Collecting for Today and for Tomorrow
- By Bruce McKinney
An attractive title page
At the recent ABAA Fair in San Francisco desire and logic met head on when I saw a very nice copy of Burr’s New York Atlas. It is apparently the 3rd or 4th edition that has the Ithaca, New York indicia with an 1840 imprint on the title and some maps inside dated 1841. The spine has been replaced and the atlas is described by the seller as “otherwise an exceptional copy.” It is very clean and bright and a natural inclusion in my collection of the Hudson Valley in the 19th century. I have been looking for one of the early issues for some time and Bernard Shapero, the London dealer called me about this copy when he saw it at the Miami Map Fair a year ago. At that time another dealer was looking on my behalf and I didn’t seriously consider it. The first edition is very desirable as Rosenbach testified in his famous catalogue – The Sea in 1938:
ORIGINAL EDITION OF ONE OF THE FINEST AND MOST SUMPTUOUS STATE ATLASES EVER ISSUED. There are fifty-two colored maps, the map of New York City being in two parts, each with a page of text giving the statistics of the county portrayed. On the half-title appears the signature of John S. Van Rensselaer. A FINE COPY OF THE BEST ATLAS OF NEW YORK STATE. $150
On AE, using our current valuation software, the value of the Rosenbach copy today is estimated at $7,720. The copy offered at the book fair, a third edition, is available at $18,500. The Rosenbach copy is a first edition with an important provenance. The six copies that have sold at auction since 1996 have an estimated current value of $12,137. One of those records, the Babinski copy in 2005, brought $29,900 at Swann. That record aside, the other five sales I examined suggest a current valuation of $9,301 and a probable reappearance at auction within three years. Third editions are rarely worth more than firsts.
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Collecting for Today and for Tomorrow
- By Bruce McKinney
New York City in 1840
In the AED there are 77 related records that pertain to the first, second or third editions. It’s safe to say Burr’s New York atlases haven’t been terribly rare and as recently as 1952 Wright Howes in his widely followed USIANA rated all issues an AA, uncommon but hardly rare. Sabin, a hundred years ago, mentioned the first edition but not the subsequent issues.
This was of course before map dealers discovered that atlases as individual maps were worth more than atlases as books. Ever since, whenever a ‘breaker’ has acquired a copy of the atlas the number of individual maps for sale has increased and the number of Burr atlases decreased.
During the past sixteen months I have sold more than seven million dollars of books, pamphlets and maps at auction and have since further intensified my collecting of the Hudson Valley – a collection that today includes more than 2,000 items but not a Burr atlas.
In considering this copy I confront two perspectives – as collector and eventual seller. As a collector, were I younger, I would be tempted to buy this copy. Breakers will continue to thin the inventory thereby creating an increasing shortage. Thus even if I’m overpaying I’ll probably come out whole. But I’m 64, and by the numbers, have at most a decade to collect. In time my material will be gifted to an institution, sent to auction or possibly offered on AE in Books for Sale. I won’t be becoming a dealer. So I have to buy an exceptionally appealing copy at its current valuation or buy no copy at all.
That said, I would like an entirely original copy. The binding may be shaken but I want to it to be original. I’ll prefer the 1829 edition, the first, but understand that each reprinting includes new information.
I would like a copy with a strong provenance. When the history of the owner and the history of the book fit together the sum of these parts can produce truly memorable copies.
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Collecting for Today and for Tomorrow
- By Bruce McKinney
Ulster County in 1840
So for this copy I’m going to say no. All the work I’ve put into the Americana Exchange has been to create the next generation of collector. We have made it possible to understand relative condition, importance, and value so that new collectors can enter the field and buy with confidence, knowing what the appropriate current value is. Now I’m looking at those numbers carefully and they are telling me that in the push pull between emotion and logic I have to come down on the logic side.
It’s also possible someone reading this article has a crisp very original copy with a good provenance they would like to sell in which case I’ll probably buy it. My number is 415-823-6678.
The copy I have discussed is offered by High Ridge Books. Fred Baron, its owner will have this copy [if it hasn’t sold in the meantime] in his booth at the ABAA’s New York Book Fair in April. It’s very nice. Fred can be reached by email at info@highridgebooks.com and by phone at 914 967-3332.
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