AE Monthly

<b>Bonhams:</b> MANDELSHTAM, OSIP. 1891-1938. Autograph Manuscript, 2 pp, [Petersburg,] January 1913, entitled

Article Archives Search

AE Articles


An Update on Building a Collection of eBay and ABE Purchases. - By Bruce McKinney A very early Munsell almanac printing By Bruce McKinney Since releasing a study of Joel Munsell's imprints in the March issue of AE Monthly I've continued to locate and buy Munsell imprints. [Link to article] Specifically I bought a run of Almanacs that were printed by or associated with Joel Munsell, the Albany printer. A nice run of them have recently been coming up for sale on eBay. On eBay the selling is continuous so you never know if you are finding something at the beginning, middle or end of a run. Of course most of the time it is a single item or several items and that is that. The Webster's Calendar or the Albany Almanacs that interested me were those printed beginning in 1844 for 1845. On eBay about a month ago a run of five of them were posted with $4.00 minimum bids. They looked very good and after I bought them found them to be every bit as good as described. The years offered were 1849, 1850, 1851, 1852 and 1854. I waited until the final minutes of these sales and then bid $7.50 each. They sold individually, each for the minimum bid, for a total of $20.00 plus $3.50 shipping for the group. The seller shipped promptly. I then emailed them offering to buy any others they had. As is common with eBay sellers they viewed my offer the way God viewed the snake in the Garden of Eden: skeptically but they did soon post a second group. This group included the Munsell almanacs for 1847, 1845, 1863, 1865 and 1866. The minimum bids again were $4.00 and this time a buyer offered the minimum for three of them and I had to pay an additional twenty-five cents each to close the deal. These five cost me $24.25. During the ensuing several weeks I was traveling and while I had a computer I didn't have the time to watch for additional Munsell almanacs coming up. Apparently, while I was away one or more groups were posted because when I next looked the same seller was offering additional almanacs but they were now generally much later. This next group included dated 1847, 1848, 1876, 1877, 1878, 1879 and 1880. I noted the time and prepared to place bids. In the ensuing weeks another bidder or two had found this seller and these items and I now confronted opposition. I again prevailed but the price was higher. Six of these almanacs cost me $59.88 including $3.00 shipping. I missed the 1847 almanac altogether because I was tied up on another project and was then late to bid. Along the way I noticed several of these almanacs on ABE that were priced at about $30.00 each. I bought them to compare with the eBay material. One of them was relatively early - 1848 - but was a poor copy. The seller was explicit but I wanted to see for myself. Well I saw and they were right. They weren't in great shape. They were also much more expensive, random evidence of the inconsistency of pricing on the net.
An Update on Building a Collection of eBay and ABE Purchases. - By Bruce McKinney One of about 23 copies of Bibliotheca Munselliana Since then a few other sellers have posted Munsell almanacs. They started with higher minimums and ran beyond my taste. Why one seller can get bidders to make higher starting bids and run the price higher is a bit of a mystery. The difference may be in their descriptions and the keywords they employ to attract attention. Then again it may be a seller employing shill bids. I've run into this before on eBay. It would be nice if eBay provided a piece of software to identify illogical bidding. In my experience it is logical to bid on items of interest but illogical to bid on a series of items from a single seller that do not appear to relate to any other items the bidder has pursued. Consistently illogical bidding is probably shill bidding and turns willing bidders skeptical when they encounter it. I dropped a Poughkeepsie seller a year-ago because his bidding seemed illogical. Others may have thought the same thing because today many of his items cannot find a starting bid even though his initial bid requirements are low. One other Munsell item I picked up is an apparent rarity. I have to say apparent because it is listed in Munselliana as "20 copies printed." Here is what Joel Munsell's biographer, David Edelstein, had to say in his book Joel Munsell: Printer and Antiquarian printed in 1950. "Only twenty copies were printed according to Munsell...In a letter from Frank Munsell to Leonard L. Mackall, May 22, 1916 tipped into a copy at the American Antiquarian Society "Frank Munsell claimed that only twenty copies were printed and it is so stated on catalogue cards in libraries possessing copies. Joel himself once stated in a letter to Justin Winsor that he printed 'but a dozen.' It is certain there were a few more than twenty as the author has located twenty-one copies..." page 264 Whatever the actual quantity the book is uncommon in the original edition. So it was exciting to find a copy posted on ABE recently for $131.50. After a brief discussion the price was finalized at $115. It is not a great copy. The spine is damaged and there is minor spotting in the final few pages but, for a Munsell collector this is an important book and I'm very glad to have it. Only one copy of the original edition is in the AED, a copy offered by Goodspeed in 1945 for $35, the equivalent of $1,400 today. A rebound copy was sold in 2000 at Oinonen Auctions for $350. All in all the past few months have been very good. There really haven't been many new Munsell listings on ABE. Two months ago I speculated that over the next five years 50%, or about 1,500, of the Munsell imprints would come on the market. Two months into it Mike Stillman, who speculated that 20% was closer to the mark, looks to be about right. But I'm an optimist and there are 46 months to go.

An Update on Building a Collection of eBay and ABE Purchases.

- By Bruce McKinney

A very early Munsell almanac printing

By Bruce McKinney

Since releasing a study of Joel Munsell's imprints in the March issue of AE Monthly I've continued to locate and buy Munsell imprints. [Link to article] Specifically I bought a run of Almanacs that were printed by or associated with Joel Munsell, the Albany printer. A nice run of them have recently been coming up for sale on eBay.

On eBay the selling is continuous so you never know if you are finding something at the beginning, middle or end of a run. Of course most of the time it is a single item or several items and that is that. The Webster's Calendar or the Albany Almanacs that interested me were those printed beginning in 1844 for 1845. On eBay about a month ago a run of five of them were posted with $4.00 minimum bids. They looked very good and after I bought them found them to be every bit as good as described. The years offered were 1849, 1850, 1851, 1852 and 1854. I waited until the final minutes of these sales and then bid $7.50 each. They sold individually, each for the minimum bid, for a total of $20.00 plus $3.50 shipping for the group. The seller shipped promptly.

I then emailed them offering to buy any others they had. As is common with eBay sellers they viewed my offer the way God viewed the snake in the Garden of Eden: skeptically but they did soon post a second group. This group included the Munsell almanacs for 1847, 1845, 1863, 1865 and 1866. The minimum bids again were $4.00 and this time a buyer offered the minimum for three of them and I had to pay an additional twenty-five cents each to close the deal. These five cost me $24.25.

During the ensuing several weeks I was traveling and while I had a computer I didn't have the time to watch for additional Munsell almanacs coming up. Apparently, while I was away one or more groups were posted because when I next looked the same seller was offering additional almanacs but they were now generally much later. This next group included dated 1847, 1848, 1876, 1877, 1878, 1879 and 1880. I noted the time and prepared to place bids. In the ensuing weeks another bidder or two had found this seller and these items and I now confronted opposition. I again prevailed but the price was higher. Six of these almanacs cost me $59.88 including $3.00 shipping. I missed the 1847 almanac altogether because I was tied up on another project and was then late to bid.

Along the way I noticed several of these almanacs on ABE that were priced at about $30.00 each. I bought them to compare with the eBay material. One of them was relatively early - 1848 - but was a poor copy. The seller was explicit but I wanted to see for myself. Well I saw and they were right. They weren't in great shape. They were also much more expensive, random evidence of the inconsistency of pricing on the net.

An Update on Building a Collection of eBay and ABE Purchases.

- By Bruce McKinney

One of about 23 copies of Bibliotheca Munselliana

Since then a few other sellers have posted Munsell almanacs. They started with higher minimums and ran beyond my taste. Why one seller can get bidders to make higher starting bids and run the price higher is a bit of a mystery. The difference may be in their descriptions and the keywords they employ to attract attention. Then again it may be a seller employing shill bids. I've run into this before on eBay. It would be nice if eBay provided a piece of software to identify illogical bidding. In my experience it is logical to bid on items of interest but illogical to bid on a series of items from a single seller that do not appear to relate to any other items the bidder has pursued. Consistently illogical bidding is probably shill bidding and turns willing bidders skeptical when they encounter it. I dropped a Poughkeepsie seller a year-ago because his bidding seemed illogical. Others may have thought the same thing because today many of his items cannot find a starting bid even though his initial bid requirements are low.

One other Munsell item I picked up is an apparent rarity. I have to say apparent because it is listed in Munselliana as "20 copies printed." Here is what Joel Munsell's biographer, David Edelstein, had to say in his book Joel Munsell: Printer and Antiquarian printed in 1950.

"Only twenty copies were printed according to Munsell...In a letter from Frank Munsell to Leonard L. Mackall, May 22, 1916 tipped into a copy at the American Antiquarian Society "Frank Munsell claimed that only twenty copies were printed and it is so stated on catalogue cards in libraries possessing copies. Joel himself once stated in a letter to Justin Winsor that he printed 'but a dozen.' It is certain there were a few more than twenty as the author has located twenty-one copies..." page 264

Whatever the actual quantity the book is uncommon in the original edition. So it was exciting to find a copy posted on ABE recently for $131.50. After a brief discussion the price was finalized at $115. It is not a great copy. The spine is damaged and there is minor spotting in the final few pages but, for a Munsell collector this is an important book and I'm very glad to have it. Only one copy of the original edition is in the AED, a copy offered by Goodspeed in 1945 for $35, the equivalent of $1,400 today. A rebound copy was sold in 2000 at Oinonen Auctions for $350.

All in all the past few months have been very good. There really haven't been many new Munsell listings on ABE. Two months ago I speculated that over the next five years 50%, or about 1,500, of the Munsell imprints would come on the market. Two months into it Mike Stillman, who speculated that 20% was closer to the mark, looks to be about right. But I'm an optimist and there are 46 months to go.