It’s the (Book) Antiques Road ShowWith Kenneth Gloss of the Brattle Book Shop
- by Michael Stillman
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The most valuable item he has stumbled upon came when he visited a woman who had some old papers. Among them was a Declaration of Independence. It wasn’t the first issue, but about a week later. At the time it was valued at $100,000. He also had a person show up with a bunch of Jefferson letters from the time of the War of 1812. In one, Jefferson opines on how to handle traitors. His view was that they should receive the full protection of the law, but nothing more.
Gloss also tells a story of meeting with a collector who had reached his 100th birthday. The collector recalled attending a dinner in his youth with Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. Edison, who was quite hard of hearing by then and carried around an ear trumpet, was told by Ford how well he looked. Edison evidently attributed his good health to Carter’s Little Liver Pills. According to the collector, the two yelled back and forth at each other all night about the benefits of this wondrous medication. The young collector never received any of the sage advice he had hoped for.
Some Quick Advice for New Collectors
Ken Gloss offers some quick advice for new collectors, especially those on a budget. The price of books is all based on supply and demand. It’s just basic economics. If you collect what others collect, you will pay more. For example, if you collect rare books by a well-known author, and only in the best shape, you can expect to pay a lot. If you collect books by an obscure author, and are willing to accept something less than mint, you can collect books cheaply. There are major economic advantages to being one of the first to collect a particular topic or author.
The internet can be a useful tool for building a collection. Mr. Gloss points out that you may find twenty-five copies online of a book that used to be hard to find. His advice is that unless there is a clear reason why one copy is priced higher than another to go with the less expensive one. The higher price may only reflect that one seller hopes to get more money, not that his copy is any better.
If you have books to sell or evaluate, particularly if you live in the Boston area or New England, the Brattle Book Shop is located at 9 West Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02111. Their phone number is 800-447-9595 and the web address is www.brattlebookshop.com. The website includes a calendar of when and where Ken Gloss will be speaking and appraising books in the weeks ahead.
ALDE, Apr. 8: GUEVARA (ANTONIO DE). Histoire de Marc-Aurèle, Empereur Romain, vray miroir et horloge des Princes. Paris, Pierre et Galliot du Pré, frères, 1565. €3,000 to €4,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: HEURES DE LA VIERGE. Horæ in laudem beatissimæ virginis Mariæ ad usum Romanum. Paris, Charles L'Angelier, 1556. €4,000 to €5,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: MONTAIGNE (MICHEL DE). Les Essais. Édition nouvelle, trouvée après le deceds de l'autheur… Paris, Abel L'Angelier, 1595. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [ROJAS (FERNANDO DE)]. Celestina, tragicomedia di Calisto et Melibea, tradotta de lingua castigliana in italiano idioma… Venise, 1531. €2,000 to €3,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CAMÕES (LUÍS DE). Os Lusiadas. Lisbonne, Pedro Crasbeeck, 1613. €2,000 to €3,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CERVANTES (MIGUEL DE). El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Bruxelles, Roger Velpius & Huberto Antonio, 1611. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: LA FONTAINE (JEAN DE). Fables choisies, mises en vers. Paris, Denys Thierry et Claude Barbin, 1678-1694. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CERVANTES (MIGUEL DE). El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Madrid, Joaquin Ibarra, 1780. €3,000 to €4,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: DIDEROT (DENIS) ET JEAN LE ROND D'ALEMBERT. Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. Paris, 1751-1765. €15,000 to €20,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [LIVRE TISSÉ]. LAMARTINE (Alphonse de). Les Laboureurs. Poème tiré de Jocelyn… Lyon, J. A. Henry, 1883. €8,000 to €10,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [LIVRE TISSÉ]. Livre de prières tissé d'après les enluminures des manuscrits du XIVe au XVIe siècle. Lyon, [A. Roux], 1886. €5,000 to €6,000.
Sotheby’s Books, Manuscripts & Objects from Three Important Collections Open for Bidding 2-17 April
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: [Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun]. Le Roman de la Rose, [Geneva or Lyons, c.1481], first printed edition of the most important medieval French vernacular poem. £200,000 to £300,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Castiglione. Il libro del cortegiano. [Venice], April 1528, first edition, in a magnificent binding by Jean Picard for Jean Grolier. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Jacobus de Cessolis. Schachzabelbuch, Strasbourg, 1483, von der Lasa copy. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: World Championship, 1972. A collection of 84 press photographs of the famed match between Spassky and Fischer. £2,000 to £3,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Ben Franklin. Autograph letter signed, to Lord Shelburne, British Prime Minister, during peace negotiations, November 1782. £15,000 to £20,000.
