Best auction site for rare books 0

[Kevn]

Sorry to be off topic, but I know people here have wide collecting interests. My sister is asking for the best place to sell a collection of rare books, first editions, etc. An elderly neighbor of hers has asked for help liquidating her collection, and my sister doesn't have time or expertise to directly help, and lives in a city with no rare book dealers. I'm guessing Heritage is a reasonable option to at least give a rough appraisal and actually sell any books that really are valuable, but wasn't sure if other auction houses are better for books.

[filmboyuk]

Last time I sold a properly valuable book - signed first edition of Lord Jim - I used Sothebys. I think most of the major auction houses outside the comic space have regular sales of books, but I don't know if perhaps there are specialist auction houses that attract more focus from dedicated collectors.

[Michael Browning]

On 4/3/2024 at 2:42 AM, Kevn said:

Sorry to be off topic, but I know people here have wide collecting interests. My sister is asking for the best place to sell a collection of rare books, first editions, etc. An elderly neighbor of hers has asked for help liquidating her collection, and my sister doesn't have time or expertise to directly help, and lives in a city with no rare book dealers. I'm guessing Heritage is a reasonable option to at least give a rough appraisal and actually sell any books that really are valuable, but wasn't sure if other auction houses are better for books.

Why not ask this in one of the comic BOOK boards on here? I think you'd get a better response and better answers than asking it in an ORIGINAL ART group.

[tth2]

On 4/3/2024 at 2:42 PM, Kevn said:

Sorry to be off topic, but I know people here have wide collecting interests. My sister is asking for the best place to sell a collection of rare books, first editions, etc. An elderly neighbor of hers has asked for help liquidating her collection, and my sister doesn't have time or expertise to directly help, and lives in a city with no rare book dealers. I'm guessing Heritage is a reasonable option to at least give a rough appraisal and actually sell any books that really are valuable, but wasn't sure if other auction houses are better for books.

What kind of books are they?  Heritage seems to be pretty strong in sci-fi/fantasy books, but I don't know how strong they're considered in other genres.

[tth2]

On 4/3/2024 at 7:51 PM, Michael Browning said:

Why not ask this in one of the comic BOOK boards on here? I think you'd get a better response and better answers than asking it in an ORIGINAL ART group.

Agreed.  Your chances of finding book collectors would probably be better in the Golden Age and Pulp forums, in particular. 

 

[spider9698]

If you have a relationship with Heritage, I would go that route.   Their head of books recently came over from Christies (where he worked for over 30 years).   Christie's and Sotheby's are fine but do take decent chunk from the seller.