Welcome to Rare Books Insider for March 15th, 2022 – FREE Edition.
Each week we give you the scoop on undervalued, mispriced and hidden gems in Alternative Investing.
Table of Contents
This year in Rare Books
It’s been a tough 2022 for rare books on fractional markets – they’re down an average of over 15% so far this year.
But it looks like we may have found a bottom. Currently undervalued by an average of 7%, now may be a good time to pick up some bargains.
The wider books market had a sluggish February following a robust January. Overall the books market is down 5% compared to 2021.
Last week in Rare Books
Fractional Marketplaces
Individually, many of the books on fractional marketplaces seemed untethered to reality, with wild price swings in generally the wrong direction.
Elsewhere, the broader market saw around $14m worth of sales, which is broadly in line with February’s numbers but down on last March.
This week and next week in Rare Books
Fractional Market IPOs
Rally brings us one IPO this week.
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies
- Market Cap: $14k
- Inferred Value: $10,500
- Drop Details: 3/15 on Rally
- Our View: [INSIDERS ONLY]
Fractional Secondary Markets
Two new books open this week on Rally, and they’re both at a premium to FMV.
We put a buy on the Holmes set, anticipating a jump when it came on the secondary market. Looks like that isn’t happening, so we’ll probably look to exit this week.
Limited Editions
While it’s pretty quiet on the auctions front, there are two interesting opportunities to pick up limited editions this week.
Suntup has released a limited edition of Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter, a cult favorite sci-fi book dealing with alternate realities and parallel universes. Apple+ is producing a series based on the book now.
Books often see a decent bump when they’re turned into films or TV shows, so this could be one to watch.
Suntup is following the usual structure:
- Artist Edition: 286 available, $135
- Numbered Edition: 26 available, $450.
- Lettered Edition: 3 remaining, lottery, $1750
If you’d rather go for the original, you can pick up a signed first edition for $120.
As ever with rare books, the ones with a cult following tend to outperform their peers, all things being equal. And horror books are nothing if not cultish.
The Folio Society has just released a limited edition of the horror classic The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.
Limited to 250 copies, they’re available for £250.
