaï, Transmutations, 1967. Est: €6,000
  • Leland Little, May 21: Signed Artist Proof of the Monumental G.O.A.T.: A Tribute to Muhammad Ali.
    Leland Little, May 21: Assorted Rare Publications Related to H.P. Lovecraft, Including The Recluse Signed by Vincent Starrett.
    Leland Little, May 21: Two Issues of The Vagrant, Including the First Appearance of H.P. Lovecraft's "Dagon" in Number Eleven.
    Leland Little, May 21: Rare First Printing of Anne of Green Gables, With ALS from the Author.
    Leland Little, May 21: First Edition of Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, In First Issue Jacket.
    Leland Little, May 21: The Limited Paumanok Edition of The Complete Writings of Walt Whitman.
    Leland Little, May 21: Beautifully Bound Limited Flaubert Edition of The Works of Guy de Maupassant.
    Leland Little, May 21: First Edition of Bonaparte's Celebrated American Ornithology, With Spectacular Hand-Colored Plates.
    Leland Little, May 21: A Rare Complete Set of Jardine's The Naturalist's Library, With Hand-Colored Plates.
    Leland Little, May 21: Invitation to the Lincoln-Johnson National Inaugural Ball, March 4th, 1865.
    Leland Little, May 21: A Scarce Inscribed First Edition of James Baldwin's Nobody Knows My Name.
    Leland Little, May 21: Picasso's Le Goût du Bonheur, Limited Edition.
  • Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
  • Gonnelli
    Auction 59
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 20th 2025
    Gonnelli: Pietro Aquila, Psyche and Proserpina,1690. Starting price 140€
    Gonnelli: Jacques Gamelin, Memento homo quia pulvis es et in pulverem reverteris, 1779. Starting price 300€
    Gonnelli: Giorgio Ghisi, The final Judgement, 1680. Starting price 480€
    Gonnelli
    Auction 59
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 20th 2025
    Gonnelli Goya y Lucientes Francisco, Los Proverbios.1877. Starting price 1000 €
    Gonnelli: Domenico Peruzzini, Long bearded old man, 1660. Starting price 2200€
    Gonnelli: Enea Vico, Leda and the Swan,1542. Starting price 140€
    Gonnelli
    Auction 59
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 20th 2025
    Gonnelli: Andrea Del Sarto [school of], San Giovanni Battista, 1570. Starting price 25000€
    Gonnelli: Carlo Maratta, Virgin Mary and Jesus, 1660. Starting Price 1200€
    Gonnelli: Louis Brion de La Tour, Sphére de Copernic Sphere de Ptolemée / Le Systême de Ptolemée. Le Systême de Ticho-Brahe…, 1766. Starting price 180€
    Gonnelli
    Auction 59
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 20th 2025
    Gonnelli: Marc’Antonio Dal Re, Ville di Delizia o Siano Palaggi Camparecci nello Stato di Milano Divise in Sei Tomi Con espressevi le Piante…, Tomo Primo, 1726. Starting price 7000€
    Gonnelli: Katsushika Hokusai, Bird on a branch, 1843. Starting price 100€

Article Search

Archived Articles

Ask Questions