If a scarce book of fine quality is hard to find, a rare book is even more elusive.
So, where does that leave future collectors keen to acquire works with long-term value?
The easy path is to collect titles already established as high points in a category, which requires patience and a sizable discretionary income. Keep in mind that ‘rare’ signifies both hard to find and desirable in the book world. When the best example surfaces in the market, it is quickly purchased for top price. The majority of buyers will either not be the first offered these materials, or the asking prices will surpass budget. Instead, in-depth and niche knowledge bodes well for those who recognize books on the cusp of full appreciation by the marketplace.
As we know, the internet revolutionized our relationship with the printed word. With a few taps on the keyboard, a plethora of information is instantly available. However, access is not the same as knowledge. Previously, novice collectors honed their skills by frequenting used bookstores. However, this type of shop has mostly transitioned online, with only a few brick-and-mortar retailers able to survive. The unfortunate consequences are the inability to browse and thereby discover delights as well as lost opportunities to converse about passionate pursuits with experienced sellers and fellow enthusiasts. Such an atmosphere was an excellent environment to advance connoisseurship.
Going forward, aspiring collectors need to find new avenues to handle materials and absorb trade wisdom. Options may include perusing well-curated bookseller websites, reading publications and blogs, analyzing institutional acquisitions, attending symposiums, and visiting book fairs. In other words, it will require a concerted effort to acquire expert knowledge.
Cohesive Narrative Within The Collection
In tandem with a dedication to self-learning, successful collectors will have a focused vision, ingenuity, and due diligence. For individuals who can’t afford a large financial investment, the overarching narrative of the book collection becomes more significant.
Today’s savvy buyer has a holistic way of thinking about their purchases rather than as a completist assembling all the greatest hits. Does the collection tell a cohesive story in which the materials dialogue with each other? Does this story provide an alternative or innovative perspective? An inherent logic to the collection’s narrative will be conveyed by the association of objects curated by a thoughtful mind and caring hand.
Pay Attention to the Overlooked
One tactic is to purchase titles not yet widely recognized for their cultural worth. Take time to consider overlooked books that have the potential to garner interest from academia or pop culture.
Pioneering areas often have a sensitivity to marginalized viewpoints as expressed through books, manuscripts, and ephemera. They fill in the gaps of society’s omissions and reveal subterranean voices humming beneath the mainstream. Some categories that will likely grow in popularity are avant-guard, counterculture, social movements, and genre fiction.
There is also a current effort to encourage those underrepresented in the rare book trade to become buyers and sellers in an industry known to be exclusive. Such diversity will foster enriching discourse and, indeed, its ability to survive in the years to come.
Book as Cultural Artifact
Another observation is the shifting primacy of a book’s value as a cultural object rather than a transmitter of information. This changing social worth parallels the wristwatch market; no longer about tracking time, vintage timepieces of high-quality signal sophistication. The value of a rare book is less about informative content and more about its artifactual status.
Digitized data continues, yet the hard copy maintains its charm. Book buyers will pay closer attention to characteristics that embody a glimpse of society communicated by the materiality of its existence. In particular, the visual quality of the book - its binding, illustrations, or fold-out maps - is an appealing aspect.
Collecting as Stewardship
Due to the emphasis on material culture, acquiring archives and ephemera is also on the rise. Many wish to possess a tangible piece of the creative process in all its messy bits: manuscript drafts, sketches, annotated screenplays, diaries, etc. The aesthetic, tangible, and transient are alluring features in a virtual world. Thus, ephemera can act as specimens to augment the book context.
A collection is a reflection of identity, assembling the past as an amalgamation of the cultured self. When done properly, rare book collecting is cultural stewardship. Many rare book collectors today now ponder: what does this particular copy showcase about our shared history? Future collectors should be cognisant that the book is a physical repository of a moment that can’t be quite translated otherwise.
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About the Author: Courtney Ahlstrom Christy is the Principal Appraiser of Ahlstrom Appraisals LLC. She has worked with auction houses, museums, and galleries - all of which have provided unique opportunities to examine works ranging from the antique to the contemporary closely.