Skinner looking for consignments for the Fall 2011 Book Auction

I received an alert from Skinner that they are looking for consignments for the annual Fall Book Auction 2011.  This Skinner auction takes place around the time of the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair in November and generates great excitement and news coverage.  The high concentration of rare book dealers, collectors and specialists in Boston for the Fair who visit the auction preview, attend the actual auction and buy (or sell) creates a vibrant marketplace.

While Skinner does a nice job of inviting consignments, I wonder how many people know that they have in their family library, books that would merit attention by Skinner?  Veteran collectors who have amassed a specialized book collection or rare book librarians seeking to sell some of their collection, usually know what they have, generally remember what they payed for it and often have some expectation of what they want to sell it for.  For everyone else, there is much to learn, much to understand, and much to wonder about, if you want to sell a rare or collectible book at auction.  The auction process itself is fairly simple.  The details are fairly complex. 

To sell a book via a Skinner auction, your book must first, be accepted by Skinner for auction.  Skinner invites anyone to send them an email with a basic description of a book along with a high resolution photograph.  Based on that information, they may, or may not, respond with a basic auction evaluation including an expected auction range.  From that basic evaluation the seller must then decide whether or not to take the next step and pursue a more detailed appraisal from Skinner of the actual physical object and after consideration of the results, whether or not to consign the item to Skinner for sale. 

Since Skinner is a traditional "for profit" business, it is in Skinner's interest to accept consignments for auction that will result in the largest amount of potential income to Skinner upon sale at auction.  The more high priced items Skinner sells at auction, the more money Skinner earns.  Your book must compete for attention and interest.  If your book can make Skinner money they will be responsive and more than happy to walk you through the consignment process.

Skinner's basic consignment schedule is to charge a 10% commission on sales more than $7,500,   15% commission on sales between $2,000 and $7,500 and 20% on sales less than $2000.  This basic structure may create immediate distrust in the potential auction house client, but it should not.  If I sell a book at a Skinner auction for $5,000, Skinner charges me a commission of  $750 and I take away $3750.  If my book had sold for $7,500 the commission would still be $750 (10%) and my net would be $6750.  Skinner would much rather sell every book with a 10% commission versus books in the 15% or 20% commission range.  If you have a very valuable book Skinner's 10% commission is fair and negotiable for "priceless" consignments.  If your book is expected to sell for less than $7,500 a 15% commission insures that Skinner has interest in aggressively promoting it to likely buyers.  If your book is expected to sell for less than $2,000, you can be assured that Skinner has, at least, an actual financial interest in selling it and your book benefits from the attention the entire auction catalog receives, thanks to the "high priced" items that generate the most buzz for the auction.

If you are following along without anxiety so far, you are probably confident enough to submit a potential book auction candidate to Skinner, hope for a response, and evaluate the potential sale based on Skinner's initial reply. 

If you are anxious and confused at this point, you are not alone.  I have no idea what the Skinner response rate is but I would imagine that most submissions never merit a response.  While that may mean that your treasured book is most likely a treasure with no monetary value, it may also mean that Skinner missed out on a treasure or that your book may be worth $1500 at auction but they have enough inventory at that price range.  As with any financial transaction it is best to either know what you are buying or selling before you begin the process or be educated and/or represented by someone who knows what you are buying or selling.  Stay tuned in 2011 for more detailed information on auctions, appraisals, cataloging, understanding rare book catalogs and much more about book collecting, especially buying and selling! 



   

Connecting 007, Ian Fleming, Rare Books, Indiana University, Printing and the Mind of Man

Collecting a complete set of the James Bond books, authored by Ian Fleming, is a fine pursuit enjoyed by many.  While Hollywood continues to make, remake or spoof the original stories, acquiring the first edition first printing of the Flemming classics will continue to entice many a bibliophile.  Flemming's works are truly collectible and now approaching "rarity" as the supply of fine condition copies disappear.   Before Fleming published the first Bond adventure, Casino Royale in 1953, he was a serious and inspired book collector.

Ian Flemming acquired an amazing collection of books with the majority of his acquisitions occurring in the 1930's.  During his short-lived collecting phase, he was self-described as "the worst stockbroker," a rambunctious bachelor, and a young man with a limited budget for collecting rare books.  His collecting was focused and his focus original.  His book collection, totalling more than 1000 titles, includes his original Bond manuscripts, author proofs and author copies remains complete and is housed at the Lilly Library, Indiana University Bloomington, a rare collection of firsts-first editions of first ideas.

Fleming's book collection was mostly a private treasure.  He considered his collection a hedge against inflation and kept it in trust for his son, Caspar.  In 1963, a year before Fleming died at the young age of 56, he loaned 44 copies from his collection for the now famous IPEX Exhibit, Printing and the Mind of Man where over four hundred of the most important books ever published were assembled and displayed.  Flemings contribution to the exhibit highlighted his original collecting focus.  His collecting interest was ideas.  The books he collected were the books first introducing an idea that "started something."  His collection focused on the ideas that we now consider the foundation of modernity, ideas of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries including works on electricity, evolution, chemistry, physics, transportation, economics, medicine, and politics.  The Lillly Library maintains a website with detailed information on the Fleming collection.  In 1971 the Lilly Library held an exhibition of the Fleming Collection and the catalog from the exhibit is available on line.  Somewhere in my library lives the exhibition catalog for Printing and the Mind of Man where, I can't recall.  Both the Fleming collection and Printing and the Mind of Man are now considered standard reference for any collector interested in the ideas of modernity.

(My motivation for writing about Fleming today is thanks to an article from December 17, 2010 in the Financial Times, For Your Eyes Only, announcing the opening of a luxury hotel in Jamaica at "GoldenEye," Fleming's winter home.  There, each winter, between January and March from 1952 until 1964, Fleming wrote a new Bond novel.)

The Alchemist: A Graphic Novel by Paulo Coelho

I seem to be rushing everything and everywhere lately.  I'm pretty certain everyone else is as well.  Sunday afternoon, Anne and I braved the Sunday before Christmas crowds to head to our local Borders bookstore to get the traditional fine art calendar for Mom. 

We started our bookstore visit with a single goal in mind but while browsing the shelves I stumbled upon a must have, new book for my library, The Alchemist:  A Graphic Novel by Paulo Coelho, HarperOne, 2010.  I first thought it was simply a re-issue hardcover edition but when I pulled it down to take a look, I was immediately intrigued by the graphic novel format.  I was then shocked to note that it was a first edition, first printing.  While certainly not rare, for me, it is a collectible.  I love Coelho's The Alchemist and I had to add this edition to my small collection of other Coelho first edition, first printing (USA) and will shelve it next to my prized first edition first printing copy of The Illustrated Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream, paintings by Moebius, HarperFlamingo, 1998.

What better way to find inspiration and motivation then to re-visit a cherished story.  I first discovered Coelho during the early 1990's while killing time at the old Waterstone's Book Store on Newbury Street in Boston.  I actually bought and still have the paperback edition acquired then, a 10th printing.  When I first read Coelho he was a complete unknown and for people who know me well, an out of character author for me to read, immediately cherish and collect.  Coelho is without doubt the best selling author of Brazil today.  Since then, I've acquired every new Coelho novel and keep my eye open for the right deal on the two first editions I don't own, The Alchemist and The Valkyries. 

Coelho's message is very simple, follow your dreams.  A message that encourages us to actually live in the world and experience the mysteries and wonders that make up a life.  Inspirational literature is a popular genre often filled with pulp and nonsense.  Coelho offers neither.  His writing, characters and story-telling are first rate and he will be remembered and read for years to come.  The newly published graphic novel format would be a great gift for a youngest reader, the illustrated edition with the Moebius illustrations a better gift for a reader of any age, and a first edition first printing of the 1988 edition (or the 1993 first English edition) a dream come true for the dedicated Coelho collector.

For an edgier introduction to Coehlo, more suitable for the cynical, crustier reader, I suggest Eleven Minutes a novel based on the life of a Coehlo fan, a former professional escort, whose life changed after reading Coehlo.  For me, I'm just going to try and not rush around so much and take some time to page through the new graphic novel edition.