RARE BOOK SALES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 47, 8 November 1946, Page 7

RARE BOOK SALES

RECORD YEAR FOR FIRM

DEALERS OF ARTISTIC MASTERPIECES

The highest price in a year of record sales in London for historic books and manuscripts was paid by an American dealer, a report from Sotheby’s, London dealers and. auctioneers of artistic masterpieces, has revealed.

“A book, one of the 34 illumin l ated manuscripts of the Phillips Collection, was bought by a Dr. Rosenbach, of Philadelphia, who paid 30,000 dollars for it on behalf of aft American collector,” a member of the Sotheby firm said. The past year has been the best for dealers \in historic literature since the boom period of 1928, Sotheby’s announced, and their sales of books and manuscripts alone has realised 1,380,000 dollars—a record for the firm. * “I think we have now reached the peak,” a spokesman of the firm said. “People have been more anxious to put their money into things than to invest it in stocks and shares, and in addition to books, the sales of antiques, jewellery, and pictures have been soaring. But now that •motor cars and expensive foreign holidays are available again I think sales will drop.” ' The most notable increase in popularity has been with the cheaper second-hand manuscripts, he added.

Continental buyers—particularly French—are active in London, possibly because, with the franc somewhat unstabilised, Frenchmen are anxious to put their money into something of intrinsic value, and also because the inflation of books in Paris is much more marked than it is here, it was added. The demand ■ from the United States for old editions has also increased, it was noted.

Outstanding figures paid for literary treasures during the year were 29,600 dollars paid at one sale for 15th Century woodcuts, and 6400 dollars for a 13th Century French manuscript, which previously had been sold for 160 dollars in 1852.