Rare Book Monthly

Articles - December - 2019 Issue

Site Changes Coming on Rare Book Hub: the only constant is change.

Looking Ahead

Looking Ahead

For Americana Exchange and more recently its successor Rare Book Hub change has always been part of the equation.  Change online is necessary as the structure of the Internet evolves, speeds increase, and underlying assumptions about how websites function and are used, change.  Early on the focus was on duplicating print services electronically. The idea was to create a great portable library that researchers could access at their desks.  For those who tried it in 2002, it worked but most did not need it because the post-World War II structure of the rare book business was still, if wavering, intact.  Shows were robust, dealer catalogues flowed off presses every day, institutions were significant acquirers and dealers still running shops.  It was an understandable world even as enormous changes were occurring on the Internet.

 

These changes profoundly affected the rare book business.  More and more people posted material on line to sell and simultaneously the number of listing sites began to decline as the rule, be No. 1 or be gone, took hold.  As importantly, book collectors began to buy on these listing sites, thereby undermining the need for open shops, thereby weakening the field’s traditional structure, a weakening that continues today.

 

Since 2002 AE/RBH has built three databases and along the way, moved from stand-alone servers to the cloud while increasing the Transaction Database from 151,000 records on day 1 to 9.4 million full text records today.

 

This January we’ll introduce a fresh version of the site and an hour by hour Newsfeed for the rare book, manuscript, map and ephemera fields and then, a few months later, dedicated apps to turn your phone into a combination work station and daily newspaper for the field.

 

In taking these steps we look to help the field continue to transition, to keep the field relevant to the emerging next generation of collectors who see the world in a fresh way and we hope become enamored by collectible paper’s appealing complexity.

 

2020 will be an important year as we try to make the case to the next generation that what has been highly collectible for hundreds of years should be equally important to them once they see the view through the prism that the internet has made possible.

 

In closing, we at Rare Book Hub appreciate the broad support we have been receiving and want to thank all who, as visitors or paid services members, have used the site to advance their knowledge and understanding this past year.

 

Bruce McKinney

Managing Partner

Rare Book Hub


Posted On: 2019-12-01 03:08
User Name: cartog

Hello Bruce,
Thank you for working hard to remain current and provide us, your subscribers with timely market information. I have not yet learned how to use this service to its full capacity. I often also consult Abe Books which does something a little different than Rare Book Hub. . There does seem to be room on Rare Book Hub for a means of identifying and directing attention to shops. It might be a directory, for example. Without actual shops, the computer listings really become a commodities exchange. Not a desirable result.

I do not have a shop, and at this time participate in shows. This means I can only meet a very small sample of collectors, new browsers and institutional staff. I wonder whether you have any interest in being a show sponsor at some point. The shows are also faltering because booth fees for commercially produced shows are beyond what makes economic sense for the most part, and this trend will only continue without a new sponsorship model for dealer shows. The collective "profession" and those interested in preserving knowledge and maintaining a public marketplace of books, maps and letters do have to create either a new model, or engage new participants. The internet model is not a success if it ultimately challenges the primacy of browsing books, maps and other printed or manuscript works in person.
Any thoughts on your part?
Have a good end of the year.
Carol


Posted On: 2019-12-02 02:24
User Name: mairin

Impressive news on these upcoming initiatives,
especially the redesigned Rare Book Hub website
and the hourly Newsfeed. I'll be watching.
Every success with this, and thank you for continuing
commitment to responsible & timely data-collection,
Maureen E. Mulvihill, collector.
___


Posted On: 2019-12-11 16:26
User Name: Fattrad1

Bruce,

Wishing you every success in this technology transition.


Rare Book Monthly

  • Forum Auctions
    Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026
    25 March 2026
    Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- Andrews (H.C.) Coloured Engravings of Heaths, 4 vol. in 2, first edition, [1710,--94]-1802-1809-[1830]. £10,000 - £15,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Butterflies.- Cramer (Pierre) and Caspar Stoll. De Uitlandsche Kapellen voorkomende in de drie Waereld-Deelen…,, 5 vol., Amsterdam & Utrecht, 1779-91. £8,000 - £12,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Voyages.- Darwin (Charles) and others. Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle, 3 vol. in 4, including Appendix to vol.2, first edition, 1839. £8,000 - £12,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Butterflies.- de Graaf (Willem Diederik Vincent). [Inlandsche Kapellen in beeld], 170 fine original watercolours, [Enkhuizen], [1800-40]. £8,000 - £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026
    25 March 2026
    Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Dresser (Henry Eeles). A History of the Birds of Europe, 9 vol., including supplement, first edition, by the author, 1871-96. £6,000 - £8,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Zoology.- Felines.- Elliot (Daniel Giraud). A Monograph of the Felidæ or Family of the Cats, first edition, for the Subscribers, by the Author, [1878]-1883. £25,000 - £30,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Frisch (Johann Leonard). Vorstellung der Vögel Deutschlandes, 2 vol., first edition, Berlin, Friedr. Wilhelm Birnsteil, [1736]-1763. £40,000 - £60,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Gould (John). The Birds of Great Britain, 5 vol., first edition, by the author, 1862-1873. £30,000 - £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026
    25 March 2026
    Forum, Mar. 25: Pomology.- France.- Poiteau (A.) Pomologie Française. Recueil des Plus Beaux Fruits cultivés en France, 4 vol., Paris, 1846. £30,000 - £40,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- [Robin (Jean)]. Histoire des Plantes, nouvellement trouvées en l'Isle Virgine…,, 1620; with Geoffrey Linocier L'Histoire des plantes, second edition, 1619-20. £3,000 - £4,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Asia.- Japan.- Siebold (P.F. von). Nippon. Archiv zur Beschreibung von Japan, 7 parts in 6 vol., first edition, Leyden, [1832]-1852. £35,000 - £45,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Asia.- Valentijn (Francois). Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën..., 5 vol. in 8, first edition, Dordrecht [&] Amsterdam, 1724-26. £8,000 - £12,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- Australia.- Redouté (P.J.).- Ventenat (Étienne Pierre). Jardin de la Malmaison, 2 vol.,, Paris, 1803-04[-05]. £30,000 - £40,000.
  • ALDE, Mar. 11: AUGUSTIN (Saint). De civitate Dei. Rome, Konrad Sweynheym et Arnold Pannartz, 1470. €20,000 - €30,000.
    ALDE, Mar. 11: [REGNART (LE LIVRE DE)]. [Le] Docteur en malice, maistre Regnard, demonstrant les ruzes et cautelles qu'il use envers les personnes… Rouen, 1550. €20,000 - €30,000.
    ALDE, Mar. 11: TRITHÈME (JEAN). Polygraphie et universelle escriture cabalistique. Paris, [Benoît Prévost pour] Jacques Kerver, 1561. €8,000 - €10,000.
    ALDE, Mar. 11: CAUS (SALOMON DE). La Perspective, avec la raison des ombres et des miroirs. Londres, John Norton, 1612.
    ALDE, Mar. 11: NICERON (JEAN-FRANÇOIS). La Perspective curieuse ou magie artificielle des effets merveilleux de l'optique. Paris, Pierre Billaine, 1638. €6,000 - €8,000.
    ALDE, Mar. 11: VONTET (JACQUES). L’Art de trancher la viande et toute sorte de fruits… S.l.n.d. [probablement Lyon, vers 1647]. €20,000 - €30,000.
    ALDE, Mar. 11: HUGO (VICTOR). [Paysage spectral avec une église], [vers 1837]. €20,000 - €30,000.
    ALDE, Mar. 11: [HERVEY DE SAINT-DENYS (LÉON D')]. Les Rêves et les Moyens de les diriger. Observations pratiques. Paris, Amyot, 1867. €3,000 - €4,000.
    ALDE, Mar. 11: GACHET (PAUL-FERDINAND). Les Chats de Gachet (Manuscrit). S.d. [avant mai 1873]. €6,000 - €8,000.
    ALDE, Mar. 11: [REDON (ODILON)]. PICARD (EDMOND). Le Juré. Monodrame en cinq actes… Bruxelles, Mme veuve Monnom, 1887. €7,000 - €9,000.
    ALDE, Mar. 11: [TOULOUSE-LAUTREC (HENRI DE) ET HENRI-GABRIEL IBELS]. MONTORGUEIL (GEORGES). Le Café-concert. Paris, [1893]. €4,000 - €5,000.
    ALDE, Mar. 11: [TERRY (EMILIO)]. Projet de fontaine. Dessin original au stylo et à l'encre noire. 1938. €2,000 - €3,000.

Article Search

Archived Articles