Rare Book Monthly

Articles - November - 2017 Issue

Shapero Rare Books Sells Half Interest in its Russian Books to Former Employee

Pierre-Yves Guillemet at Shapero Rare Books.

Pierre-Yves Guillemet at Shapero Rare Books.

Scholium Group, the publicly traded company that owns Shapero Rare Books, recently announced the sale of approximately 50% of their Russian stock to PY Limited, a company controlled by former employee Pierre-Yves Guillemet. It is a somewhat unusual deal, but a sign that Shapero is looking to reduce its exposure to Russian customers by repositioning some assets to more traditional markets.

 

Rather than selling half of their Russian books to Pierre-Yves Guillemet, Scholium sold him a 50% interest in all of their Russian stock. The cost of the books, maps, prints and other works on paper is approximately £1 million (about $1.3 million U.S. dollars). The price to Mr. Guillemet is £250,000 in cash plus a non-interest bearing note in the amount of £315,000. The note is repayable from Mr. Guillemet's share on the sale of Russian stock, with any balance still due payable in full on February 28, 2020. In the meantime, each party earns half of the gross proceeds and profits on each sale from the Russian inventory. The two parties will work together to sell the jointly owned inventory.

 

The announcement from Scholium stated that during the year ending on March 31, 2017, the Russian stock contributed £15,000 to central costs. We are not clear but imagine contributing to central costs rather than cost of goods means that amount represented the profit on sales.

 

In explaining the reason for the sale, Scholium Chairman Jasper Allen said, "We are delighted to have entered into this agreement with PY Limited, which will enable us to redeploy part of our investment in the Russian stock into more buoyant parts of our business, whilst also retaining an interest in the profits which we are confident Pierre-Yves Guillemet will earn."

 

Pierre-Yves Guillemet worked at Shapero Rare Books until breaking off on his own in August. Naturally, he brought considerable expertise in the subject of Russian books and paper. Prior to his decade at Shapero he worked at Christie's in the book department with specialization in Russian and Eastern European material.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    APRES DE MANNEVILLETTE
    Le Neptune Oriental
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
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    LA PÉROUSE
    Voyage autour du monde
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    LE GENTIL DE LA GALAISIERE
    Voyage dans les Mers de l’Inde
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    LICENT
    Hoang Ho, Pai Ho, Loan Ho, Leao Ho. Itinéraires suivis dans le bassin du golfe du Pei Tcheuly
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  • Forum Auctions
    Online Sale:
    The Detective Fiction Collection of John Cooper
    Ending 7th November, 2024
    Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). The Thirteen Problems, first edition, The Crime Club, 1932. £15,000 to £20,000.
    Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Dumb Witness, first edition, 1937. £3,000 to £4,000.
    Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Cards on the Table, first edition, The Crime Club, 1936. £2,000 to £3,000.
    Forum, Nov. 7: [Carr (John Dickson)], "Carter Dickson" and John Rhode. Drop to his Death, first edition, Heinemann, [1939]. £600 to £800.
    Forum, Nov. 7: Berkeley (Anthony). Jumping Jenny, first edition, Hodder and Stoughton, 1933. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions
    Online Sale:
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    Ending 7th November, 2024
    Forum, Nov. 7: Marsh (Ngaio). Overture to Death, first edition, The Crime Club, 1939. £600 to £800.
    Forum, Nov. 7: [Day-Lewis (Cecil)] "Nicholas Blake". The Beast Must Die, first edition, 1938. £750 to £1,000.
    Forum, Nov. 7: Brand (Christianna). Green for Danger, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, John Lane the Bodley Head, 1945. £600 to £800.
    Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Murder is Easy, first edition, signed by the author, 1939. £3,000 to £4,000.
    Forum, Nov. 7: Sayers (Dorothy L.) Lord Peter Views the Body, first edition, Gollancz, 1928. £6,000 to £8,000.
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    Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
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    Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
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    We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
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    Specialized in Purchasing
    Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
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    We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
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    Fine Books, Manuscripts & More
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s: J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. 11,135 USD
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    Sotheby’s: Leo Tolstoy, Clara Bow. War and Peace, 1886. 22,500 USD
    Sotheby’s: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1902. 7,500 USD
    Sotheby’s: F. Scott Fitzgerald. This Side of Paradise, The Great Gatsby, and Others, 1920-1941. 24,180 USD
  • Freeman’s | Hindman
    Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana
    November 14
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: LEROUX, Gaston. The Phantom of the Opera. FIRST AM. ED, FIRST ISSUE IN THE VERY RARE DUST JACKET. 1911. $6,000 – 8,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: GOULD, John. A Monograph of the Trochilidae...Humming-Birds. L., [1849-] 1861. $60,000 – 80,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: A COMPLETE RUN of Limited Editions Club publications, v.p. [mostly New York], 1929-2010. $50,000 – 60,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: ORWELL, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. Lon., 1949. FIRST EDITION IN A VERY FINE DUST JACKET. $6,000 – 8,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: GOULD. A Monograph of the Ramphastidae...Toucans. L., [1852-] 54. SECOND ED. $35,000 – 45,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: The Federalist. NY, 1788. FIRST EDITION, THICK PAPER COPY. $60,000 – 80,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: SELBY. Plates to Selby’s Illustrations of British Ornithology. Edin., [1833-] 34. $20,000 – 30,000.

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