Provenance by Matthew Raptis
Recently I purchased a copy of Provenance, a recently issued book by Matthew Raptis. He and his wife Adrienne are dealers that specialize in literature, children’s books, economics, photo books, signed and inscribed books, and landmark books in all fields. It’s a slim volume that encourages collecting by example and I found it a very worthwhile read. He tells the stories of six collectors and items that found their way by luck, timing and/or diligence into collections. The collected material is remarkable, so too the collectors whose motivations were uniquely personal. If you aspire to seriously collect, he’s suggesting that there are special copies and opportunities to become special collectors.
There are.
In between, there are pandora’s boxes and cornucopias.
The examples he has used range from the contemporary to ancient.
In our time we knew Julia Child as our inspiration in our kitchens, our Le professuer est dans la cuisine. Her early sources were cookbooks written by others. They were not necessarily first editions. Her appetite was for perspective. In time her pursuit of recipes and cookbooks turned into her kitchen into a bibliothèque culinaire (A culinary library). Today her kitchen is in the Smithsonian, with selected volumes that mattered to her.
Perhaps your cookbooks will become a collection too. And now, how about your paperbacks?
Chapter Two relates to literary appropriation. Its acknowledgement to the source by the borrower that they lifted ideas, even words could be the basis of a collection. Imagine! It turns out literary appropriation is incredibly common so you may need a gymnasium to house all your literary felonies. It sounds like fun.
Chapter Three. Not all forms of printed paper are books. Photographs count too. And what’s in them and what’s not. It’s all based on priority and perspective. If your grandmother was the first person to put a magnetic sticker on her ice box, she was making history. If you took a picture, signed and dated it, that image may someday divide BRM and ARM. I wish you the best.
The fourth chapter describes a young author, Herman Melville, who found inspiration in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s writing. Melville’s heavily annotated copy of Hawthorne’s work influenced his writing a 19th century classic, Moby Dick. Their communication and that heavily annotated copy now resides in a major institutional collection. Why?
It relates to relevance and value. It’s about Nathaniel Hawthorne’s copy of Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick and Herman Melville’s copies of Hawthorne’s works. These two icons of 19th century American fiction, had an on and off again friendship, tinged with homosexual possibility. The renowned rare book dealer Dr. A. S. W. Rosenbach revered both men and pursued copies they owned of each other’s works. Their copies were pregnant with collecting possibility. Simply stated, Mr. Raptis points out connection can significantly increase value. New collectors rarely grasp its significant importance.
The fifth chapter remembers J. P. Morgan’s interest and subsequent obsession to build a great, if not the greatest collection of books and documents of his era. Knowledge and money were necessary elements, but patience, luck, and skilled help will always be necessary to obtain that moment’s holy grail. There will always be competitors. Ah well. When you later sell, you’ll be thankful if they are still active.
The final chapter is about the Bay Psalm. It’s considered the first book printed in the English-speaking new world. It’s not absurdly rare. It was early on understood to be very significant. Most copies are in strong hands, so copies are rarely released. But never fear, library trustees will continue to wonder what they could do if they receive millions of dollars from this rather small and unimpressive (to look at) book.
All in all, Mr. Raptis’ handsome volume is very useful. I highly recommend it. And when you buy it, know your purchase marks you as someone who is willing to understand what collecting can be in your life.
Link to Raptis books. https://www.raptisrarebooks.com/?s=Raptis&advsearch=2
