Buying and Selling Hebraica and Judaica: A Guide to the Auction Market for Librarians and Collectors

Abstract

Auction houses that conduct sales of Hebraica and Judaica offer a variety of services to Judaica libraries and opportunities to Judaica librarians. Through auction, libraries purchase new books, sell duplicate or out-of-scope material, and obtain appraisals of property being donated, acquired, or insured. Judaica librarians benefit by interacting with the auction house specialist, who is a source of information on market trends, and by visiting the exhibitions held prior to auctions for the rare opportunity to examine—firsthand—material which is otherwise unavailable. Auction catalogues of Hebrew and Jewish printed books constitute a rich source for research in this very specialized field of librarianship.