Bloomsbury Auctions: rare book auctions, now in New York

Bloomsbury Auctions
6 West 48th Street
212.719.1000

All my old friends!

That was my first thought when the elevator doors opened and I stepped into Bloomsbury Auctions. Two Shepherd pen and ink originals of Christopher Robin were framed and hanging on the wall, "Now We are Six" illustrations I remember from my childhood. I grabbed a catalogue and briefly considered the estimates (could I? should I?) before moving on to the Sendak art. The name of the auction was appropriate: Memories of Childhood. It all came flooding back.

Bloomsbury opened its New York showroom in September. In London since 1983, their specialty is books and works on paper, including prints, manuscripts, letters and posters. On the day I visited, Vintage and Modern Posters were also in preview. It was great to see Mucha, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Steinlen posters in the original, instead of reduced down to the front of a postcard.

Tom Lamb, International Head of Books and Manuscripts, writes: "We want to offer the joys and excitement of book collecting to a new generation of collectors and, by having regular lectures, exhibitions and symposia in our rooms, we will provide a forum where all can experience the enjoyment of collecting and learn more about the written and printed word." In that spirit, that weekend's activities included readings and hot chocolate for children.

The staff at Bloomsbury is youthful and enthusiastic, and the atmosphere, friendly. I asked an employee about one interesting lot; he admitted it was his first day, grabbed a catalogue and read me the description. Cute. A customer was pouring over some books and taking notes in anticipation of bidding; I stopped to ask how he values a book and got a twenty-minute lesson in rare book collecting. Cool.

If you're from out of town, Bloomsbury is just off of Fifth Avenue. Rockefeller Center and MOMA are both close. But who needs museums when you can go to free auction previews? I picked up a couple of beautiful, complimentary catalogues, wished Sendak's Wild Things good luck in their new home, and said goodbye to Christopher Robin.

Comments

[bill roberts]

What a wonderful story.