Insurance
A written report giving the cost of replacing each item in the current market, for cover and for claims.
Valuations and advisory
What it is, what it is worth, and where it should go.
Written valuations for insurance, probate and estate administration, and advice on the right route to market. Prepared independently of any offer we might make to buy.
Probate and estates
A valuation of book contents prepared for the estate file, itemised where the material warrants it.
Appraisal
For collectors who want to know what they have, without a formal report.
Cataloguing
A structured record of a library: editions, condition, provenance, photographs.
Insurance valuations
A rare book is difficult to replace, and impossible to replace at the price you paid.
Insurance value is not what we would pay you for a book. It is what it would reasonably cost you to find an equivalent copy on the open market today, which is a different and usually higher figure.
What we take into account:
- Edition, issue and printing, with the points that separate them
- Condition and completeness, book and jacket or slipcase graded separately
- Binding, presentation and any named binder
- Signatures, inscriptions and association copies
- Provenance, where it is documented
- Rarity, and how often a copy actually comes to market
- Comparable dealer and auction evidence, cited so the figure can be checked
A formal report carries bibliographical descriptions, condition notes, photographs and an individual replacement value for each entry. We value a single volume or a whole library on the same basis.
Probate and estates
Books are the part nobody can value.
Furniture, jewellery and cars all have someone to ask. Books do not, so the shelves get a guessed figure or they get skipped. One signed limited edition can be worth more than the rest of the room, and from the doorway it looks like all the others.
We prepare a written valuation of book contents for executors, solicitors and families, appropriate to the purpose stated at the outset.
- Important, scarce or specialist material identified item by item, rather than a single figure applied to the whole shelf
- Values based on comparable sold prices, not asking prices, with the comparables noted
- An initial view within five working days of seeing the books or a full set of photographs
- Advice afterwards on the options: retention, private sale, sale to us, or consignment to auction
- Discreet collection arranged around the family and the property, if it comes to that
We are book valuers, not tax advisers. Where a formal valuation is required for inheritance tax, or where HMRC may examine the figure, we will say so and work alongside your solicitor or accountant rather than replacing them. Confirm professional indemnity insurance and any accreditation before launch
The conflict, stated plainly
We value books, and we also buy them.
Executors and collectors are right to be careful about that. Here is how we handle it.
- The valuation is a separate document with a separate fee, and it stands whether or not you sell to us.
- Fees are fixed or hourly, agreed before work begins, and never a percentage of the valuation. A valuer paid a percentage has a reason to inflate the figure.
- Any offer to buy comes afterwards, in writing, as a separate number you can hold against the valuation and against anyone else's.
- We will tell you when an item would do better at auction than through us, and name the saleroom.
- If you would rather have a valuation from someone with no interest in buying, we will point you elsewhere.
This follows the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association guidance for members, which holds that a valuation must be fair, honest, impartial and expert, that its purpose must be stated, and that fees should be charged on a fee basis rather than a percentage to avoid a conflict of interest.
Short of a formal report
Two lighter services.
Collection appraisal
For a collector who wants to understand what they own rather than insure it. We go through the collection and pick out what matters: first and important editions, signed and association copies, fine and private press work, unusual bindings, and anything that warrants proper research. Useful for an inherited library where no documentation exists.
Collection cataloguing
A structured record of what a library contains: bibliographical detail, edition and issue, condition, provenance, photographs, and values where they are wanted. A catalogued collection is easier to insure, easier to leave to someone, and easier to sell. It is also a permanent record of the library itself.
Routes to market
Not every book belongs in the same saleroom.
A valuation does not mean a book should be sold. Where you do want to sell, the route matters as much as the price, and the right route depends on the material rather than on what is convenient for us.
Direct purchase
We buy it outright. Fastest, certain, and the right answer for most collectable stock.
Private sale
Placed with a known collector who wants exactly that book. Quiet, and often the best price.
Dealer placement
Passed to a specialist who trades in that subject and can reach its buyers.
Auction consignment
For exceptional or scarce material where open competition will beat any fixed price.
Consignment
Where auction is the right answer.
We consign suitable material to the specialist book auctioneers and, where the material justifies it, to the international salerooms. We assess the item, advise on whether auction beats a direct sale, and support the consignment through to the catalogue.
Value at auction turns on specialism, timing, provenance, condition and the audience a particular house can reach. So we choose the saleroom to suit the book, rather than sending everything to the same auctioneer.
We are an independent dealer. We consign to auction houses as any seller may; we are not appointed by, accredited to, endorsed by or in partnership with any of them, and we do not act as their agent. Named salerooms to be added once written consent to reference them is held
Fees and how it starts
Quoted before any work begins.
- First lookFree. Send photographs and whatever you already know. We will tell you what sort of valuation you need, or that you do not need one.
- Formal valuationFixed fee for a collection, or hourly. Rate to confirm Quoted in writing with the scope before we start.
- Never a percentageThe fee does not move with the figure. That is the whole point of it.
- In person or from photographsA single volume or a small group can usually be done from good photographs. A library needs a visit.
- ConfidentialWe do not name a property, a family or a deceased person in any listing, catalogue or marketing. Ever.
A single important book, an inherited library, or a collection built over forty years.
Send photographs and anything you already know. We will tell you what it needs, what it would cost, and what we think it is worth.