The following originally appeared last week in Fine Books & Collections magazine. The Update that follows appears here for the first time, exclusive to Book Patrol.In a recent column, I discussed deflation coming to the rare book world, with particular emphasis on the auction houses.In my mailbox this morning comes news that Bloomsbury, the auction house that has been leading the market to realistic reserves, has now made it official with their first No Reserve Bibliophile Sale.The sale features property from Heritage Book Shop, Colonial Williamsburg andThe Metropolitan Museum of Art, and will occur this Tuesday, June 30, at 2PM...
Deflation Comes to the Rare Book Market (Cheers! Boos!)
The following two-part post recently appeared in Fine Books & Collections magazine. Due to its importance to the rare book community, the C in C of Book Patrol asked that I reprint it here. Part Two will appear tomorrow (June 7th) with an update exclusive to Book Patrol.The title of Americana Exchange's latest analysis of the book auction market succinctly sums up what those in the trade have been feeling for quite some time - A Market Under Pressure. It is the next logical step in the democratization of the rare book business that began with the introduction of the...