Rare Book Monthly

Articles - September - 2026 Issue

Our MORE VISIBLE eCatalogues section is officially one year old.

Our eCatalogues section is officially one year old.

 

Over the past 25 years we’ve reviewed thousands of printed catalogues. It was good business for the firms submitting their publications and it was good content for us who were building an online media for a market that likes to read about collectible paper.

 

Paper catalogues probably peaked around 2017 and have declined since. In their place eCatalogues, slowly but surely, have replaced their paper cousins. And in terms of numbers, eCatalogues dwarf our past printed catalogue reviews. Ten was a pretty good month for review. These days it’s about 40 a month and we expect to see eCatalogues to double over the next 12 months.

 

So far, not many are creating catalogues to coincide with events. When a subject or an anniversary is in the news, we saw some who created 250th Birthday offers. That made sense and we hope they did well. Within their specialties there should be opportunities to create promotional repeating annual events.

 

As well, on the day-to-day pursuit of sales, it will always come down to the quality of the material and their comparative value.

 

As paper catalogues are fading, eCatalogues will be part of your future.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Heritage, Nov. 18: Orson Welles. Signed Third Revised Final Draft for Citizen Kane (RKO, 1941). July 16, 1940.
    Heritage, Nov. 18: Bob Dylan. Autograph manuscript working lyrics to "Man on the Street."
    Heritage, Nov. 18: Ernest Hemingway. Death in the Afternoon. Inscribed by the author to the daughter of the Spanish Ambassador.
    Heritage, Nov. 18: Jack London. The Call of the Wild. Inscribed by the author.
    Heritage, Nov. 18: John Steinbeck. East of Eden. Inscribed by 27 members of the movie cast and crew, including James Dean and Elia Kazan.

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