Potomack Auctions: an expanding footprint in collectible paper
- by Bruce E. McKinney
The Potomack Company of Alexandria, Virginia is expanding their auction business in the books, manuscripts, maps and ephemera fields and to do so has hired Kathryn Coldiron who for the past six years worked in a similar capacity at Leslie Hindman in Chicago. The firm has been selling antiques and fine art for ten years and find themselves at the confluence of significant consignments and acquisitive buyers in the collectible paper fields.
The next sale takes place on April 9th.
Rare books and collectible paper will appear, as it has, as a category within the company’s general sales every two months. It is Ms. Coldiron’s ambition to increase this segment’s footprint. The firm expects initially to focus on lots falling within the $300 to $1,000 range. For consignors this price range is important as many, arguable most, auction houses look for higher minimum outcomes while most ephemera lands a few steps short. As the Caren sales at Swann and Bonhams confirm such material now occasionally carries entire sales.
Ms. Coldiron, who grew up in the Seattle area, beyond her six years of experience at Hindman, has a degree in library science and a master’s degree in Medieval History. “I’ve been a vagabond of sorts, willing to move and willing to travel. The Washington area is a special place and I’m looking forward to settling in to build a formidable rare book and paper presence for Potomack.”
And of course it goes without saying she is always looking for consignments and acquirers. Her email address is kathryn@potomackco.com. She can be reached at 703.684.4550.
Here is a link to the company’s news release on both Ms. Coldiron and the upcoming sale.
Link to release
This month the first lots organized by Ms. Coldiron will begin to appear in a Potomack sale. Here are some interesting examples:
Booth, Edward Thomas. Rough Notes on the Birds Observed During Twenty Years Shooting and Collecting in the British Islands. Illustrated by Edward Neale. London: R.H. Porter, 1881-1887.
