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RARE
ART BOOKS CAN BE
VITAL FOR RESEARCH
Rare secondhand or out-of-print
art books can be important
for research into painting and
sculpture, as well as less
popular artforms such as
mosaics, tapestry design,
stained glass and illuminated
manuscripts. Yes, Google and
Wikipedia may be dependable
online resources, but research
into (say) the lives of painters
or specific paintings, often
needs details that only
monographs/specialist books
can provide: and most are
are likely to be antiquarian or
out-of-print books, whose
bibliographies and other lists
of references, are likely to be
especially valuable. Plus, of
course, antiquarian art books
can be valuable sources of
quality images. Lastly, inside
a rare art book we often find
information that we didn't know
about and would therefore have
never looked for. For our
favourite online secondhand
book dealer, see:
Time Traveller's Bookshop.
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Introduction
With book publishers coming under increasing
pressure to reduce costs, fewer art books are being republished. Worst
hit are monographs of Old Masters, and scholarly books on art movements,
styles and schools. At the same time, English translations of high quality
titles are becoming less and less frequent. As a result, with so many
scholarly works now out of print, secondhand book dealers are usually
the only source for such titles.
But sourcing good quality Antiquarian or
old secondhand art books is not easy. Many online dealers offer insufficient
information about titles in stock, and postage rates can be prohibitive.
As well as this, not all rare book dealers are sufficiently pro-active
in seeking and acquiring quality collections.
As a website devoted to visual art, we
are constantly searching for detailed information about painters and sculptors
throughout the ages, and our favourite rare book dealer is the Time
Traveller's Bookshop.
What are Antiquarian
Books? Are They the Same as Rare Books?
First, let's deal with the question of
terminology. What is an antiquarian book? In fact, what is the difference
between a rare book and an antiquarian book?
These two rather vague terms are often
used interchangeably, but their meanings are subtly different. An antiquarian
book is an "old" book whose value stems from its early printing
date, together with its general rarity, historical interest and the like.
It is almost certain to be scondhand. However, a book does not need to
be commercially valuable, in order to be labelled "antiquarian."
By contrast, the term "rare book" carries the clear suggestion
of commercial value. Furthermore, a "rare book" does not need
to be old - it might be relatively or even brand new - it simply needs
to have "rare" attributes.
So What Makes
an Antiquarian Art Book Valuable?
So what attributes/factors make an old
art book valuable? Why do certain old secondhand art books command a premium
price in the market? According to some experts, in order to be considered
"valuable", an antiquarian art book must meet one or more, of
the following five criteria:
1. Limited Print Run. The total
number of printed copies must be relatively small. The Der Blaue Reiter
Almanach (1912), for instance, would be an ideal instance of this.
However, being from a limited print-run alone, may be insufficient to
create value. A self-published volume of watercolours, for instance, may
be in exceedingly short supply, but still have no value.
2. Special Edition. The book may
be a specially produced edition. First editions are usually the most valuable,
but first translations, or specially amended versions may also be highly
valued. Alternatively, it may be a specially illustrated edition with
illustrations by a famous painter, like the 1916 edition of Hans Christian
Andersen's Fairy Tales, published by Harrap and illustrated by the
Irish virtuoso Harry Clarke (1889–1931); or the 1857 edition of Poems
by Alfred Lord Tennyson, illustrated by the Romantic painter John
Everett Millais (1829-96); or Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
(1907), illustrated by Arthur Rackham (1867-1939).
3. Print Materials Used. An edition
may be highly prized by collectors because of its characteristics as a
physical object. For example, it may be printed on valuable type of paper
or other material. Books on Chinese art and calligraphy, for instance,
have been printed on silk, while nearly all books produced prior to 1450
were inscribed onto vellum. Less often, a secondhand book may command
a high price because of its (miniature or exotic) format, or pop-up content.
4. Added Value. Almost any object
may have value "added" to it, and books are no exception. Thus
for instance, a mass-produced, secondhand book on Installation Art, published
in 1995, which would normally be worth (say) $2.00, might be worth a hundred
times more if it contained the signature of a famous modern artist such
as Damien Hirst. A copy of the exhibition program to the Armory Show (1913)
in New York, autographed and inscribed by the avant-garde artist Marcel
Duchamp (1887-1968) might be worth a six-figure sum.
5. Physical Condition. While insufficient
by itself to add rarity or intrinsic value to an art book, its physical
condition - especially the quality of its colour plates, illuminations
or illustrations - may be crucial to its value.
All rare antiquarian books must fulfill
at least one of these five criteria: some may satisfy several.
How To Find Antiquarian
and Rare Art Books on the Internet?
If you don't want to waste your time on
the Internet, searching for endless hours, make use of these special so-called
Meta-Search-Engines for the antiquarian fine art book market:
(1) vialibri.net or (2) addall.com
Enter a topic, author or Keyword and the
search-engine runs a combined search of all book-related websites. You
can further refine these searches by using the more advanced options provided.
Even better, you can buy most of the books
directly from the booksellers. Let's say for example you found a result
of a search for a rare monograph on Picasso, with an original lithograph.
At "Vialibri" and "Addall", they will most likely
show the results of listings at Amazon, Abebooks and Choosebooks,
but in many cases you can also see the very same book offered "Direct
from Bookseller". The link "Direct from Bookseller" will
take you straight to the booksellers' website, which is often your friendliest
and best option. For details of our favourite online dealer, see: Time
Traveller's Bookshop.
Tips on Buying Rare
or Secondhand Art Books Online
(1) Inaccurate Information
There are two potential problems when buying
rare secondhand art books online. To begin with, not all websites provide
sufficient information about the items in their rare books catalogue.
Also, websites have been known to list books as available, when in fact
they are not in stock at all. Bottom line: ideally, shop around until
you find a reliable dealer. He/she will be worth their weight in gold.
(2) Shipping Costs
Nearly all websites dealing in antiquarian
art books charge for shipping. This can be expensive. Bottom line: find
a reliable dealer who doesn't charge for shipping. See, for instance,
Time Traveller's Bookshop.
(3) Dealers Better in the Long Run
Since approximately 1996, thousands of
specialist antiquarian bookdealers worldwide are offering rare art books
online. Some antiquarian bookdealers are part of larger trade associations,
like the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) (website:
ilab.org) or the International Online Booksellers Association (IOBA) (website:
ioba.org), but there are also numerous independent booksellers who are
selling the same books and offer a similar service. Dealing with members
of bookseller-organizations or professional booksellers - rather than
private individuals selling secondhand art books on eBay or elsewhere
- does not guarantee quality of descriptions or fair trade, but it does
help you to establish a commercial relationship in the market, which may
be valuable in the long run. Furthermore, a minimum of common sense can
help you to determine the professionalism of a dealer: look at their websites
and their book descriptions; don't be afraid to ask a few questions by
email; and you should get a feel for the service they offer.
Our Favourite Dealer:
Time Traveller's Bookshop
We recommend The Time Traveller's Bookshop
for two reasons:
(1) It has a wide and highly informative
online catalogue of out-of-print and antiquarian art books. (2) It offers
worldwide FREE shipping on any item.
Furthermore, the firm has good contacts
with important book dealers around the world and regularly obtains art
books from private collections of serious collectors, scholars and booksellers,
located mostly around the most important universities in North America
and Britain.
For more, see: Time
Traveller's Bookshop and Gallery.
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