Rare Book Monthly

Articles - February - 2025 Issue

Collecting Insights by Spencer W. Stuart

Spencer W. Stuart

Spencer W. Stuart

Here is one of the best ways to learn how to build a collection.  The old norm was to blunder in the dark and overpay for several years.  Spencer Stuart takes the pain out of becoming educated.

 

2 COLLECTING INSIGHTS February Registration Now Open

 

Registration for February programming of COLLECTING INSIGHTS is now open, below you will find session topics as well as testimony from participants.

 

EMERGING [Tuesdays - Feb. 4, 11, 18]

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/collecting-insights-emerging-feb-4-11-18-tickets-1148694960549?aff=oddtdtcreator

 

02/04  - What is collecting?

02/11  - Implementing a strategy

02/18  - Cataloguing & collection care

 

EXPANDING [Wednesdays - Feb. 5, 12, 19]

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/collecting-insights-expanding-feb-5-12-19-tickets-1148713245239?aff=oddtdtcreator

 

02/05  - Defining scope & scale

02/12  - On auctions & trade

02/19  - New collecting focuses

 

LEGACY [Thursdays - Feb. 6, 13, 20]

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/collecting-insights-legacy-feb-6-13-20-tickets-1148722954279?aff=oddtdtcreator

 

02/06  - Planning your collection’s future

02/13  - Where & how to sell

02/20  - Placing your collection in an Institution

 

Testimony from Participants:

 

"Spencer Stuart's Collecting Insights provides the discerning bibliophile a unique window into the dynamics at play in the world of book collecting. How does the shift from brick-and-mortar dealers to online, auction-based markets impact collectors? What is the best way to use such shifts to one's benefit? Those are some of the questions that will be answered through a series of three, one-hour sessions that are packed with insightful content. Highly recommended!"

Mehdi El Hajoui

Private Collector

COLLECTING INSIGHTS: Expanding (Summer '24)

 

 

"Spencer Stuart’s Collecting Insights sessions were an enriching experience that exceeded my expectations. Spencer is an engaging and knowledgeable presenter, and I was equally fortunate to experience the camaraderie of the other attendees – It was a lively community of fellow book enthusiasts and collectors.

 

Collecting Insights was terrific because it scales both broad and deep - it provided a comprehensive overview of collecting, tailored to the advanced stage of the collecting cycle where I find myself, and offered suggestions and resources that are valuable now and will be into the future.

 

Many thanks to Spencer for his expertise and for organizing an impactful series of classes."

 

Taylor Kirkpatrick

Private Collector and Founder of the Kirkpatrick Prize for Book Collecting 

COLLECTING INSIGHTS: Legacy (Spring '24)

 

 

"I found Spencer Stuart's class on the Legacy stage of collecting to be extremely helpful in understanding the different forces that act on a collection's future and how to deal with them. Highly recommended."

Reid Byers

Private Collector and author of The Private Library

COLLECTING INSIGHTS: Legacy (Spring '24)

 

 

“Each session of Collecting Insights has been invaluable for me as an "Expanding collector." Not only have I learned more about various aspects of the rare book trade, such as auctions and changing trends within the industry, but I have also been inspired to do so much more with my collection, like setting up a website. Ideas like these will surely come in handy as my collection grows and I look towards its future. I'm so grateful to have had the chance to learn from Spencer in these sessions.”

Stacy Shirk

Private Collector (recipient of the California Young Collectors Prize)

COLLECTING INSIGHTS: Expanding (Winter '24)

Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby's Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s: Balthus, Emily Brontë. Wuthering Heights, New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1993. 6,600 USD.
    Sotheby’s: Charles Dickens. Complete Works, Philadelphia & London: J.B. Lippincott Company & Chapman & Hall, LD, 1850. Limited Edition set of 30 volumes. 7,500 USD.
    Sotheby’s: John Lennon, Yoko Ono. Handwritten Letter from John Lennon and Yoko Ono to their Chauffer. 1971. 32,500 USD.
    Sotheby’s: Winston Churchill. First edition of War Speeches, Cassell and Company, Ltd., 1941. Set of 7 volumes. 5,500 USD.
    Sotheby’s: Andy Warhol, Julia Warhola. Holy Cats First Edition, Signed by Andy Warhol. 1954. 30,000 USD.
  • Forum Auctions
    Online: India
    Ends 19th February 2026
    Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 40
    Ramasvami (Kavali Venkata). A Digest of the Different Castes of India, 83 charming hand-coloured lithographed plates, Madras, 1837. £5,000-7,000
    Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 50
    Watson (John Forbes) & John William Kaye. The People of India: A Series of Photographic Illustrations...of the Races and Tribes of Hindustan, 8 vol., 480 mounted albumen prints, 1868-75. £4,000-6,000
    Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 53
    Afghanistan.- Elphinstone (Hon. Mountstuart). An Account of the Kingdom of Caubul, first edition, hand-coloured aquatint plates, a fine copy, 1815. £2,000-3,000
    Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 57
    [Album and Treatise on Hinduism], manuscript treatise on Hinduism in French, 31 watercolours of Hindu deities, Pondicherry, 1865. £3,000-4,000
    Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 62 Allan (Capt. Alexander). Views in the Mysore Country, [1794]. £2,000-3,000
    Forum Auctions
    Online: India
    Ends 19th February 2026
    Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 76
    Bird (James). Historical Researches on the Origin and Principles of the Bauddha and Jaina Religions..., first edition, lithographed plates, Bombay, American Mission Press, 1847. £3,000-4,000
    Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 100
    Ceylon.- Daniell (Samuel). A Picturesque Illustration of the scenery, animals, and native inhabitants, of the Island of Ceylon: in twelve plates, 1808. £5,000-7,000
    Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 123
    D'Oyly (Charles). Behar Amateur Lithographic Scrap Book, lithographed throughout with title and 55 plates mounted on 43 paper leaves, [Patna], [1828]. £3,000-5,000
    Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 139
    Gandhi (known as Mahatma Gandhi,) Fine Autograph Letter signed to Jawaharlal Nehru, Sevagram, Wardha, 1942, emphasising the importance of education in rural communities. £10,000-15,000
    Forum Auctions
    Online: India
    Ends 19th February 2026
    Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 140
    Gantz (John). Indian Microcosm, first edition, Madras, John Gantz & Son, 1827. £10,000-15,000
    Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 146
    Grierson (Sir George Abraham). Linguistic Survey of India, 11 vol. in 20, folding maps, original cloth, Calcutta, Superintendent Government Printing, 1903-28. £2,000-3,000
    Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 195
    Madras.- Fort St. George Gazette (The), No.276-331, pp.493-936 and Index to all of 1834 at end, modern half calf, Madras, 2nd July - 31st December 1834. £2,000-3,000
    Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 205
    Marshall (Sir John) and Alfred Foucher. The Monuments of Sanchi, 3 vol., first edition, 141 plates, most photogravure, [Calcutta], [1940]. £3,000-4,000
  • Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: HAMILTON, Sir William (1730-1803) - Campi Phlegraei. Napoli: [Pietro Fabris], 1776, 1779. € 30.000 - 50.000
    Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: [MORTIER] - BLAEU, Joannes (1596-1673) - Het Nieuw Stede Boek van Italie. Amsterdam: Pieter Mortier, 1704-1705. € 15.000 - 25.000
    Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: TULLIO D'ALBISOLA (1899-1971) - Bruno MUNARI (1907-1998) - L'Anguria lirica (lungo poema passionale). Roma e Savona: Edizioni Futuriste di Poesia, senza data [ma 1933?]. € 20.000 - 30.000
    Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: IL MANOSCRITTO RITROVATO DI IPPOLITA MARIA SFORZA. TITO LIVIO - Ab Urbe Condita. Prima Decade. Manoscritto miniato su pergamena, metà XV secolo. € 280.000 - 350.000

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