The history of book auctions have long reflected the intertwining threads of value and price.  Dealers convert rarity, condition and market appeal into offers to those who wish to add their name to the lengthening lists of collectors and collecting institutions who have possessed copies of important editions. As to understanding, appreciating, and celebrating the significance of material, those tasks have long fell to libraries because they own 95% of the best examples.

For them, we have developed an interesting enhancement to our searches to quickly and deeply plumb our 14,000,000 records based on more than 25,000 auctions that have occurred over the past 175 years.  To do this, in a few days, we’re adding an Auction Reports link left to the Keyword field under Rare Book Transaction History [image attached]. For each auction we are adding an event report and a Keyword searchable database of its lots.

This tool will assist the determined starting with a particular item in a sale who can then search for related examples in the same event. Once identified, they can then meander into other sales and continue to plumb their otherwise hidden connections.

Initial release of this new capability will apply to records that occurred from 2002 to the present.  We’ll see how it is used and adjust, and then start to open the searches further back. Welcome to the future of rare book ownership.