On October 10, at Adam Partridge Auctioneers and Valuers, in Macclesfield, over 7,000 books will be presented for sale, the legacy of a single, private collector, Christopher Baron.
Photos: Mark Knowles
Aaron Dean is an auctioneer and valuer, and national manager at Adam Partridge Auctioneers. Over the course of his career he’s seen and sold many a wondrous thing, but antique books will always hold the central place in his heart.
‘The most vital thing we can do for our clients is proper research. I was advised long ago that we must dig for what the buyer knows and what we can find out about the object, then we know what road to go down to achieve the best sale for the client. Sometimes we would split up items for sale, and sometimes maintain as a group or a collection, sometimes items will go into a main sale and sometimes a dedicated single owner sale. Experience and understanding tells us which way to go.
‘And this collection warrants and deserves its own sale.’
Books will never go out of fashion, which is why the collection coming to auction this month in Macclesfield is sure to cause a stir.
‘Adam and I went to meet his family and were thrilled with his home, where every room was in some way, shape or form dedicated to his books. He themed each room; one was completely dedicated to his personal passion, Dylan Thomas, another to Victorian magic and parlour games, another to purely antiquarian books and a ground floor room filled with large folio works. I had one of those “child in a sweetshop” moments; every time I turned round there was more. There was a plethora of subjects and collecting fields, which beautifully shows his breadth of knowledge and his enjoyment of his work.’
‘I knew of him, of his business, but we never met. He’s well respected and well-known in the book community, and I anticipate a great deal of interest in his collections. People in the book world either collect anything that grabs you and you want to add it to your library, or you focus in on a specific type – antiquarian [a book that is valued as a unique physical object, with its value deriving from the edition, or the quality of the printing, the binding, or illustrations, its provenance, etc., rather than for its content], or children’s books by a specific author or with a specific illustrator, for example. People have their niche and can have a lot of fun with it. I had one lady who collected only books with blue leather bindings. There are some quirky wonderful things in this world.’
The cataloguing and research of 7,000+ books has taken hours and hours of Aaron’s time, but it’s been a task he has rather loved.
‘You should see my workstation,’ he laughs. ‘Boxes and boxes of books needed to be sorted, put into groupings and then researched. This evening, before I left, I was in the world of illustrated children's books alongside metallurgy, botany, horology, and sporting subjects - just brilliant!
‘It’s not the first time I have done this, but it never gets less exciting. Opening every box felt like opening a present, and the excitement just builds. Yes, I have to do a lot of research for each book, but this really just appeals to my inner geek.’
There will be a lot of book people keen to explore this collection, and Aaron is very aware of his role in honouring the legacy of Christopher Baron.
‘Presenting the collection for sale in this way puts more context to it for the buyers, whether they want a single book or a small collection. A lot of people would have had an idea what he had in stock or collected, the subjects he collected, and that gives confidence to the buyer. Christopher made a lot of little notes – either in very light pencil on the front fly, or on little notes tucked inside the book, which helped me out enormously as he’d done a great deal of what I need to do for every single book – it's like he’s over my shoulder, working with me.
‘For example, in one book there’s a note that there were only 101 copies printed, which would be hard to know. There’s also a sweet little copy of Under Milkwood, from 1954, from his own Dylan Thomas collection, which on the face of it isn't terribly special, but a note from Christopher says: “Readers at The Old Vic, signed by Richard Burton, Sybill Thorndyke, Diana Maddox...” So this was a readers’ reading at The Old Vic, and the book was signed by some of the greats of that time. It’s not a special edition in itself, but it has a very special and unique history and this will appeal to several different groups of collectors.’
‘There’s a rather special first edition of Casino Royale, by Ian Fleming; with a really unusual hand-made leather binding, by Cadwaladr-Jones. I don’t know for sure, but I very much doubt there is another out there like this, it’s likely to be a commission and so unique. I can’t find any hint of another like it. Where the market wishes to take that on the day is going to be very exciting – a Bond collector, or an antiquarian book collector, or a bespoke commissions collector... And it could end up anywhere in the world.’
On the day, Aaron will be on the rostrum, gavel in hand, loving every moment. The various books for sale are estimated to sell from £15 to £5,000, depending on their rarity and appeal but, of course, should two bidders desperately want the same book...
‘The story continues while the sale goes on,’ he says. ‘There will be familiar faces and new faces, people excited to complete a collection and some just starting out. People travel from all over the country, and with online and phone bidding we will have buyers from all over the world, too.
‘This single collection sale is a way of honouring Christopher and his skill, experience and love of the subject. I think it’s really important that his time with these books is recognised as part of each book’s history; keeping that with them, wherever they go next in the world, is part of their story and it would be remiss of us to not to honour that.’
Excitement is already running high in Macclesfield and as word spreads among book collectors and dealers, Aaron is expecting a full house and a fun day.
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