Rare Books Blog by Calix Books

Rare Book Prices Online Up or Down?

We have been watching rare book prices go down over the last two years, which is not surprising to us. Book prices, like anything in our economy is tied to the success of individuals and wealth creation by those individuals. Since most of us have experience a downturn in our 401K's and stock brokerage accounts, the declining book price is no great surprise. What however is a big surprise is the lack of buying power being exerted by the libraries around the world. Rare books and ephemera are usually bought up, especially if they are unique, by rare book libraries around the globe but recent information has it that rare book libraries in the U.S. are suffering because of a lack of funds to buy materials. Some reports we have heard through the grape vine (tinkling wine glasses) that many of these libraries are laying off staff, cutting back on hours and begining to consider selling off collections or parts of collections. Why is this happening? Simple, no money no buying.

However, let's just say that books, rare books in particular, are like works of art, sometimes they can be reproduced, meaning multiple copies were printed and other times they are unique (manuscripts, books of hours etc), perhaps only one or two or a dozen surviving copies are scattered in libraries across the globe. Generally, the laws of supply and demand also work in the book trade but when a rare book is up for auction, it's really anybody's guess as to what the price will wind up being. Back several years ago, Maggs Brothers, one of the most prestigious London book dealers, bought the first edition of the first English printed book before 1500 in England and paid a whopping $7.5 million for it and sold it to a collector several months later...now that's something!

Generally if you find a category of book you like, start the collection and you'll soon find out what all the heavy hitters are buying or not buying. Since once a book is bought and no more are printed, its demand and supply become instantly inelastic, meaning there is no flex in the supply demand curve for the book. The older the book, the fewer of them that survive, the more valuable they become but only when there is a demand. It is reported that the famous book dealer, H. P. Krause, now long deceased, God rest his soul, bought and sold at least six Gutenberg bibles during his lifetime, privately.

 

So the bottom line is this, if you have the cash for investment, the time to buy books, good quality books, is now. Why? You don't have to compete with the libraries for now and they represent a significant price driver in the restricted supply of rare books, manuscripts and ephemera.

Making Money Selling Books and Ephemera!

The last thing you want to do with a collection of rare books and what we in the trade call ephemera (which is anything that is not a book that is made of paper and has print on it) is to sell it in a YARD SALE! People like me will buy these items for usually whatever the price is that your asking.

When I'm out hunting for new inventory, YARD SALES are the first place I go. If you learn nothing else from the blog here, learn this: don't put books and ephemera into a yard sale until you have researched the books and ephemera!

So how do you get some of this:

into your pocket? There are several routes:

1. There is Ebay and as an example you can visit my store to see how items are listed, priced and watch the transactions for a while:

2. Auction houses: Here are some great auction houses:

Bloomsbury Book Auctions:

Heritage Auctions:

Just to name two that have good auction statistics and provide great returns for books and ephemera.

3. Book and Ephemera dealers: There are many book and ephemera dealers throughout the world. The book trade is one of the oldest in history and even during the Roman and Egyptian times, dealers in books and materials were selling works, collections of works or books of written works! The best way to look for book dealers is to go to some of the public databases. Here is one to start:

  Abe allows you to not only search for bookdealers in your area but it also allows you to search for books and some ephemera. Go to advanced search and put in your information on your book. The more information you can enter into the database, the more accurate it will be. Then scan the books and you can get some idea as to its value! After that, options for selling it are:

1. ebay

2. Auction

3. Book Dealer

Good luck and we'd love to hear your comments and suggestions! 

 

 

Lucrezia Marinella Poet Writer Defender of Women!

Lucrezia Marinella Vacca /Marinelli (1571-1653) A rare and wonderful work available now on our online auction ending Feb 28, 2010.

Lucrezia Marinella Vacca /Marinelli (1571-1653)

We know more about the publishing history of Lucrezia Marinella's works than we do about her life. When other women were publishing anonymously or under a pseudonym, Marinella's name was on most of her books and she was known by all Venice as the author of the rest. She apparently used the feminine form of her last name; some editors have used the family form, "Marinelli." Lucrezia was the daughter of a Venetian physician who wrote works on medicine (two on women's health) and on philosophy. We know nothing of her mother nor of when her father died do (we know that he was dead by 1600). Someone saw to it that Lucrezia was given an education that included philosophy and classical as well as vernacular literature. At some point she married a physician, Girolamo Vacca, and had at least two children, a son and daughter. When Marinella was 24 years old, her first work was published, La colomba sacra, poema eroico (The holy dove, a heroic poem), a biographical epic in ottava rima on an early Christian martyr. Her next publication was the Nobilta et l'eccellenza delle donne, co' difetti et mancamenti degli uomoni (The nobility and excellences of women, and the defects and vices of men), printed in 1600 and enlarged in 1601. Between 1603 and 1606 six more works were published (although some appear to have been written earlier): a heroic poem and a prose work on Mary; poems on Francis of Assisi and on Justina (another early Christian martyr); a collection of Marinella's sonnets and madrigals, and a pastoral verse novel, Arcadia felice. After 1606 there is a gap of 12 years before her next publications --- an allegory based on the story of Cupid and Psyche, and a poetic biography of Catherine of Siena --- and then another 11 years before she published in 1635 what historians of Italian literature consider her masterpiece, L'Enrico overo Bisantio conquistato (Henry or Byzantium gained). We don't know the connection between these gaps and her life as a wife and mother. By the 1590s, the Roman influence that we call "Baroque" had come to Venice. It grew, in part, out of the Catholic Church's need to reach out to people, to instruct and to arouse them more directly than it had done before. For literature, the result was an emphasis on vernacular writing with a strong emotional appeal. All of Marinella's writing reflects the Baroque, but in different ways and from a feminine perspective. She usually wrote in the heroic verse form, but sometimes in a combination of verse and the "poetic prose" that she saw as capable of the same elevation as poetry. Many of Marinella's books were lives of religious figures, but almost always about women and then always with the emphasis on their heroism rather than on more passive virtues. She wrote of the heroic resistance of the women Columba and Justina; her book on Catherine of Siena was on the "heroic deeds and marvelous life"; her life of Mary (apparently the most successful during her lifetime) was on Mary as "empress of the universe"; in a later edition of her early poem on Francis, Clare of Assisi's "glorious passion" receives equal billing. Her secular writing also fused the extravagance of the popular chivalric tales and heroic epics with a Christian, but feminine, view of morality. One satirically allegorizes the myth of Cupid and Psyche as a conflict between body and soul; another is a pastoral verse drama that makes fun of human love. L'Enrico overo Bisantio conquistato is an epic in the style of Torquato Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata, but with stronger, more self-reliant women. To date, the only work of Marinella's that has been translated into English is part of her Nobilta et l'eccellenza delle donne. It differs from her other writings in being a polemical treatise, a genre in which extravagant statement and personal attack were acceptable. Forty-five years later, Marinella would write Essortationi alle donne et a gli altri (Exhortations to women and others), in which she would qualify some of the more extreme views expressed in Nobilta. But in 1600, Marinella would say whatever she needed to say in order to refute the misogynist statements of earlier writers, particularly the treatise of Giuseppe Passi, who had published Dei donneschi defetti (The defects of women) in 1599. Although it differs in purpose from her other works, Nobilta shares with them Marinella’s Baroque qualities of intensity, extravagant rhetoric, and emotional appeal; it also shares their confidence in women's ability. 

Robert Boyle's Rare Book Online Forms and Qualities

Robert Boyle was one of those rare scientists, chemist, alchemist, politician, philosopher, inventor and writer. He never married but was constantly surrounded by a wide audience of friends. His skill at dialogue and language were reported to be highly engaging in interesting, sparking many discussions with just about anyone. His personality endeared him to a great many people poor and rich alike, King and politician, luminary and workers. He wrote and worked exhaustively and produced for us today, the beginnings of rational thought in chemistry, amongst many other accomplishments. Boyle's works have to some degree been overlooked but certainly he stands on an equal plane with a great many other scientific personages who helped forge and develop the scientific thought, method and philosophy.

He is best known for his work on the gases which resulted in Boyle's Law. A foundation from which many an engineer has learned their craft of designing and controling chemical reactions where gases might be emitted or involved.

We are featuring a very nice copy of Boyle's book printed in 1667 and signed by Maiben C. Motherwell of Trinity College, Dublin. The book, Origins and Formes is fascinating to read, easy to understand and no copies are available as far as we can see, anywhere else.

This volume has been skillfully rebacked and will last another three or four hundred years before it will need rebacking again...You can see it on our site at: Calix Books But Hurry, it will be sold by February 27, 2010!

Rare Ephemera Feminist Actress and Racist Publisher!

A rare ephemera document is listed for auction at our Ebay store. If you are interesed, click below:

Feminist

Izetta Jewel Miller, died Nov. 27, 1978 age 94 a former actress (President Wilson's favorite actress) and early feminist who twice ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate from West Virginia in the early 1920's and later moved to New York, she was a Democrat. She also became regional director of women's professional projects of the WPA. The letter is addressed to A. A. Beauchamp and he was a publisher of works sometimes for the Anti-Christian Science group and other fractional groups, including the Atheist movement in New England. Beauchamp publishing of Winchester, Massachusetts. He lived at 605 Boylston Stree, Boston, MA.

Extremist views often make strange bedfellows. The racist movement began much earlier, albeit it started as a 'genealogical' quest and historical one in the 1600's but with Totten's and Hine's labors  in the late 19th and early 20th century, that created three centers for future British-Israel growth in America: the Northeast, where the two had lectured and published; the Midwest, where their teachings struck a responsive chord among some evangelical Protestants; and ultimately, in the Far West, where many evangelicals had moved. In the Northeast itself, Anglo-Israelism continued to grow after Totten's death in 1909. A major force in nurturing the movement was a Boston publisher, A. A. Beauchamp. Beauchamp took over Totten's role as the principal Anglo-Israel publisher in America. Our Race, Totten's periodical, had ceased publication in 1915. In 1918, Beachamp introduced his own monthly, the Watchman of Israel, devoted to demonstrating that "the English-speaking peoples of today are the lineal descendants of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel and must fulfill in these latter days the responsibilities decreed for them through patriarchs and prophets of Israel." Beachamp's magazine was a collection of brief and non-technical religious essays, together with bits of news about British-Israel activities in the United States, Canada and Great Britain. Beauchamp also became the publisher of choice for Anglo-Israel writers in North America, including such older figures as J. H. Allen, for whom Beauchamp published a string of books and rising youner writers such as the Canadian W. G. MacKendrick, who became a significant figure in the 1920's and 1930's under his nom de plume, "The Roadbuilder" (writing was a sideline of MacKendrick's paving business). Beauchamp's activities made him central point of contact for the dispersed and fragmented American British-Israelites.

Rare Incunabula- The Koberger Bible Volume 3

Featured on our web page is the Koberger Bible, Volume 3 of four volumes printed by Anton Koberger in 1487. Volume three has many woodcuts that are quite stunning and help tell the story of the Bible. Nicholas De Lyra, the author, many years deceased, has his notations on the inside of the boxes in this Bible. De Lyra believed in a 'Literal' view of the Bible and its contents and did not believe in the 'Mythical or Mystical' interpretations that were fulminating across Europe. Volume 3 begins with the prologus or introduction:

and at the bottom of the page are some ownership notations of F. Gallus Winc Kellmann, Profc. Banth. Along with the punch name of Philadelphia Divinity School. On the inside cover, we find the notations of the titles found in this volume along with the paste down of the Divinity School and the bookplate of Joseph M Lybrand and on the opposite blank fly leaf we find the signature of Daniel Kendig and a more current owner in pencil with an inventory number.

What's even more interesting are the "Tudor Roses" that have been worked into the pigskin covering of this volume. Koberger was known for his 'international' book selling and had held the first European 'Book Fair' displaying not only his works but also the works of other presses across Europe. He sold his works across Europe and that would include of course, what we today call the United Kingdom or England. Henry VII's reign (1457-1509), also known as Henry Tudor would certainly have been interested in the works of De Lyra, as would his son, Henry VIII, who would later in his reign, stress the 'literal' version of the bible over the 'imagery' of the bible. Ironically, De Lyra was the basis for much of the movements away from the central church, certainly Martin Luther was influenced by him but yet, Koberger turned down Martin Luther as a printer and publisher, one of the few mistakes that Koberger made in becoming the wealthiest and most successful book publisher, printer and binder of his time. We would love to hear from you! Don't forget to visit  our Ebay store 

 

 

Grading a Rare Book

Grading a book is slightly different for a modern first edition than it is for an incunabula or older books with no dust jacket. The value of modern first editions lies not only in the book itself, the author and its condition but also a large contributor to the value of a modern first edition is the dust jacket. We will talk more about modern first editions later.

It is helpful to have some understanding of how books are built, todays' processes for manufacturing books probably won't stand up to the test of time but unfortunately, only time will tell whether or not these books can last several hundreds of years of handling and just normal book abuse. Older books, those printed before 1500 are called incunabula and proper single, incunabulum. This all started with Gutenberg's creation of the movable type and later the Italians casting metal type letters instead of hand carved wooden ones. The paper was made out of 100% cotton or rags, bleached to a whiteness and beaten by hand as well as formed by hand. Prior to this, the preferred writing material was velum or finely stretched and beaten lamb skin but the inks of the printer would not sit well on the velum and it was expensive. Later on, cotton was mixed with beaten wood pulp so there were variations of paper making, our Incunabula, that we will spend some time on was printed by Koberger and he had control of his paper making as well as the binding of his books. The paper was manufactured in a single sheet and when folded in half, the printers would print both sides totaling 4 printed pages, this was a folio. Fold it again, and you have a quarto or 4to, fold it again and you have your standard book or 8vo. You can keep folding the paper and then looking at it, imagine cutting the top and the bottom but first laying out the printing so that when it is folded properly and slit and sewn, that all the pages are right side up and in the proper order. The books whether folios, quarto, octavo etc were collated or ordered by the binders and sewn together using a patterned sewing technique that gave compartments on the spine. Early on, wooden boards were covered with leather and sewn and glued to the previously sewn book. The whole thing was pressed, designs were worked into the leather prior to the final binding with various tools and embellishments and the interior of the book pages were often also embellished with colors and designs.

Why is all of this important to grading an incunabula? Because understanding how the book was made, even slightly, will help you look at a book before you plunk down several thousand dollars for something that was made, printed and sold during the Renaissance and has survived untold crisis and is now about to take on a new owner or keeper. So let's take a bird's eye view at one rare incunabula, Nicholas De Lyra's Volume 3 (of 4 volumes) of the Bible, printed by Anton Koberger in 1487 and probably bound by his shop as well.

The covers of the book are pigskin, stretched and glued onto wooden boards with numerous embellishments that may often give hints as to whom the original owner might be and in some cases may actually have the name of the owner on the book cover along with a date. In our case, we have some intriguing hints but no owners name, there is for example the The 'Rose' symbol all over the front and the back of the book along with a 'Running Stag' which could indicate this book was owned by a member of the Tudor family or at least someone who was associated with the Tudors. Also, given that there are numerous Stags running about and a combination of Flowers and what appears to be grapes or Lily and Grapes or seeds, an early Fleur de Lis (Lys), this bible set was probably made to order. There are three more volumes.

Overall a description of the book could read as follows: Period pigskin over wooden boards, lacking corner and center bosses on both sides. Tears at the head and toe of the spine and two clasps present but damaged. Multiple rose in rose details with a more elaborate Fleur de Lys and running Stags at the corners. Spine is four compartments with multiple, larger rose-in-rose symbols. Possible Tudor rose association. Some staining to the leather and the remains of labels from the spine.

The rose in the rose followed by:

Our early Fleur de Lys with what appears to be smaller roses or grapes and that followed by:

Our galloping Stag, which was a favorite of the house of Tudor and others as it symbolizes fertility, vitality and the hunt..Since the Tudor house controlled England, Scotland and parts of France and had relatives all over the known world at the time, it is possible that this particular set was owned by someone affiliated with the Tudors or perhaps was in contact with them because books were very symbolic and the symbols on these books often spoke about the families loyalties as well as their affiliations. Since this book was probably bound by the Koberger staff, it was bound to order with the instructions regarding the symbols. Just as a side note, Koberger was one of the wealthiest and most successful book printer, binder and publisher in Europe and sold his books through a network of agents across Europe and certainly in England.

On our next blog, we'll move into the interior of the book where worms, stains and signatures as well as where to find the title of the book which will perhaps tell us more about our Rare Koberger Incunabula.

Grading Rare Ephemera

Grading and Provenance are two important elements of judging the quality of an item, whether it is a book or a piece of rare and important ephemera or not. Let's just talk about grading rare ephemera and in a later work, we will describe books and a general discussion on Provenance.

Rare ephemera includes letters, notes, correspondence and other related items, essentially it is everything that a book, magazine or newspaper is NOT. Grading of ephemera whether it is rare or not, should be looked at first as a global view of the item, provide an overview description that includes its measurement, number of pages or items that are connected or related and that may have come originally with the item or items. Next describe any defects in the items, examples could be...Paper size 8 inches by 10 inches (it is also best to describe it in centimeters or millimeters as well for our metric friends) having creases and tears with some spots etc. and look at the overall tone of the item, tone means the color. If it is pristine pure white say so, if not you can describe it as light yellow toned, pale yellow toned etc. Describe any spots, blemishes or what the trade calls 'fox' which is actually the reaction of iron contaminants in the paper-making process that shows up as a spotty, brownish tones in isolated areas. Some pages can be heavily foxed but the item can still be read. Other ways of describing the item or page is tattered, edge tears or any folds, abrasions or missing pieces. If the item has been repaired, washed or 'bleached' that should also be noted. Also, it is a good idea to note the aroma, if it smells musty and feels dusty, then you have a fungal infection in your paper and it needs to dry out and be lightly brushed off. The problem with musty aroma, is that it is very hard to get rid of it, so take note when buying ephemera, if it smells like a rotten dish rag, even when dry, it is in the process of deterioration and should be priced accordingly or not bought at all. Unless of course it is a group of letters to and from George Washington...

The next step is to provide a description of the item in more detail and if you know anything about it, write it as part of the description. Research your writer, author or genre or what the bit of ephemera is about for example, I stumbled across an entire collection of Bradford revolutionary war documents that seemed trivial, bills, invoices, notes to lawyers about delinquent creditors, etc. until I found out that ALL of the people whose names were on the documents (including the lawyers) were Minutemen and fought a Lexington Green! Research your ephemera BEFORE you send it out for auction or put it on ebay, otherwise, some buyer like me will buy it and sell it at a much higher price!

Daniel Howard Esq (lawyer) was a private and marched on the British on Lexington Green and participated in many subsequent battles. This item is an award for his contributions on the use of fertilizers both 'Green' and 'Aged' and reporting such for the production of corn and wheat. A vary rare one of a kind item, as they did not give out duplicates!

So let's review grading ephemera quickly:

1. Measure the item in inches and metric and record.

2. Provide a global description of the item by its category by that we mean, Baseball Card, signed and year of publication.

3. Provide a detailed description, front and back of the item and make notes of any flaws or the lack thereof, be aggressive and critical, its ok to say both good and bad things about an item. Your buyer will be happier when they realize that you have provided an accurate description!

4. Provide an overall grade for your item, Pristine, Excellent, Mint, Proof, Good, Fair, Poor etc. You can get ideas from researching the category of your item as some categories have specific descriptors that are often used in the trade, try to stick with those descriptors.

Finally, its a really good idea to put your item in some sort of protective covering, you can find these at Staples and you can even us ZipLock baggies, just make sure the item is dry before sealing it up but DO NOT laminate the items. When you do this, put an inventory number on the item in pencil, not ink or marker and don't use adhesive stickers also get a ledger and write down the number and a brief description of the item and finally print out your written description and place a copy of it in the bag with the item. That way, you will always have a record of your work and if you should decide to send it out for auction, it makes the cataloging auctioneers' job easier. It is also helpful to take a photo and or a PDF scan, cut and paste that into a Word or PDF document, along with the description, inventory number and put that on a zip drive to send along with your items to the auction house or list it on ebay! If your interested, you can check out our rare ephemera and rare book on line listings on ebay and read through some of the descriptions and use them as a template our Ebay store . Any comments, don't hesitate to contact us!