Rare Book Valuation. How I Do That. Part Five. "Wait A Minute".

Rare Book Valuation

How I Do That

Part Five

"Wait A Minute"

            It would seem I could wrap things up?  I’ve assembled the components for a formula projecting a ‘valuation’.  Haven’t I?  IF... one copy is for sale on eBay for $575.00 and a second copy was at auction estimated a $1500. – $2500 but did not sell and a third copy actually sold at auction for $2128.00 and I cannot find any other actual copies of the actual original first edition of the actual old book BUT TOO... notice is noted that a ‘fish print’ is in the book with, too, a menu... whatever that’s about... and... apparently... numerous “nice old” (original to the original book) illustrations all within an attractive 1869 ‘publisher’s cloth with title in gilt gold’ original binding and... notice is noted too to... PAY ATTENTION TO THE condition OF THE BOOK and... THE condition OF MY COPY of the book and, of course, I never forget ‘divide by four’ (Part Three).

            The formula is actually suggesting we need to do a bit more... rare book seller... work... “before we get there” (have a valuation that ...SELLS the book.  A couple of dibs and dabs of “Wait a minute”).

            Oh... your just gonna keep your copy “anyway”?  No your not.  Why?  Because you do not have a copy of this book.  Why?  Because this book is ...in actual fact.... a RARE BOOK.  You’s gonna be rare book hunter along time before you “FIND” a copy of Allerton... ‘on the loose’ that you may choose to “keep”.  All rare book hunters will tell you that one will find a ‘rare book’ but it probably won’t be the old rare book you aspire to ‘keep’.  Anyway and again, the old rare books I find I aspire TO SELL...  You can ...and may... “buy mine”?

            So I go back over the ‘its’ again. Let me start with the eBay copy.  I remember reading the condition description ‘very carefully’ (Part Four).  I read it again.  SURE ENOUGH what I recalled reading is still reading the same:  At $575.00 this eBay copy for sale notices in minimal text that this copy lacks (is missing) the folding fish print.  An imperfect copy... to say the least.  “The least?”  Yeah... every info bit I’ve found on the Allerton notices the beautiful fish print of a Brook Trout.  So... like... if... YOUR copy lacks this plate... your copy of this old rare book (Allerton) IS an imperfect copy missing the most featured item and what does that mean for valuation to collectors?  IT MEANS “NO”.  Would you buy a car without its engine?  “NO”.  Got it?  It is “NO” no matter what.  Collectors do not want an Allerton missing the fish print.  Not even for a ‘divide by four’ $125.00.  It is... to a rare book hunter/seller like I... a... “NO!”.  No matter what including it now being obvious why this copy of Allerton is still sitting around on eBay “at five seventy-five”.

            My copy has the fish print in PERFECT CONDITION.  It has to have the fish print and I want it to be ‘perfect condition’ too... for a ...collector grade... valuation.  And, again, I know you ‘don’t have one’ (a copy).

            Skipping over the old ‘unsold’ auction listing because it is vague in its details and I... have the ...very detailed (including the fish print) descriptions (note plural) and illustrated... Thompson Sale catalog listing... I... very carefully purposely slowly patiently and with my actual copy at ...and in... hand I... yeah I even have a magnify glass too for that is so ‘tweed jacket mustachioed pipe smoking old school rare book seller...

            Here within that catalog entry are all the noted tid-bits I need to know of and find ALL of the features of a collector grade copy... including the menu... and

            “Condition”

            This last I’ll get back to as a stand alone valuation issue.  Right now I spend my time ‘checking out’ the proper completeness of my copy “compared to Thompson (the Thompson copy)”.  It (my copy) does compare ‘complete as issued’ so mine (my copy) may be ‘seller offered’ as ‘being identical to the Thompson copy’, a seller to collector assurance that is VERY... GOOD to be able to amend to MY COPY.  This sort of full bore comparison quickly makes ‘good sense’ to any full bore rare book hunter because it makes... good cents... too.

            Let me make a strong suggestion at this moment:  READ THE BOOK.  Reminding again that all of this rare book realm is about books and reading... why not now that one has actually purloined to be at hand an actual rare book... READ IT?  Question mark.  Before that... task... one must accept, acknowledge and ...actually do...; inspect the ‘your rare book’ PAGE by PAGE to be, well, at a ‘least’, sure that ALL of the book is... ahhhh.... “There”.  This is called ‘collating it’ and means that, as an owner/seller.... YOU have looked at (INSPECTED) every page ‘to be sure’ “MY COPY” is “all there”.  The way this ends in rare book seller land is a purchasing collector will ask... ME... “did you (I) collate it?”

            “Yes.”  That’s a barrelhead top guarantee that the book is ‘all there’.  It is never mentioned again... in professional settings.  Now... on the wait a minute... a collation “done by you” is considered worthless and a “I have to do that myself (before I’d buy the crummy rare book you found)  Nothing personal:  Just a professional ‘must’ and you ‘can’t be trusted at that’ (collation of anything).

            While I am looking at each page... the suggestion of actually reading the book is denoted and as this rare book... like so many rare books, has a ‘very thin’ amount of text, the... to actually read the book is NOT difficult to do.  Actually it is most often FUN to do.  For example... a first edition of Robert Burns’ first book of poetry... is a rare book that is too a (actually not that) thin book so if one has one of those, likes Burns and likes all the rare book banter about Burns too... to actually read, yourself, the actual first edition copy of this “your rare book I found”... IS FUN.  Unless you are a really greedy rare book seller who feels this is all about money and not about reading books and... in most cases... these types cannot read ‘anyway’.

            Stepping back a moment here I call attention to the ‘very thin’ above.  The economics of the first edition – first book... at the moment of creation commonly was done with very small budget so... to no surprise a great many ‘rare books’ were published (and self published) on very skimpy budgets so that the resulting rare book today is very often a very thin rare book.  That’s a hint for you:  Many, many true rare books are truly thin books too.  It is okay to not embrace this hint because you’ll ‘find out anyway’ if you ever go anywhere ‘in rare books’.  When I look at the spine ends on your book case... I am looking for very thin spine ends.  The more thin books I see, PROBABLY the better collection “I am looking at” and... I have not even touched the ‘your books’ yet.  I won’t be touching your books ...if they are too thick.  But, of course, this has nothing to do with rare book valuation.  Or does it?

            The Allerton... IS a thin book.  To no surprise to me.  So as I am ...reading it... (a possible two thousand dollar book I own and will be selling)... I am looking at ALL the details that ‘make’ up the book.  “Make up the book” is not ‘valuation’ of the book.  Make ups are different critters than value.  I will note some ‘make ups’ in the Allerton but I will not explain them:

            Cover with title in gold

            Spine end.

            Title page

            Preliminaries

            Imprint

            Published (here published by the author}

            And ‘sold’ by the author

            WHERE (New York)

            Dates (of occurrence and publication)

            Copyright

            Full page prints

            Printed textual illustrations

            The text; titles and subtitles

            The fish print

            The menu

            Additional leaves (pages) of ‘advertising at the end

            Rear cover blind stamped with title.

            And more.

            While I am reading the book (Allerton) I am also very carefully ‘looking at every page’.  Just for me.  “This is fun”.  Remember Rat and Mole: ‘Nothing is so much fun as messing around with...’ Old Books.  If one is not a ‘totally there’ with this old books – reading them... the ‘I want to be a rare book hunter’ and ‘make a lot of money doing that’ is going to have a perpetual crass or trashy taint to your actions with it (old rare books) and... the most professional ones (rare book people) WILL quickly note this ...without noting it to you... and... then you will be professionally qualified ‘evermore’.

            Let us touch this point.  I do not ever talk about any of this... to anyone... for any reason.  That I am a rare book seller prowling to purloin the finest rare books I may find... is never spoken of or shown... off.  No.  Never.  You’d never know.  Never ever know.  A playing dumb is the least of it.  I prefer to play ‘not even there’.  Most rare books I find are found by I in the hands of a great ‘don’t know’ and I assuredly follow through by making sure their transactions with me never ever suggests in anyway that an ‘old’ ish book is ever in anyway a true old rare book ‘I found’ and “valuable’.  And:  If you are a rare book hunter I prefer that YOU feel that I ‘don’t know’.  ANYTHING.

Rare Book Valuation. How I Do That. Part Four. "Now Then"

Rare Book Valuation

How I Do That

Part Four

"Now Then"

            Without expanding (explaining more about) the previously designated specimen rare book, I pick up this old tome again while still seated at my workstation and... look at what that craft (internet book valuation search engine sites) ‘told me’ (the “There’s one listed for x-dollars” ‘smart phone’)... again.

            I said that the Allerton – Brook Trout ABE search (Part Two) showed ‘many copies’ for sale and that I poked at those looking for a ‘copy like mine’.  I didn’t say that I didn’t find a ‘copy like mine’ nor did I give notice that ALL of the copies for sale were, in fact, brand new modern print-to-order copies.  There were no ‘old’ copies of Allerton that I could find:  NO COPIES LOCATED... of the actual first edition of the ‘old book I found’.

            “Good”.  And then I searched Book Finder (Part Two) with the same results.  Then I did the broad Goggle search I mentioned (Part Two) and suggested one ‘keep this in mind’.  This did do what I wanted by turning up several minor expansions on ‘what this rare book is’, sort of; these expansions being ‘nice’ but ‘not directly’ a valuation.  They were not ‘copies for sale’.  Good again.

            Google does bring up some big site ‘this old book’ copy sightings including ‘on’ Google, Amazon and... wait for it... eBay.  First two are virtual computer print copies you can read while the eBay notice comes the hard way.

            “Hard way?”

            On the Google search results one offering is ‘photographs’ of copies of the book with most of those being computer generated ‘new books’.  BUT:  I quickly scan these for a photograph of an actual old copy.  Several show up.  I click these noting an ‘on eBay’ image and am taken to an eBay search page on which and after a little clicking, scrolling and poking, I find this photographed old rare book copy of Allerton for sale in Canada for $575. US.  AND a description of the book that I... READ VERY CAREFULLY.  And say no more about that careful reading at this time.

            The same Google search also shows a ‘long ago in the past’ public auction listing for an Allerton that ‘didn’t sell’ at an estimated $1500. - $2500.  I file that price and no sale report.  And move on

            “Move on” means I now leave computer usage research and resort, delightedly, to “Old School” methodology.  “What’s that?”.  I’m ‘getting there’.  

            The ‘old school’ is the way book valuation was done before ‘the internet’ and its handheld smart phones.  Way back before electricity guided the valuation of a rare book “I found” it was “other” “rare book sellers” who did that.  They... found a copy of the rare book (here being the Allerton...) and “cataloged it”.  That was done by writing a precise and ‘price for sale’ description of the book and its condition with further notes to other ‘known copies’, unknown copies if there be none, references to guides noting the book (called ‘bibliographies’ on downward in factual qualities to ‘hand lists’) and noting actual sales of other ‘known copies’.  This craft is often enhanced by a modest “puff” describing the exquisite merit of this rare book for the ‘in the hands of’ a collector or institutional collection.  “Good cataloging” made a rare book seller’s career with many top notch cataloging being “SWEAR BY” grade dependable ‘reference’ to what a “THIS” (here the Allerton) rare book “IS” and... ‘valuation’ (how much it is for sale for ... or ‘did sell’ for).

              Accomplishing this last (‘sell for’) was done by very, very, rapid attention to ‘new (printed paper booklets) catalogs’ from these highly respected rare book sellers.  I emphasize ‘very, very, rapid’.  A rare book was found, it was cataloged.  A few minutes later the telephone rang and “that copy” “is sold”.  The catalog entry there after becomes a benchmark of ‘how much a copy is worth’ ...valuation.  If no ‘other copies’ “show up” a book seller’s catalog valuation may be good for twenty to forty years.  Again:  Twenty to forty years.  That means that today... this method is STILL used for ‘valuation’.  But most rare book hunters “NOW” do not know this “even exists”.  They view the rare book world as ...all... electric valuation.  That closes a big door of... centuries of rare book (valuation) craft.  This is fine with me:  “STAY OUT OF THE OLD SCHOOL”.

            “Old School” valuation is a method.  It is not a physical entity.  I ‘do it’.  The rarer the book the longer it takes.  To become a stunning-to-read, no copy located, only complete copy ever found and of palpitating physical appearance (a ‘handsome’ rare book); for these to all come together and create a book seller wonder of a rare book doesn’t happen often and fast. The longer a found book holds those ‘stunning’ characters with ‘no copy located’... the longer this takes.... the better the rare book.  In most cases.  Finding nothing or only skimpy mentions of a book I feel is rare... over years of ‘keep my eye out’... is good (only ‘makes it better’).  How does the Allerton hold up when this is ‘done to it’?

            The Allerton is ‘a Maine book’.  It is about Maine, Maine history and Maine sporting.  Logically I start my ‘look for’ with Maine cataloging.  I go first to (Joseph) “Williamson”, the comprehensive All Maine Books Printed... prior to 1900 (pretty much) and ‘look it up’ under Allerton and Brook Trout and... find no record of it:  “Not In Williamson”.  Therefore.

            As there are no further Maine bibliographies other than specific topic compilations (“Maine Logging”, “Maine Civil War”, etc.) and these are ‘weak’... I am done with this effort and try a new ‘battle plan’.  This is the sit-in-a-chair-with-eyes-closed “have I heard of this book before?” old school method.  This moves to sit-in-a-chair-with-eyes-closed “I’ve heard of this before”.  That could take a year or two.  Then sit-in-a-chair-with-eyes-closed “Didn’t so and so book seller tell me once long ago about selling a book with a fish print in it?”  Again a year goes by.  But...

            NOW of DAY... these sorts of books (“trout fishing”) are collector rare books known here in Book Collector Maine as “Maine”... “Sporting”.  And are ‘well collected’.  Wasn’t there an auction... with a printed catalog... a few years back that had a “slug” of Maine sporting books in that sale including many very rare... Maine... Sporting... Books.  Yes there was!  “What was that sale?” “It was the Thompson (collection) Sale”  It spawned “The Thompson Sale Catalog”.  “Do you have one?”

            Do I?

            Of course I do. I am a professional Maine rare book seller.

            TO DO WHAT I AM DOING HERE I HAVE TO HAVE A COPY

            Of the Thompson Sale catalog... including the wisp of paper printed with ‘prices realized”.  Or professional access to a copy. (Hint:  It is cheaper to ‘own a copy’) (Hint again:  Most have never heard of this catalog, never ‘seen one’, will never have one and will never know I use this all the time for ‘old Maine books and that it is too...  NOT ON LINE.  (Bonus Hint:  If one has, for example, a rare New York State book... USE A NYS rare book sale catalog).

            If, as I do, I have a copy of this catalog in my office with the work station and several walls of... rare book reference books... I do not have to spend two years sitting in my chair with my eyes closed pondering.  No.  I get right up and ‘pull’ “Thompson” off the shelf and head into it to the “MAINE WOODS” section and... am rewarded by being able to sit back down in my comfortable office chair with the electronic gear pushed back from I and have the Thompson Catalog as an open book (reminding that all of this essay is actually about books and reading) and ENJOY an open ended time ‘looking at’ “Thompson”.  It is quiet, pleasant and a full time of ENJOY.  But:

            What do I find.  Out.

            With Thompson open before me at Lot 307 I find what I have come to expect with the Thompson catalog; very fine, clean and precise descriptions touching all the ‘must have’ of “good cataloging.  I find clear title recording including imprint, precise and detailed collation (physical description of the book) written in a pleasing reader style, statement of edition including ‘Only Edition’ as here, imprint details of the earlier slightly alluded to folding fish plate, notice of bibliographic recordings (including here the notice that Allerton is not in ‘Williamson’) and even a ‘good’ ‘Puff’:  “A benchmark item for any collection of Maine fishing books or American hunting and fishing books in general”.  Further... there are four illustrations including the cover, the title page, the folding fish plate and the 1869 banquet menu.  And finally, referring to the wisp of paper ‘prices realized’ hand list, the auction hammer price of $2,128.00 including the buyer premium.  All of this is “I CAN USE THIS” grade valuation information.  It is an almost too good to be true grade for finding ‘so much’ true rare book seller grade info in such a pleasant format... is rare these days

            But there it is... sitting in my lap, in my rare book dealer office... in Maine.

            “Now then” what do I do for I am still not at a “valuation” and that is what all this essay is about:  Rare Book Valuation... How I do it... so... “NEXT” (step): What do I do with all this windfall of information?

            First off I get very... very... VERY considerate of ALL of the details I’ve ‘found out’ about the book from ALL of the sources.  I slow way down and pick the bones.  Remember:  I have to SELL this book.  A ‘doing that’ has to add up to my... MY... valuation... price. 

Rare Book Valuation. How I Do That. Part Three. "Lightheadedness"

'Rare Book Valuation

How I Do That

Part Three

"Lightheadedness"

            After the lightheadedness of discerning that nearly all the books there be... may be determined too; what valuation they are by using internet book valuation search engines that present actual copies of ‘your old book’ “for sale “ NOW... as one stands old book and smart phone in hands before me...:

            After that lightheadedness... is worked through

            (It never fully ‘clears’)

            By you

            Away from I and your old book (a good bye)

            Wishing you a good buy

            Upon your sought book.

            Or is it (a) “good sale”

            Of your old book ‘sold’.

            I sell a lot of old books and I prefer to cut that amount down (see ‘waste of time’ in Part One) as low as possible substituting sales of actual rare books as be my “worth it”; the doing all this ‘internet book search’... stuff.  For that is what that is:  Stuff (fodder) (cardboard box filling of old books valuation ...fodder).  Until you sell your damn old book all of this comes to naught.  I sell all my old books and all my rare books too.  As a dealer that is my goal; to sell them all... and then go find more ‘good old rare books’... and do this again

            And again.

            Decades ago I wrote a poem that I still read to myself about selling a (any true) rare book.  The poem may not make sense to you until you have... ahhhh.... “done that” ‘a few times’ “OUT”.

Selling a Rare Book

Up all night

Feeling the spite, mite.

Knock down moving

Too pay moving

Preparing the act actor

Put the tie on

Put the head on

Fly

Fly by the port saying

“Yes it is possible to land”

“Why”

“Come on man; tighten your clamp

Do a revamp

Lick the stamp

Paste it in the book

Book nook look

Why me when all the food is floating fancy

            Fly

“Hey man I didn’t want to be here

But at least I can put my tie on

So it sits straight.

Like I said: “After the lightheadedness” is worked through

            And

            You’ve done this a number of times... especially noting that the learning curve goes much faster with the ‘more money’ you sell the ‘rare book’ for.  For example, a fifteen thousand dollar rare book sale coveys well what ‘fly by the port yes it is possible to land’ is all about.  It ‘conveys well’ is as opposed to a three hundred dollar rare book sale conveys well.  But that’s okay too for selling a three hundred dollar rare book has its ‘lick the stamp paste it in the book’ tie on straight too.  How do I know that?  I sell rare books ANY chance I get.  When you pull off a three hundred dollar rare book sale ‘FIRST TIME”... your gonna want to sit down and rest... especially if your “not quite clear on what I sold”.  Don’t worry; that last is pretty common form of rare book lightheadedness.  It also explains why the dealer who bought the book from you made a side comment to me of “best book they ever had”.  That’s a free summary for you of your current position in the rare book marketplace (“valuation”):  You don’t have any rare books anymore so are ‘not a player’.  In fact you just sold the

            “Best book” your ever gonna have... unless you

            Find another ‘rare book’ AND sell that “TOO”.

            You think (should be ‘feel’) it’s that easy?

            I am always going to the “next rare book” I have for sale right away.  I mean right away as then... NOW.  The NEXT rare book SOLD.  Too.  Okay?  You get it?  Multiple lock and load rare book sales don’t just happen.  It’s about the rare books.  That’s the first stumbling block.  I can’t go anywhere without rare books for sale.  I NEVER DO.

            Turning to look back to where this chapter comes from (Parts One and Two)... did I just qualify the valuation process again?  Yes.  I first qualified it (Part Two) with notice that when I look up a rare book’s valuation I... actually... do not want to find a copy of the book listed (for sale) ANYWHERE.  And further... I proceeded without explaining the ‘why’ of that.  NOW I have turned on my stool again by... did I say the ‘valuation’ is what one actually sells a copy of the rare book in hand for?  The hard dollar – cash on barrelhead valuation of any rare old book?  Yes.  Am I proceeding without explaining the ‘why’ of that... too?  YES.  But somehow I believe these movings of the valuation line is making subtle sense to the reader.  THIS ‘subtle sense’ helper allows me to go forward and then come back to ‘touch things up’.

            If ‘what a rare book is’ is another set of ground rules ‘over there’ (Part One); away from the ground rules of valuation, it should not be a surprise that ‘sell’ a rare book also has ground rules over there... too.  And I will not get into those for, stating again, this essay is about rare book valuation.  Let me say though that one should keep in mind ‘sale’ when plotting a valuation.  The plot of valuation is thickening:  I have to have an actually true and recognized rare book and actually sell it... to ‘find out’ that book’s ‘valuation’.  And both of doing those have ground rules over there not further spoken of.

            At this rotary I amend further.  MY working policy is that once I determine that I have a ‘good enough sort of’ actual rare book at hand AND have buttressed that by ‘looking it up’ and finding it for sale for a rare bookish price... let me say two thousand dollars... what does that actually mean to my ‘valuation’ using what I have shown?  Well... since I DID find the book for sale; a listed copy for sale for two thousand dollars... that is actually going BAD for me for I said I wanted to find NO copies for sale.  With one copy for sale my copy is ‘capped’ by the for sale copy being ...for sale... for the two thousand dollars.  Right there I also am valuation capped by ‘Whose gonna buy this at any price anyway’; the ‘sell’ ground rules ‘over there’.  At one listing for two thousand dollar ANYONE... CAN... ‘buy one’.  My copy is ‘capped’ at... selling for less... and STILL facing the ‘to whom’ ground rule.  So I’ve had to come up with a ground rule for this situation; a ground rule that trumps the conundrums.  The ground rule is brutal.  But it works.

            The ground rule is ‘divide by four’; divide the price for sale of the ‘found one’ rare book by four to get a street corner market value; a true ‘that’s what you can get’

            “NOW”.

            Maybe... sort of... most of the time

            Maybe.

            As a jest I often advised an old ‘rare’ book sale seeker to ‘divide by sixteen’.

            Anyway... a listed for sale two thousand dollar book  I DO find buyers around (yes more than one ... but not many more.) at five hundred dollars.  AND I... DO SELL the book for that.  The ‘why’ of that is that... that is the shortest route to ‘getting this done’ with this (not so rare) rare book including factoring in ‘waste of time’ aspects of ‘trying to get more’ (a ‘waste of time’).  This is a brisk selling that DOES SELL.  It may seem brutal but is, in fact, the actual market.  AND at a ‘one quarter’ price... THAT MAY NOT BE LOW (cheap) ENOUGH.  So I go lower.  I do this: I make that call.  Based on subtle feel of various ground rules.  It takes me about fifteen or twenty seconds to ‘come up with a price’ after I find... ONE COPY of the ‘just like my rare book’ for sale.

            Restating the presented seller ground rule for valuation:  “Divide By Four”.

            At this junction I turn back to my earlier development of bringing in the specimen true rare book that has been already modestly introduced (Part Two).  I wish to bring this rare book; again... it is a true rare book... into this ‘sell’ rotary and, well... seeing how that does as ‘valuation’... after seeing how it does as a true rare book... and how that all is done... in rare book seller circles (lightheadedness and rotaries).