Book-Auction Records; A Priced And Annotated Record Of London, Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow And American Book-Auctions (Vo, (Hardcover)

An unrivalled ledger of the book trade's past, Book-Auction Records (Volume 14) reveals the prices and provenance that shaped tastes and collections. A vital record for collectors. Frank Karslake's carefully compiled priced and annotated record draws together London, Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow and American book-auctions into a single account of auction sale prices and descriptions. Part bibliographic reference guide and part historical bibliography, this volume functions as a book price compendium and a corpus of antiquarian book records: contemporary sale listings are paired with concise annotation on bindings, editions and provenance, providing hard data for assessments. Annotations include brief bibliographic notes and sale context that illuminate how titles were presented to buyers, while the geographic sweep exposes contrasts between metropolitan and regional markets. It captures the pulse of Victorian era book sales and charts literary market trends, showing how rarity, condition and fashion affected value. Accessible to casual readers fascinated by the stories behind titles as well as to serious collectors and dealers, the book works equally as an engaging chronicle and a practical tool. Collectors and dealers consult these pages to calibrate valuations, to trace early provenances and to verify the history behind prized editions. As a research tool for librarians and curators, it supplies reliable auction sale prices that underpin catalogue records, valuation work and provenance research. Scholars of historical bibliography and of the book trade will find it an essential primary source when investigating shifts in taste or the rise of particular authors and bindings. Those tracing London auction history or comparing regional markets will find its annotated listings indispensable when studying rare book auctions and the development of book collecting history. Out of print for decades and now republished by Alpha Editions. Restored for today's and future generations. More than a reprint - a collector's item and a cultural treasure.