Our report of Eric Caren’s ephemera sale recently conducted by Potter and Potter of Chicago makes dry reading until and unless you understand you’re seeing the changing of the guard in the collectible paper field. The rare book field has been skirmishing with paper collectible wannabes for two hundred years and the trade long preferred to handle easily understandable objects. It made sense and it made the field predictable for dealers, auction houses, institutions and collectors. To make markets there have always been a need for common understandings. For books, all sides were long in agreement.
As to ephemera, not so much. Dealers acquire material to sell and most of their energy goes into selling. For those who want to acquire, dealers provide an invaluable service. As to the basic research about emerging markets, the heavy lifting has been done by collectors and collecting institutions and in the case of paper ephemera, Eric C. Caren saw the opportunity fifty years ago, acquiring undescribed important and rare paper, believing he had the chops to organize a series of ephemera sales in the future. During the past decade, his and our futures have been arriving. Potter & Potter’s recent ephemera sale is his ninth and his sales have brought collectible paper into many collectors’ conversations.
Ephemera is very tricky and easily manipulated and it will take years before there will be enough transaction history for the casual observer to know fair value. But until then, you have Eric’s auctions as a masterclass to study and appreciate what the world of collectible paper is becoming.
I suggest you click on this link to read [or reread] his most recent sale. There are all kinds of paper you would not expect to see listed and sold at auction.
Here is a link to Eric’s recent sale at Potter & Potter: link
