Rare Book Monthly

Articles - February - 2025 Issue

Collecting Insights by Spencer W. Stuart

Spencer W. Stuart

Spencer W. Stuart

Here is one of the best ways to learn how to build a collection.  The old norm was to blunder in the dark and overpay for several years.  Spencer Stuart takes the pain out of becoming educated.

 

2 COLLECTING INSIGHTS February Registration Now Open

 

Registration for February programming of COLLECTING INSIGHTS is now open, below you will find session topics as well as testimony from participants.

 

EMERGING [Tuesdays - Feb. 4, 11, 18]

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/collecting-insights-emerging-feb-4-11-18-tickets-1148694960549?aff=oddtdtcreator

 

02/04  - What is collecting?

02/11  - Implementing a strategy

02/18  - Cataloguing & collection care

 

EXPANDING [Wednesdays - Feb. 5, 12, 19]

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/collecting-insights-expanding-feb-5-12-19-tickets-1148713245239?aff=oddtdtcreator

 

02/05  - Defining scope & scale

02/12  - On auctions & trade

02/19  - New collecting focuses

 

LEGACY [Thursdays - Feb. 6, 13, 20]

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/collecting-insights-legacy-feb-6-13-20-tickets-1148722954279?aff=oddtdtcreator

 

02/06  - Planning your collection’s future

02/13  - Where & how to sell

02/20  - Placing your collection in an Institution

 

Testimony from Participants:

 

"Spencer Stuart's Collecting Insights provides the discerning bibliophile a unique window into the dynamics at play in the world of book collecting. How does the shift from brick-and-mortar dealers to online, auction-based markets impact collectors? What is the best way to use such shifts to one's benefit? Those are some of the questions that will be answered through a series of three, one-hour sessions that are packed with insightful content. Highly recommended!"

Mehdi El Hajoui

Private Collector

COLLECTING INSIGHTS: Expanding (Summer '24)

 

 

"Spencer Stuart’s Collecting Insights sessions were an enriching experience that exceeded my expectations. Spencer is an engaging and knowledgeable presenter, and I was equally fortunate to experience the camaraderie of the other attendees – It was a lively community of fellow book enthusiasts and collectors.

 

Collecting Insights was terrific because it scales both broad and deep - it provided a comprehensive overview of collecting, tailored to the advanced stage of the collecting cycle where I find myself, and offered suggestions and resources that are valuable now and will be into the future.

 

Many thanks to Spencer for his expertise and for organizing an impactful series of classes."

 

Taylor Kirkpatrick

Private Collector and Founder of the Kirkpatrick Prize for Book Collecting 

COLLECTING INSIGHTS: Legacy (Spring '24)

 

 

"I found Spencer Stuart's class on the Legacy stage of collecting to be extremely helpful in understanding the different forces that act on a collection's future and how to deal with them. Highly recommended."

Reid Byers

Private Collector and author of The Private Library

COLLECTING INSIGHTS: Legacy (Spring '24)

 

 

“Each session of Collecting Insights has been invaluable for me as an "Expanding collector." Not only have I learned more about various aspects of the rare book trade, such as auctions and changing trends within the industry, but I have also been inspired to do so much more with my collection, like setting up a website. Ideas like these will surely come in handy as my collection grows and I look towards its future. I'm so grateful to have had the chance to learn from Spencer in these sessions.”

Stacy Shirk

Private Collector (recipient of the California Young Collectors Prize)

COLLECTING INSIGHTS: Expanding (Winter '24)

Rare Book Monthly

  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
  • DOYLE
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    July 23, 2025
    DOYLE, July 23: WALL, BERNHARDT. Greenwich Village. Types, Tenements & Temples. Estimate $300-500
    DOYLE, July 23: STOKES, I. N. PHELPS. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909. New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1915-28. Estimate: $3,000-5,000
    DOYLE, July 23: [AUTOGRAPH - US PRESIDENT]FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. A signed photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Estimate $500-800
    DOYLE, July 23: [ARION PRESS]. ABBOTT, EDWIN A. Flatland. A Romance of Many Dimensions. San Francisco, 1980. Estimate $2,000-3,000.
    DOYLE, July 23: TOLSTOY, LYOF N. and NATHAN HASKELL DOLE, translator. Anna Karénina ... in eight parts. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., [1886]. Estimate: $400-600
    DOYLE, July 23: ROWLING, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000. Estimate $1,200-1,800
  • Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Book of Hours by the Masters of Otto van Moerdrecht, Use of Sarum, in Latin, Southern Netherlands (Bruges), c.1450. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Albert Einstein. Autograph letter signed, to Attilio Palatino, on his research into General Relativity, 12 May 1929. £12,000 to £18,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: John Gould. The Birds of Europe, [1832-] 1837, 5 volumes, contemporary half morocco, subscriber’s copy. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Ian Fleming. A collection of James Bond first editions, 8 volumes in all. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.R.R. Tolkien. Autograph letter signed, to Amy Ronald, on Pauline Baynes's map of Middle Earth, 1970. £7,000 to £10,000.

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