James & Devon Gray Antiquarian Booksellers!
Posted by Richard Gabriel on Mon, Aug 15, 2011 @ 11:41 AM
Antiquarian Booksellers A past friend of mine introduced me to James and Devon Gray by giving me a book as a present. I have since passed that gift onto another friend of mine in Germany. It is the history of the Italian Wars, translated into English, first edition. This past friend of mine, bought it from James Gray and the book was rebound by Devon, his wife.
She is an excellent in fact par excellance would be very hard to find in re-casting a much abused book into a fine work of book art. I have several of her books and have sold several books with and for James and Devon.
James actually sat me down with a 16th century book and taught me how to collate it properly and how to read a collation index. He turned me on to the various databases and reference books that are at the heart of collecting 16th century and earlier books. He and Devon make a fantastic team of valuable books going back to any time and any price...literally, books costing in the thousands of dollars to books costing in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, James is the man!
The James & Devon Gray booksellers site is just the tip of the much deeper understanding of book collecting, buying and selling. We have at times collaborated and it has always been a pleasure to buy and sell books with James and Devon. Recently, I have not had any books redone by Devon but I can assure anyone who has a dishelved book from the 16th century or earlier, having Devon take a look at it, provide an assessment and having James help you price it or move it, is worth the effort.
The one thing that James did teach me is that if the book is extremely rare, then even if the pages are missing, it might be worth buying...however, if it is a book that even sells in the thousdands of dollars in perfect collation, not necessarily perfect condition, the value of the book with missing pages is only 10-20% of the value and should only be bought to fill a hole in the collection or to perhaps do a 'make up' edition from two dysfunctional books into one.
Today, we see so many ebay buyers who are bidding and buying books with missing pages, over the weekend, we note several books that are missing pages and are of considerable lower value, we think, compared to the purchase price. Plus, when we look at the buyer experience, we see buyers with very low ratings, meaning an uneducated buyer, at least in the book trade.
Collation, condition, scarcity, price and binding make up the price qualities of a book. If it is a 16th century English book, printed in English, then missing pages may not be so bad but the price should be adjusted accordingly for example a complete Chaucer printed in the 16th century in English in its original binding would sell for $50,000+ but a defective copy might sell for $15,000 to $20,000. The defective copy will also not appreciate at the same rate as a 'perfect' copy. Remember, 'perfect' in a 16th or 15th century book doesn't mean the same as a modern book with a slip cover...something else to learn about!
