Posted by Richard Gabriel on Thu, Jul 29, 2010 @ 06:57 AM
What makes a rare book, rare? Good question and here are some hints as to finding out just how rare your book might be. Rare books are not always about price, odd as that may sound. You can have a modern first edition signed by Rowling that will sell for $30,000 and a First Edition Incunabula printed in 1478 selling for $15,000. Nearly 420 plus years of age difference but yet the more rare incunabula may be priced well below the modern first edition. Happens all the time. So the bottom line is that price does not always indicate 'rareness'.
Here are some ways you can find out about the price of your rare book and get some indication as to its rarity. There are a number of very good bookseller associations that provide online searching for free, mainly because it is a form of advertising for booksellers to you, the potential book buyer and customer. The booksellers that are members all must have stores where there books, especially their rare books and rare ephemera can be purchased by the 'walk in trade' or their rare books are sold online. Why? Well many of the world's libraries are connected to ILAB, ABE and Alibris so when a librarian does a search on the global database of books owned by all the libraries, they have the option of clicking one of these links and finding out if the book is availble, from whom and how much the rare book sells for and how many copies are availble of this rare book online. Whether the book is a first edition, signed Rowling book selling for $30,000 or a rare incunabula, selling for $15,000. You will be using the same databases that rare book rooms in libraries use to acquire books in the open market.
Just click on these links and a new page will open up for you.
They are:
Advanced Book Exchange
Alibris
Biblion (UK)
International League of Antiquarian Booksellers
Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America
You will notice that on all the sites there is an advanced search option, I suggest that you use this and provide a description of the book such as author, title (if the title is too long, shorten it), year of publication (usually from when to when dates) and then finally publisher. If your book doesn't show up, don't fret and it doesn't mean that it is rare, it only means that none of the dealers have the books in stock.
So what makes a rare book rare? An incunabula (printed before 1500), where there may only be a handfull of copies in the world can actually sell well below the price of a modern first edition. Again, price does NOT an indicator of Rarity of a Book. Booksellers and rare book dealers tend to specialize in areas of interest and some focus on building an expertise in particular rare book areas of collecting, selling and buying. A combination of demand, limited supply and book quality all make up the condition known as a 'rare book'. So don't just put your book up for auction on eBay, if you think you have a rare book, ask someone to give you an appraisal or if you want to sell it, ask a dealer to sell it for you!
Posted by Richard Gabriel on Sat, Apr 24, 2010 @ 02:25 PM
Rare Books are not just ordinary books, they are rare, making them unique sometimes like a one of a kind painting or more like a painting theme that was painted by the artist more than once (if there is more than one copy). The parts of a book or components, have not changed and today we just don't think about the 'parts' of a book. A book is a book is a book. All old books were, prior to the industrialization in England and Europe, were made by hand but it should be said that the original assembly line for not only making the printing or the writing (prior to the printing press) was first developed in the book industry. Ford did not have anything on Anton Koberger who not only held the first 'book fair' in Europe but became wealthy printing, binding and distributing his books, his competitors books and he was also selling 'old books' across Europe. Koberger is undoubtably one of my personal favorite printers. Not only were his papers well made (those made in Germany), some of them today are still stiff, crisp and show an aged brilliance. Not to mention his type and the general overall construction and composition of his books. The capstone was his Liber Chronocarium a tome of some immense proportions even by todays standards. Copies of the Liber both in Latin and German can be found readily available and will set you back about $80,000 plus. So what makes a book both rare and desirable to collectors or for that matter, someone who wants to put a part of their future investment that they can actually hold in their own hands (its hard to hold electronic bits and bytes)? Good question.
First, look at these two examples, both from Michelle P. Brown's excellent book entitled "Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts: A Guide to Technical Terms" it is available in paperback and not only gives you terms but wonderful and colorful descriptions and examples of these very early and astounding books.
Several things you will note on this very old and rare book is that it has metal 'bosses' on the cover and that is because in libraries of old, most books were laid down and they did not stand them up as we do today. The corner metal pieces were to help protect the book as well. The sewing of a rare book is nestled into the 'Head band and End Band' (starting with the Head and ending at the End) and the ridges along the spine are the extra sewing bands that hold the book together.
Because of rats, mice and book worms (which love to eat paper and wood) the books were constructed around a 'hardy' construction of wooden boards, strong sewing thread and tough leather, all put together by hand and the binder often used 'old vellum' manuscript strips to sew the book together and hold the entire piece. It is odd that sometimes the 'manuscript' scraps themselves are quite rare even in their partial condition. You will note the 'pegging', this holds the sewn thread to the wooden boards and the entire unit is 'glued' usually with 'wheat glue' and 'rabbit glue'. The marks on the binding are often unique and always tell us a story about the book. When you have the opportunity to hold an Anton Koberger book in your hands that is in good condition and has not been restored, it is amazing to think that the book was made over 500 years ago. So what makes a book rare? Well they certainly are not making books this way today and they aren't making anymore of them.
Posted by Richard Gabriel on Sat, Feb 20, 2010 @ 04:42 PM
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.
