Rare Book Monthly

Articles - June - 2003 Issue

The Collaborative Project Part IV New Tools for Collectors and Researchers

Matches Found against Upcoming Auctions

Matches Found against Upcoming Auctions


By Mike Stillman

This month we present our fourth installment of “The Collaborative Project.” Four associates of the Americana Exchange write about their experiences researching old books and building their collections. These articles discuss some of the tools we have found, both within the Americana Exchange services and outside of them. Our aim is to help our readers discover some of the very helpful resources that now are available to all of us thanks to the internet.

This month several of our articles explain functions of the new MatchMaker Software introduced by the Æ a few weeks ago. MatchMaker is such a revolutionary development within the field of book collecting that it demands the attention. Briefly, it allows users to locate collectible printed Americana both on the internet and at auction quickly and with minimal effort. Combined with the Æ Database, it allows you to discover new titles in your field of collecting you may never have known existed, and then locate where they are being sold. Then, it continues its search into the future, day after day, so it will find books not for sale today as soon as they become available.

This month, Julie Carleton focuses on the auction functions of MatchMaker. In particular, she discusses the auction keyword search, which lets you research what’s coming up for sale at auction not just by title, but by subject matter. It is the only resource available that allows you to search the dozens of auctions that offer printed Americana just for items within your particular field of collecting.

From Abby Tallmer, we have an article on searching for titles not listed in the Æ Database through MatchMaker. Most people use the Æ Database to create the “Wants List” of titles they will have MatchMaker scour the internet and auctions to find. However, some titles are either too obscure, too new, or too unrelated to Americana to appear in the Æ Database. No problem. MatchMaker can look for these too, and Abby shows us how.

Finally, I write about using the Æ Database to learn more about the rarity and value of older titles as well as finding copies for sale. My examples come from the early 19th century when much of the heartland of America was under French influence.

We hope our efforts will help you with your research and collecting. We know from experience that they can not only help you find new material, but be sure that when you do buy or sell, you will not be paying too much or receiving too little for your books.

Rare Book Monthly

  • 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
  • Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: ALDROVANDI, Ulisse (1522-1605) - [Opera omnia]. Bologna: Bellagamba, Benacci, Bonomi, Tebaldini, Ferroni, 1599-1668. €22.000-€28.000
    Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: [CANALETTO] - VISENTINI, Antonio (1688-1782) da Giovanni Antonio CANAL (1697-1768, detto 'Il Canaletto') - Urbis Venetiarum prospectus celebriores. Venezia: Giovanni Battista Pasquale, 1742-51. €7.000-€10.000
    Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: LA FONTAINE, Jean de (1621-1695) - Fables Choisies. Parigi: Claude Barbin, 1668. €7.000-€10.000
    Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: MERCATOR, Rumold (1545-1599) - [I continenti] - Europa; Africa; America Sive India Nova; Asia. Amsterdam: S.d. [ca. 1633]. €2.000-€3.000

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