I’ve
been collecting Latin American Literature for thirty years and I like to keep
an eye on the market. An ABE online want
notifies me of signed Pablo Neruda items.
A purportedly inscribed copy of We Are Many (London: Cape Goliard
Press, 1967) popped up for sale the other day.
The bookseller was in England and the price ca. 250 US. Quite a deal if true. But alas, the
inscription is a facsimile found with all copies in wrappers. The front wrapper and reproduced inscription on
the rear wrapper is as follows:
|
Rear wrapper facsimile |
I
took a minute to send a friendly note letting the bookseller know it was a facsimile. I expected no reply. However, I got one in short order. The bookseller wrote:
Hello Kurt,
Thank you very much for your contact
overnight via Abe – and your helpful advice re facsimile text on the rear cover
of the 1967 Cape Goliard 1st edition of the above book. Very
timely. I have received an overnight order for this item from a customer in CA
91730 and I will mention my omission of the facsimile nature of the text to him
before concluding the sale.
I was appreciative of the
response and glad to help. However, not
only was the book mistakenly described but also someone in California ordered
the book looking for a bargain and apparently was as naïve as the bookseller. This got me thinking about the whole
scenario. How does a bookseller mis-identify
an item and then top that off by massively under-pricing it under the assumption
it is authentic? How does a buyer
(collector or dealer, presumably?) plunk down a quick $250 on an item without
doing a little homework of their own?
Are there lessons to learn here?
I pulled up available copies of the English edition of
We are Many to see if other booksellers mentioned the facsimile
inscription. The wrappered issue was
printed in an edition of 1,400 copies so the book is fairly common. The US edition published the following year is
of similar design and has the facsimile inscription. There are approximately twenty-five copies of
the various issues present. A copy like
the one offered by the mistaken bookseller can be had for $25-50.
Presumably, you’d be an excited bookseller to find an
inscribed Neruda item. You’re not going
to dartboard a price. You’d hopefully
take a bit of time to search for comparables, right? You run the same online search as I did or
some version of it. A couple of sellers
mention the facsimile inscription. One copy
appears early in the list when sorted by price ($19) and the description
clearly states “chrome vpn中国:2021-5-27 · 傲盾加速器免费版ip Nord连不上服务器 快连vpn为什么价格不一样 台湾ssr免费节点 km810cm快猫破解 bbs4.cn 上国外网教程 pc端网游加速器 怎么翻国内的墙 nordnpn 免费梯子2021 snapchat最新版下载 安卓灯蓝专业版闪退 怎么样越墙 ios 永久免费加速 ...“
The bookseller disappointment would now be palpable
and understandable. Typically, this
would result in the book being placed back in the general bin or cataloged at a
modest price. But somehow, this doesn’t occur,
and the bookseller begins to formulate a price assuming the inscription is
authentic.
If one takes a
few seconds longer and scrolls down through available copies they will
encounter another issue of the book in hardcover limited to 100 copies signed
by Neruda and the translator. Now there’s
a book! -- or relatively speaking at least in comparison to the regular unsigned,
wrappered issue. Multiple copies of this
signed issue are available for $1,000 +.
It is not rare, but it is expensive.
The bookseller holds in his / her hands an example in
wrappers with an apparently unique inscription mentioning Ted Hughes, etc. and can
see (or should) that the basic signed, limited edition goes for over
$1,000. And they somehow arrive at a price of $250.
But all is not on the bookseller. The buyer also apparently didn’t take a
minute to investigate this bargain. Do
they really trust that the bookseller’s description is sound when the item has
been woefully underpriced? Are they a beginning
collector who has not studied their area of interest? Or are they a generalist
/ reseller who thinks a steal is in order? Perhaps the 250 price is McMoney
after a good day on the stock market and the book a gift for a spouse or friend
and no worries about whether it is right or not.
I
don’t know the answer and I probably won’t know. I’m simply passing on the experience to allow
my readers to ponder and have it serve as a reminder, a lesson, or
a point of departure on a longer discussion.
Pablo
Neruda. “Nothing More” (from We Are Many)
I
made my contract with the truth
to
restore light to the earth.
I
wished to be like bread.
The
struggle never found me wanting.
But
here I am with what I loved,
with
the solitude I lost.
In
the shadow of that stone, I do not rest.
The
sea is working, working in my silence.