AE Monthly

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

Article Archives Search

AE Articles


How much Green is there in the White Mountains? - By Bruce McKinney More than 30 White Mountain Items By Bruce McKinney Once in a while an auction provides an interesting test of strength. Such is the case at New England Book Auctions on April 10th when 210 lots of Americana including a collection on The White Mountains, as well as cartography, travel and nautical material goes under the hammer. Of particular interest is the concentration of White Mountain material: about 30 lots that's a mix of the simply interesting and the difficult to obtain. This material dates to the 19th century when the White Mountains of New Hampshire were a popular vacation area for the well-to-do of New England and New York. The area, always beautiful was also rich in history and attracted sufficient following to justify both bibliographies and book dealer specialization in the category. Goodspeeds, whose catalogues are included in the AED, was the largest of them. Alas, America moved west and interest in the White Mountains waned. This auction permits us to see if, as Shakespeare wrote in Julius Caesar, "the good is oft interred with the bones." What was once highly collectible about the White Mountains, and is now mostly overlooked and forgotten, will someday be collectible again. The question now is whether a collector or two will seize the opportunity in this area, while prices are low, to move valuations within this focus up a notch. Certainly some of this material is available on line; in a few cases, many copies. What an auction of concentrated subject matter, such as this one, does is to bring out the collectors and the dealers who make markets in this material so that for a few hours there is visibility, a sense of the scale of interest and willingness to pay. For the White Mountains this is one of those moments. Bidding in this sale will be both dealers defending their turf, established collectors carefully acquiring, and new collectors venturing. Out of it may come one or two new collectors. For the White Mountains, New England Book Auctions offers a window on this forgotten area of collecting. It's an interesting place with a deep history, a subject worth collecting. The 31 lots relating to the White Mountains, New Hampshire and Vermont have an aggregate low estimate of $4,990 and a high estimate of $7,610. These are not expensive items although many will be appealing. It should be noted that New England Book Auction has had the highest sell-through rate in the auction business the past few years selling 2,369 of 2,376 documented lots in 2006 and 2,781 of 2,799 in 2005. They sell through because NEBA insists on low estimates. If no one counters your bid you may buy a good book for a song. On the other hand there are usually others willing to bid against you. This said, if you seriously want to buy specific lots in this White Mountain group expect, in many cases, to go at least 50% over the high estimate to have a chance.
How much Green is there in the White Mountains? - By Bruce McKinney Lot 137: A early American relief map According to the auctioneer Leif Laudamus, the material is generally in very good condition, and when it is not, it is noted in the description. The more difficult issue to understand is relative condition. Some items are never found in good condition, others are commonly superb. Dealers, who tend to see the same items over decades, develop a sense for this and many collectors give their bids to experienced dealers to gain access to this perspective. As well, some collectors prefer perfect copies while others love a bargain even if the book is incomplete or the map torn. In the world of books, manuscripts and ephemera there is room for both perspectives. In any event, for every item you consider, ask about condition if there is any question. In this sale some items are quite common. There are fifteen copies of Samuel Drake's The Heart of the White Mountains [lot 78] available on Abe. They range in price from $40 to $250 and include a wide ranging tour of available defects. This lot may encounter tough sledding as it moves above $100. And then there is lot 137, Snow & Bradlee's relief Map of the White Mountains, N. H. It is an early American relief map, produced in Boston, in 1872. What is a relief map? It is a raised map with ridges and contours that roughly approximate the terrain. This printed color map is small, measuring about 8.5 by 10.5 inches and is about half an inch in height. In America this is an early example although in Europe the manufacturing technique had been perfected decades earlier. This example is the map only without the printed wrap-around boards. In 1990 Charles Wood catalogued for $600 and quickly sold a similar example [also without the outer boards]. Seventeen years later, an identical item, in a later frame, is estimated $125 to $175. This seems very cheap. Ten times the low estimate seems more like it. See my note at the end of this article Among the more expensive items is an example of Belknap's three volume "The History of New Hampshire." The first volume is a second edition and the second and third volumes first editions. It's priced well below a matched set of firsts at $600 to $900 but hard to figure. There are three examples of William Oakes' Scenery of the White Mountains [1848]. Each contains 16 lithograph plates after drawings by Isaac Sprague. On Abe there are four comparables priced $1,500 to $2,750. The NEBA examples, lots 152-4, are estimated $400-$600, $300-$500 and $250-$350. Howes rates this item a "b," suggesting a higher value. With three copies up for sale both the quality of the items and the depth of interest will be tested. Images have been doing very well generally so there should be upside.
How much Green is there in the White Mountains? - By Bruce McKinney Lot 155: Views of the Profile Mountain Those who place a premium on the visual aspect of collecting will be interested in lot 66. It's a Currier & Ives print of "The Notch House, White Mountain, New Hampshire." NEBA dates it to the circa 1860s. It is small – 8 x 12.25" but quite attractive. It is estimated at $150 to $250. Lot 113 is "Woods of the White Mountains" by Romeyn B. Hough. This is a set of wood samples housed together in a wooden box with sliding lid. It was created in the metropolis of Lowville, New York in the 1890s and is estimated $150 to $250. All this is not to say that the balance of the sale is uninteresting. The Americana sales at New England Book are always worth a look but for me, the opportunity to see how the White Mountain materials fare should tell us something about the overall market. Here is a link to the full contents of the sale: NEBA 350. AE members can also evaluate auction house performance by, while signed in, click on "2006 Auction Results" which is listed under free services. Here is a complex analysis by percentage of lots sold, median price, % sold below the low estimate and % sold above. Note I'm familiar with lot 137 because I own a copy with the wrap-around boards. I bought it on eBay for $525 or thereabouts. When I researched it I found that only four libraries appear to have an example. I checked with various dealers, some of whom had sold it cheap 15 or 20 years earlier and thought it wasn't worth much. I disagree.

How much Green is there in the White Mountains?

- By Bruce McKinney

More than 30 White Mountain Items

By Bruce McKinney

Once in a while an auction provides an interesting test of strength. Such is the case at New England Book Auctions on April 10th when 210 lots of Americana including a collection on The White Mountains, as well as cartography, travel and nautical material goes under the hammer. Of particular interest is the concentration of White Mountain material: about 30 lots that's a mix of the simply interesting and the difficult to obtain. This material dates to the 19th century when the White Mountains of New Hampshire were a popular vacation area for the well-to-do of New England and New York. The area, always beautiful was also rich in history and attracted sufficient following to justify both bibliographies and book dealer specialization in the category. Goodspeeds, whose catalogues are included in the AED, was the largest of them. Alas, America moved west and interest in the White Mountains waned. This auction permits us to see if, as Shakespeare wrote in Julius Caesar, "the good is oft interred with the bones." What was once highly collectible about the White Mountains, and is now mostly overlooked and forgotten, will someday be collectible again. The question now is whether a collector or two will seize the opportunity in this area, while prices are low, to move valuations within this focus up a notch.

Certainly some of this material is available on line; in a few cases, many copies. What an auction of concentrated subject matter, such as this one, does is to bring out the collectors and the dealers who make markets in this material so that for a few hours there is visibility, a sense of the scale of interest and willingness to pay. For the White Mountains this is one of those moments. Bidding in this sale will be both dealers defending their turf, established collectors carefully acquiring, and new collectors venturing. Out of it may come one or two new collectors. For the White Mountains, New England Book Auctions offers a window on this forgotten area of collecting. It's an interesting place with a deep history, a subject worth collecting.

The 31 lots relating to the White Mountains, New Hampshire and Vermont have an aggregate low estimate of $4,990 and a high estimate of $7,610. These are not expensive items although many will be appealing. It should be noted that New England Book Auction has had the highest sell-through rate in the auction business the past few years selling 2,369 of 2,376 documented lots in 2006 and 2,781 of 2,799 in 2005. They sell through because NEBA insists on low estimates. If no one counters your bid you may buy a good book for a song. On the other hand there are usually others willing to bid against you. This said, if you seriously want to buy specific lots in this White Mountain group expect, in many cases, to go at least 50% over the high estimate to have a chance.

How much Green is there in the White Mountains?

- By Bruce McKinney

Lot 137: A early American relief map

According to the auctioneer Leif Laudamus, the material is generally in very good condition, and when it is not, it is noted in the description. The more difficult issue to understand is relative condition. Some items are never found in good condition, others are commonly superb. Dealers, who tend to see the same items over decades, develop a sense for this and many collectors give their bids to experienced dealers to gain access to this perspective. As well, some collectors prefer perfect copies while others love a bargain even if the book is incomplete or the map torn. In the world of books, manuscripts and ephemera there is room for both perspectives. In any event, for every item you consider, ask about condition if there is any question.

In this sale some items are quite common. There are fifteen copies of Samuel Drake's The Heart of the White Mountains [lot 78] available on Abe. They range in price from $40 to $250 and include a wide ranging tour of available defects. This lot may encounter tough sledding as it moves above $100.

And then there is lot 137, Snow & Bradlee's relief Map of the White Mountains, N. H. It is an early American relief map, produced in Boston, in 1872. What is a relief map? It is a raised map with ridges and contours that roughly approximate the terrain. This printed color map is small, measuring about 8.5 by 10.5 inches and is about half an inch in height. In America this is an early example although in Europe the manufacturing technique had been perfected decades earlier. This example is the map only without the printed wrap-around boards. In 1990 Charles Wood catalogued for $600 and quickly sold a similar example [also without the outer boards]. Seventeen years later, an identical item, in a later frame, is estimated $125 to $175. This seems very cheap. Ten times the low estimate seems more like it. See my note at the end of this article

Among the more expensive items is an example of Belknap's three volume "The History of New Hampshire." The first volume is a second edition and the second and third volumes first editions. It's priced well below a matched set of firsts at $600 to $900 but hard to figure.

There are three examples of William Oakes' Scenery of the White Mountains [1848]. Each contains 16 lithograph plates after drawings by Isaac Sprague. On Abe there are four comparables priced $1,500 to $2,750. The NEBA examples, lots 152-4, are estimated $400-$600, $300-$500 and $250-$350. Howes rates this item a "b," suggesting a higher value. With three copies up for sale both the quality of the items and the depth of interest will be tested. Images have been doing very well generally so there should be upside.

How much Green is there in the White Mountains?

- By Bruce McKinney

Lot 155: Views of the Profile Mountain

Those who place a premium on the visual aspect of collecting will be interested in lot 66. It's a Currier & Ives print of "The Notch House, White Mountain, New Hampshire." NEBA dates it to the circa 1860s. It is small – 8 x 12.25" but quite attractive. It is estimated at $150 to $250.

Lot 113 is "Woods of the White Mountains" by Romeyn B. Hough. This is a set of wood samples housed together in a wooden box with sliding lid. It was created in the metropolis of Lowville, New York in the 1890s and is estimated $150 to $250.

All this is not to say that the balance of the sale is uninteresting. The Americana sales at New England Book are always worth a look but for me, the opportunity to see how the White Mountain materials fare should tell us something about the overall market.

Here is a link to the full contents of the sale: NEBA 350. AE members can also evaluate auction house performance by, while signed in, click on "2006 Auction Results" which is listed under free services. Here is a complex analysis by percentage of lots sold, median price, % sold below the low estimate and % sold above.

Note I'm familiar with lot 137 because I own a copy with the wrap-around boards. I bought it on eBay for $525 or thereabouts. When I researched it I found that only four libraries appear to have an example. I checked with various dealers, some of whom had sold it cheap 15 or 20 years earlier and thought it wasn't worth much. I disagree.