Collecting

I have been buying selling and collecting since about 1960. Recently,
since I am getting old and am not too well, I decided to sell of a lot
of my stuff in various fields. It has been interesting to notice
differences. On the West coast, auctions bring very little for rare
childrens books of the 19th century which would be valuable especially
in the UK, and better than the West coast in New York. Both scholarly
books in any language and color plate books do better in the UK than in
New York. Since I rarely used auctions to buy or to sell, before this,
it is news to me.

I think that it is very safe to assume that the center of world
scholarly bookselling, and for that matter for everykind of
bookselling, exclusive of those things like Americana in the US or
Swiss interest in Switzerland, is London. More specialists are active
there than elsewhere, and a very large contingent of rarified
specilists, not only in the UK but on the continent compete in the UK
at auctions.

One thing I have noted, to my satisfaction [since I am now getting many
auction catalogues] is that no one is offering the kind of stuff I
collect in any quantity. Actually at all. That means, that while it is
hard for me to get new items, I don't have to go to the auctions to get
them. I collect American printed books, pamphlets and periodicals from
the beginning through 1876 which are illustrated with cartoons or comic
drawings. There are now some more people collecting some of my stuff,
but I started in 1960 and have most of the rarest things in certain
fashionable categories, like comic overlands. But getting more on my
want list is very hard and slow for everyone.

I believe I was original in my collecting pattern. Very few people are.
I think being original is easy and that it makes the early years of
collecting cheap and fulfilling, because your pattern may be unique,
and a lot of what you want is both cheap and plentiful. I can think of
many such.
My pattern exists because I am an artist and I was interested in folk
and popular culture of the past-visual culture, that is, and finding it
in books was the cheapest way to go.

Best,
Gabriel

Annibale wrote:

I believe I was original in my collecting pattern. Very few people are.
I think being original is easy and that it makes the early years of
collecting cheap and fulfilling, because your pattern may be unique,
and a lot of what you want is both cheap and plentiful. I can think of
many such.
My pattern exists because I am an artist and I was interested in folk
and popular culture of the past-visual culture, that is, and finding it
in books was the cheapest way to go.


Prof. Laderman:

So great to see you here in RCB. And to get your insights into new
paths in collecting. I couldn't agree mo there are so many areas
that are just screaming out to be collected and so few collectors who
can see past modern first editions, etc.

For example, I was in Berlin when the Wall came down in 1989 and in
Poland and Czechoslovakia in 1993 and 1994. I picked a few items, but
I now wish I had gathered much more contemporary material about the
fall of the Communist regimes.

You note the advantages of "early adoption"--namely that, early on, a
lot of the material is plentiful and cheap. I can testify to this in
my areas of interest as well.

As for the fate of your comic-illustrations collection, just because
there haven't been auction sales to establish prices for such material
doesn't mean that you can't blaze a trail, like Jeremy Norman did with
his "Origins of Cyberspace" collection and sale at Christie's:

http://www.christies.com/promos/feb05/1484/overview.asp

(Norman did something similar with a kind of "Origins of the Human
Genome" collection but that was sold privately, so no public prices
were established.)

Such a strategy has risks--Norman didn't realize as much as he had
hoped--but with the renewed interest in comic books (and record-setting
prices at auction) and in the history of comic illustrations, now may
be the time for you to make a permanent mark.

Best regards,

William M. Klimon
http://www.gateofbliss.com