Collecting in Choppy Waters
- By Bruce McKinney
David Brass
The rare book business today is not the business it was or will be. It is in a state of becoming and the pace of change accelerating as elements of the old model break down. Complicating things there are as many and probably more people vying for a place in the trade that is at once traditional and morphing into something new. The well-established tradition of schooling collectors in the once common used bookshop gives way to the era of the self-educated collector with fewer enduring ties to dealers. The lament among dealers today is that there are few new collectors. The truth is simpler: collectors are acquiring in different ways.
The new collector is often a skeptic who learns online and by chance. They are cautious in their purchases; more trusting of market derived prices, and often initially buy the cheapest rather than the best. In time they discover that unimportant, defective and derivative material that has been easy to buy will be next to impossible to sell. If they learn this lesson early they may move on to collect successfully for decades. If they buy too much before they understand this, they often quit, disappointed with their mistakes. In every generation there are only so many great collectors. The probability that some, because of the breakdown in the structure of the field, will never achieve their collecting potential is a source of frustration to those dealers who specialize in interesting and important material that they gather for such collectors. In consequence many dealers are adjusting their approach as they try to catch the eye of the serious and engaged early in their collecting experience.
Just a few years ago this was easier done for the book business was books. Today books are an important minority to the growing majority of materials that include maps, manuscripts, pamphlets, ephemera and paintings. Being au courant these days means being both broad in perspective and skilled in the concept of collectability across the broader panorama that collectors, as polymaths, increasingly assume.
|
Collecting in Choppy Waters
- By Bruce McKinney
John Windle
Where once collecting parameters were immovable and dealers the judges and jury the emerging collector’s concept is self-adjusting, buffeted and buttressed by the many things they see and learn. The dealer’s challenge is to understand the process so to abet its success. Fighting it is fatal. Unfortunately, such personally derived focus is more the bucking bronco than thoroughbred stallion, the process more verb than noun. Said another way, the Internet changes both who collects and what they collect and encourages continuing change. The aging collector reading by candle in his library is a nice image but one that has gone the way of the buggy whip and stagecoach as a new generation now builds complex collections that weave many strands into personally defined unified concepts. For book sellers, who were once the principal architects and agents for such collections, the ability to understand subjects broadly and delve deeply are the new requirements. Absent that command the dealer will be a supplier but not a collector’s Svengali.
Dealers are responding in many ways, many of them counterintuitive. Many are adjusting inventory. Most are doing what they have done, perhaps today more efficiently. Bill Reese has been pruning for a decade, focusing on the very rare, exceptional and important. One way to avoid comparison is to have the incomparable. The Reese catalogues are a particular strength.
John Windle of San Francisco is a specialist dealer and his focus William Blake, the artist/engraver/poet. “I do business as I have done and the business continues. Availability and prices change and I adjust.” As many of Blake’s engravings suggest the world is a complicated place and Mr. Windle continues to find success by adjusting his costs while maintaining his focus.
David Brass’ experience has been more difficult and his adjustments more severe. “I’m not seeing new collectors and as far as I’m concerned the web has damaged the rare book business.” Not one to be passive he explains, “we carry our books to the logical buyers and sell them. We have to. People aren’t coming in. It’s a difficult time.”
|
Collecting in Choppy Waters
- By Bruce McKinney
Boston Rare Maps
Michael Buehler of Boston Rare Maps adjusts by increasing his footprint. If the web, for collectors, brings more possibilities to the surface it also creates new possibilities for Michael to connect with them. He periodically curates exhibits and has created an informational website for them. It’s an opportunity to demonstrate competence, knowledge and style. “If someone has questions I’m a link away.”
Leigh Stein of Eveleigh Books, Dover, Massachusetts has seen the decline in book sales and is adjusting. “When you buy a library you get the 50 books you want and another 950 you don’t. We’ve been putting the 950 on Amazon while waiting for the 50 to recover. It’s not significant money but it pays the bills. Along the way he scours the market for material his collectors want. Leigh is four score and then some and gets up early to check his email.
John Zubal of Cleveland, one of the largest old and occasionally rare booksellers, describes his business as consistent, fluctuating little over the past five years. What he does adjust is his level of promotion. Using some of the most sophisticated software in the field he promotes to the mass audience of buyers who have at least once purchased from him. His average sale is under $30.00.
Colin Borgal and Peter Jones are taking an entirely different tack. They are selling upscale material under the name csborgal2 on eBay. They are one of a very few dealers running premium auctions and clearances on the site most dealers love to hate and they are, all things considered, pleased with the outcome, a venture now in its 4th year. Their material is both exceptional and carefully estimated. They don’t give things away but, employing thorough research, well-written descriptions, detailed photography, reasonable estimates and reserve pricing; they entice bidders to bid to breach their hidden reserves. In building their online business they have developed an active and loyal clientele. Roughly half the lots sell in their first auction. Occasionally, at the end of about every second month, they offer lesser-priced material, including a few unsold items, in listings without reserve. Link at end of article.
|
Collecting in Choppy Waters
- By Bruce McKinney
CSBorgal on eBay
For collectors the web requires more self-reliance and for dealers brings fewer repeat customers. The Borgal-Jones model, unique among current approaches to sales, seems capable of capturing the rising interest of new collectors and encouraging loyalty while presenting almost no public exposure.
This model, as strong as it is, is probably not going to entice many dealers into trying it. It is hard work, requires nerve and strong execution. Mr. Borgal, at 32, is a full generation younger than most dealers.
This said the collectors’ and dealer models are not quite so divergent at the top of the market because collectors spending serious money usually seek expert advice. What’s mostly different at this level are the ways collector and dealer find each other. That’s the message in Michael Buehler’s and the Borgal-Jones approaches and in the broad support dealers provide to book collecting groups in hopes of being visible at the critical moment. Dealers want to be there at inception but they are also open to adoption.
It turns out the field has always evolved. Perhaps today it feels more like revolution than evolution but soon enough it will settle down. Until it does dealers are adjusting and preparing. The next generation of important collectors is searching the Internet as we speak.
Links to each referenced dealers
The William Reese Company
John Windle, Antiquarian Bookseller
David Brass Rare Books
Michael Buehler, Boston Rare Maps and American Map Making
Leigh Stein, Eveleigh Books and Stamps
John Zubal Books
CS Borgal on eBay
|