Auction Update Review
Foot Soldiers in May
For the week ending Saturday May 12th
13 auctions were archived; 1 in British pounds, 1 in Australian dollars, 4 in
euros, and 7 in greenbacks. Ten thousand
and twelve lots were offered and 6,591 sold for a 66% success rate. Total sales were $17,904,290. From a distance it was a very good week. Up close there were a few dings on the
fenders. Heritage had another very
successful sale of comics and comic art – raising $5,493,154 while selling
99.71% of the 1,359 lots offered. Three
other sales reached the one million dollar level.
Heritage Auctions. Comics and Comic Art on May 10th: $5,493,154
Christie’s. Important Books, Art Books, Manuscripts on
May 11th: $4,708,189
Sotheby’s. Travel, Atlases, Maps & Naval History on
May 9th: $3,846,355
Kiefer – Buch – und
Kunstauktionen. Rare Books on April 20th: $1,125,215
Only one sale exceeded 100% of its
aggregate high estimate:
Christie’s. Important Books, Art Books, Manuscripts on
May 11th: 142%
Heritage’s sale of comics and comic
art belongs in this category but they provide only a start bid rather than a
range so there is no aggregate high range to compare. What can be seen is that the average of all
the 1,355 lots sold was $4,042, a remarkable number.
The following auctions sold at least
90% of their lots:
Heritage Auctions. Comics and Comic Art on May 10th: 99.71%
Heritage Auctions. Rare Books.
Internet bid start May 3rd:
98.93%
Knotty Pine Auction Service. Autographs and Militaria, Antique and Estate
Books on April 28th: 95.02%
For the week ahead 21 auctions are
scheduled
Tuesday May 15th Alde.
Modern Illustrated Books [19156]:
384 lots
Artcurial
Briest-Le Fur-Poulain-F. Tajan. Modern
Books [18097]: 457 lots
Bloomsbury
Auctions. Important Books and
Manuscripts [35916]: 371 lots
Burgersdijk
& Niermans. Books, Manuscripts and
Graphic Arts [335]: 1,343 lots
Coutau-Begarie. Books and Manuscripts [19198]: 292 lots
Sotheby’s. Photographs [PF1220]: 108 lots
Sotheby’s. Books and Manuscripts [PF1203]: 184 lots
Swann
Galleries. Early Printed and Travel
Books [2279]
Wed. May 16th Alde.
Original Editions. Prints
[19157]: 208 lots
Bonhams. Modern Prints [19781]: 312 lots
Burgersdijk
& Niermans. Books, Manuscripts and
Graphic Arts [335]: 1,343 lots
[continuing]
Christie’s. Photographs [5323]: 104 lots
Christie’s. Photographs 1840 – Present [6556]: 61 lots
Dominic
Winter. Printed Books, Maps and
Documents [051612]
Rupert
Toovey and Co. Prints [1040]
Tajan. Ancient and Modern Prints [9703] 328 lots
Thurs. May 17th Bonhams. Photographs [20154]: 90 items
Heritage
Auctions. Rare Books internet bidstart
May 11th: 383 lots
Friday May 18th Christie’s. Important Printed Books and Americana from the
Albert H. Small Collection [2655]: 151
lots
Skinner,
Inc. Fine Prints [2598B]
Sunday May 20th Bonhams.
Books and Manuscripts [20004]
Anymore this is what a week looks
like, twenty-one sales, thousands of lots, the steady flow of material months
in preparation, marching into the rooms for their verdicts to be read. It is a fascinating sight.
Bruce McKinney
AE
Sunday May 13th, 2012