Auction Update Review
The World Waits for No One
For the week ending Saturday June 2nd
11 auctions were archived; one in Mexican pesos, 3 in British pounds, 3 in US
dollars and 4 in euros. Total sales were
$6,576,932 against the aggregate high estimates of all lots offered: $9,752,757. At 67.44% this was one of
the tougher weeks I’ve seen over the past two years. The plunging euro, next round of Greek
elections and Andrea Merkel’s pending decision on whether Germany can/will
support euro bonds in exchange for European Union member concessions on sovereign
budget and debt control has Europe and its trading partners on edge. In Europe it will turn out to be America’s
1789, not France’s 1793. In the mean time auctions
take the pulse of the market everyday and we are having some Pepto-Bismol
moments. They will pass.
Two sales reached the
million-dollar threshold:
Sotheby’s. Music and Continental Books and Manuscripts
on May 29th: $2,860,877
Ketterer-Kunst. Rare Books on May 21st: $2,020,283
Three sales sold or exceeded 80% of
their lots:
Heritage Auctions. Rare Book Internet Sale ending 5/31: 98.05%
Heritage Auctions. Rare Books Internet Sale ending 5/30: 97.94%
Bonhams. The Stuart B. Schimmel Forgery Collection on
5/23: 96.44%
As Bonhams again confirmed
forgeries are and will remain an area of fascination to collectors. The collecting of such material is, to quote
one wag, “great fun – simply unreal.”
For the week ahead 13 sales are
scheduled:
Monday June 4th Bonhams.
Native American Photographs [20043].
163 lots
Wed. June 6th Bruun Rasmussen. Books and Manuscripts; Modern Books
[1223]. 270 lots
Galerie
Bessenge. Photography [99k]. 461 lots
Thursday June 7th Heritage Auctions. Rare Books bidstart 5/31 [201223]. 416 lots
PBA
Galleries. Rare Americana, Travel &
Exploration with Manuscript Material, Maps & Ephemera [481].
Piasa. Ancient and Modern Prints [18228]. 418 lots
Swann
Galleries. Maps & Atlases, Natural
History & Historical Prints, Ephemera [2280]. 358 lots.
Friday June 8th Alde.
Ancient and Modern Books [18319].
406 lots
Bloomsbury
Auctions. Bibliophile [35913]. 430 lots
Saturday June 9th Heritage Auctions. Civil War and Militaria [6088]. 56 items
Sunday June 10th Heritage Auctions. Legends of the Wild West [6079]. 254 items
Kiefer
– Buch- und Kunstauktionen. Books and
Graphics [81]. 4868 lots
Osenat. The French Empire in Fontainbleau
[18391].
The auction season this year is going deeper into summer. There is too much material
to be sold. Not so many years
ago this week was the beginning of the summer quiet.
In 2012: not so much.
Bruce McKinney
AE
June 3rd, 2012