Rare Books Aren't Endangered

With the rise of e-books, rare book dealers are questioning their place in a vulnerable market. They shouldn't, says The Bulletin. They'll do fine.

From the piece...

Rare book dealers and experts don’t necessarily agree about how the digital future will affect their business, but few say they are threatened by it — especially since the price of rare books is usually based on their availability.

“The fact that actual books are going to become more scarce really helps us doesn’t it?” says Kim Herzinger, a retired literature professor and owner of the 7-year-old Left Bank books in New York City. “Books are going to be seen more and more as pretty and special objects,” Herzinger says. “No one is going to say, ‘I want to put my iPad on the shelf so that people can see what nice books I have.’”

Digital books may sell at a discount, but dealers expect that physical first editions of established collectibles will continue to appreciate. Scarce classics like a first edition of Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451” already fetch thousands of dollars. A copy of the first folio edition of Shakespeare plays sold for more than $5 million in 2006.

“It is a completely different market,” says Michael DiRuggiero, co-owner of the Manhattan Rare Book Co. in New York City. “The idea is that you want a piece of history. The first edition is the closest you get to the birth of a specific idea, cultural or scientific.”