走进鲜为人知的海外珍本书行业

短短八天，美国文学界就失去了两位巨擘：文风精炼的汤姆·沃尔夫和笔锋辛辣的菲利普·罗斯于5月14日和22日先后辞世。伟大作家去世后，人们往往在他们身后的空虚中重燃了对逝者作品的兴趣、对他们初版书签名本的兴趣，而后者可是越来越奇货可居。

未来三天，古董书商协会伦敦珍本书展会展出西方文学界的夺目之作，你会看到人们对着它们评头论足、讨价还价。书展在伦敦洋气时髦的巴特西公园举办，这是世界上最大、最著名的藏书界盛事。J.R.R.·托尔金的价钱已经确定了（《霍比特人》的初版预计会超过13000美元），但市场对刚刚去世的沃尔夫和罗斯的作品如何反应，尚不得而知。

“汤姆·沃尔夫去世后的48小时之内，他的签名书销量喜人。”珍本善本二手书电商及伦敦珍本书展古董角（Vintage Corner）的赞助商AbeBooks的公关宣传经理理查德·戴维斯说：“我觉得市场对佩利·普罗斯作品的反应会差不多。”价格上升，这是简单的经济学现象。他还说：“罗斯和沃尔福都挺爱给书签名，签名版的数量很多。”但是签名版的数量没办法增加了，市场的需求才刚刚开始上涨。

《虚荣的篝火》里讲到了垃圾债券，但这本书本身永远都不会成为高风险的垃圾债券。不同的作者和文风在市场上火爆程度起起伏伏,但按照《珍本文摘》（Rare Books Digest）的说法，“珍本市场鲜有大震荡；因为这个市场的特点就是‘发展缓慢但是稳定’。”

罗斯的处女作《别了，哥伦布》获得了1960年美国国家图书大奖，你有它的初版签名本？恭喜你，其他人要想买本书况不错的，可得掏6500美元。想从大减价的书摊里挑一本？皮面装订版《人性的污点》签名本可是只需要花649.95美元。

不过你找找家里，看看自从女儿成年后就闲置的房间里，兴许能从书架上找到一本布满灰尘的1997年版《哈利波特和与魔法石》。“很多人都不知道他们正坐在珍本书上”，纽约Strand书店的新闻主管蕾·阿茨舒勒说，“而这本哈利波特有可能是本珍贵的初版书。”

没有人能断定接下来哪种风格或是哪个作者能火，但要记住，一本书要想有收藏价值或者成为珍本，可不一定得是旧书。最近艺术书籍开始受到收藏家的推崇。“我们注意到，人们对普通旧书的需求在减少，对于有视觉效果的书的需求在上升。”阿茨舒勒说。想想看，买一本装帧精美的《夜色温柔》或者是平面设计艺术家的新色彩书，“相当于买一送一”，蕾说，“既买到了作品，又拥有了艺术家的签名。”

初版书和签名书仍然是珍本书行业的两大支柱。但就像葡萄酒、汽车和表类一样，这个市场上也有独角兽产品。戴维斯说：“《了不起的盖茨比》的初版书已经非常稀有了，如果书的护封保存不错，能再贵上10万美元。”你可别想在eBay上买到一本这样的。《珍本文摘》的市场分析表明：“稀有的初版书，重要的、原创的、限量供应的首印本，书籍作者具有较高收藏价值，是独一无二的宝贝……具有这些特点的精品其实正在慢慢消失。”

书况很重要，题词也同样重要。下次你再排队等签售的时候，让作者给你画幅图，或者是写几句有特色的段子。这能增值。“杰夫·范德米尔给《出生》（Borne）的一些书本上提了插图”，阿茨舒勒说，“诗人帕特里夏·洛克伍德画了《牧师回忆录》里面的人物”，同样的，能让你的书增值。“上星期，一本《太空英雄》初版签名书卖出了3500美元”，戴维斯说。这本书上有沃尔夫、查克·伊格尔和约翰·格伦的签名，因此价钱飙升，远远超过只有沃尔夫一个人潦草签名的普通版本。

在各种签名书里，站在金字塔尖的是专属致谢书，这种书的签名签在致谢页上，题字的对象就是作者本书的感谢对象。市面上这种书显然不多。想要吗？如果你是小熊维尼的粉丝，花上2250美元，就可以拥有A·A·米尔恩妻子专属的《生日派对和其他故事》。或者，只用花125美元，你也能把海伦·雷诺的《米兰妮音乐1958》（1958 Music for Melanie）作者专门为她的妯娌珍妮题词的那版买回家。

关于买书，书商的最终建议是：买你的心头好。虽然说投资书籍能赚钱，但逐利不应该成为你的动机。戴维斯说：“书籍的价格像股票一样，有涨有跌。”至于从哪买，她说，“如果你想要特定的某一本书，登录像我们这样的电商网站，立刻就满足你的需求”，但也别忘了去淘淘传统的二手店或者跳蚤市场，里面兴许就藏着宝贝呢。谁知道呢？说不定你能淘到一本价值连城的书，这书能买下Strand书店三楼的善本室，那还放着一本亨利·马蒂斯签了名的詹姆斯·乔伊斯《尤里西斯》。只需要花上45000美元，你就能把这本书带回家。（BT365的网址是多少）

译者：Agatha

In a mere eight days, we lost two titans of American letters: first, the dapper Tom Wolfe on May 14 and then the acerbic Philip Roth on May 22. As is customary with the passing of any great artist, within the void they leave behind is born a renewed interest in their work—and an ever-decreasing supply of signed first editions.

For the next three days, highlights of the Western canon will be displayed, appraised, and haggled over at the Antiquarian Booksellers Association Rare Book Fair London. Held in the city’s sparkling new Battersea Evolution, it’s one of the largest and most prestigious bibliophilic happenings in the world. The price is already set for J.R.R. Tolkien (a first edition of The Hobbit is expected to fetch over $13,000), but who can say how the market will respond to the recently departed Wolfe and Roth.

“I saw dozens of signed Tom Wolfe books get purchased in the forty-eight hours after his death,” says Richard Davies, public relations and publicity manager at AbeBooks, an online dealer in used, rare, and collectible books, and sponsor of Rare Book Fair’s Vintage Corner. “I expect a similar reaction to Philip Roth.” Prices will rise; it’s simple economics. “Both Roth and Wolfe were generous book signers, and copies are plentiful,” he adds. But supply of signed copies just halted, and increased demand has only begun.

Bonfire of the Vanities may have been about junk bonds, though the book itself will probably never behave like one. Individual authors and genres trend up and down, yet, according to Rare Books Digest: “We have no expectation of drastic shifts in the rare book market; a market characterized as being ‘slow but steady.’”

Do you have a signed first edition of Goodbye, Columbus, Roth’s literary debut, which won the 1960 National Book Award? Good for you, because the rest of us will have to pony up $6,500 for a copy in good condition. On the bargain rack, a signed, leather-bound The Human Stain will set you back only $649.95.

But maybe you‘ve still got a dusty, 1997 copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone on your now-grown daughter‘s shelf in her ne’er used room at home. “A lot of people don’t know that they’re sitting on rare books,” says Leigh Altshuler, communications director for Strand Book Store in New York. “That Harry Potter may actually be a valuable first edition.”

No one can predict which genres or authors will trend in the near future, but keep in mind that for a book to be collectible and or rare it does not necessarily have to be old. Lately, art books are gaining traction among collectors. “We see less demands for simply old books, and more for visually captivating books,” says Altshuler. Think Tender is the Night with a beautiful dust jacket, or neo-coloring books from graphic artists. “You’re getting a twofer,” she says. “It’s an author and the signature of an artist.”

Still, first editions and signed copies are the two cornerstones of the rare book business. And as with wines or cars or watches, there are unicorns: “A first edition of The Great Gatsby,“ says Davies, “is a very rare book, and the presence of a jacket in fine condition would add about $100,000 to its value.” Don’t expect to find one on EBay. According to market analysis from Rare Books Digest: “Scarce first editions; first issue of important, original, limited availability, collectible authors’, one-of-a-kind treasures … this elite category of books is in-fact moving slowly towards extinction.”

Condition is vital, but so is the inscription. Next time you’re standing in line at a book signing, ask the author to draw a picture or inscribe something witty that stands out. It adds value. “Jeff VanderMeer inscribed copies of Borne with illustrations,” says Altshuler. “Poet Patricia Lockwood drew characters from Priestdaddy.” Again, added value. “Last week, a signed first edition of The Right Stuff sold for $3,500,” says Davies. It had been signed by Wolfe, Chuck Yeager, and John Glenn, skyrocketing its price past that of a generic signed copy with some hasty John Hancock from Wolfe.

The top of this signed book pyramid is called a dedication copy, meaning it’s signed on the dedication page and inscribed to the person for whom the author dedicated the book. There are, understandably, not many of these on the market. Want one? Winnie the Pooh fans can own A.A. Milne’s wife’s own copy of Birthday Party and Other Stories for $2,250. Or, for an easy $125, you can add to your nightstand Helen Reynolds’s 1958 Music for Melanie, inscribed by the author to her sister-in-law, Jean.

Ultimately, sellers advise, buy what you love. Although investing in books can make you money, profits shouldn’t be the motivation. “It’s like the stock market,” says Davies. “A book value’s can decrease as well as increase.” As for how to get started, “If you really want that particular book, you can get instant gratification via websites like ours,” she says, but don’t neglect the old fashioned shoe-leather search for treasures buried in thrift shops and yard sales. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find something worthy of the Strand’s third-floor Rare Book Room, where a signed copy of James Joyce’s Ulysses is also illustrated and signed by Henri Matisse. It can be yours for a mere $45,000.