Auction Update Review
Laboring in May
On this the Memorial Day weekend in
the United States the book, manuscript, map and ephemera auctions for the month
of May have concluded with a bang if not a splash. The pace of sales around the world has been
robust and the results consistently strong through five months. For the week just ended eleven sales were
reported, 5,796 lots offered and 4,648 lots sold for an 80% sell-through rate. Total sales were $9,412,063,
primarily on the back of Profiles in History’s $5,724,556 for their Hollywood
Memories sale on May 18th.
The evidence accumulates that the new collector collects what they
remember as opposed to what they studied.
This bodes well for contemporary art and 20th century printed
material but leaves the future of non-iconic older material in doubt.
Just a year ago the auction market
was struggling to achieve a 70% sell-through.
The recently achieved 80%, while just one week’s results, may be
suggesting that, while reserves remain low the high estimates may be creeping
up. That would explain a relatively high
sell through rate and a more modest total sales to total high estimates
ratio: 75%. Whatever it is it’s healthy. This is also May and the character of spring events are more aggressive than fall sales when, more often than not, more
highly reserved material is offered and at the margin fails.
Of the eleven sales reported five
reached or exceeded 100% of their aggregate high estimates and another, Rupert
Toovey’s Antiquarian & Collectors’ Books on May 17th, was so
close at 99.4% that we’ll round up and include it too. These 100% sales reflect both auction house
and buyer confidence.
Burgersdijk & Niermans: Books, Prints, Antiquarian & Collectors’
Books on May 17th: 133%
Le Lebraire Alain Ferraton: Ancient & Modern Books – Drawings &
Prints – the second vacation on May 21st, 110%
Bloomsbury Auctions: Important Books and Manuscripts on May 26th: 102%
Coutau-Begarie: Historical and Military Souveniers on May 20th: 102%
Le Lebraire Alain Ferraton: Ancient & Modern Books – Drawings &
Prints – the first vacation on May 20th, 101%
Rupert Toovey & Co.: Antiquarian and Collector’s Books on May 17th: 100%
For the week ahead
June 1st Alde:
Ancient and Modern Books
Galerie
Bassenge: 19th-20th
Century Photography
Old
World Auctions
June 2nd PBA Galleries: Charles Bukowski & His Circle
Swann
Galleries: Maps & Atlases, Natural
History & Historical Prints, Ephemera
Bruce McKinney
AE
May 29th, 2011