High priced Pacificana
p. 81 · Read in the full issue
The market for secondhand books on the Pacific Islands con tinues its upwards trend in Aus tralia. Some extraordinarily high prices were paid in Melbourne in December when the library of the late Charles Glover, a former Lord Mayor of Adelaide, was auctioned over five days.
Buyers were hesitant over some of the Australiana, possibly because of the large number of lots at the sale, but the Pacific material was much sought after.
Wilfred Beaver, Unexplored New Guinea, 2nd ed. 1920, climbed to a record $B5, the previous Australian auction price being $l6 at a sale in 1969.
Brewster’s Hill tribes of Fiji was sold at $5O.
One of the biggest surprises was
James Chalmers, Pioneer life and Work in New Guinea, which rose to a record $95. It was purchased by a Commonwealth body. The same organisation paid $65 for Codrington, The Melanesians, 1891.
D’Albertis, New Guinea, 2 vols. 1880, reached $l9O, the previous auction price being $45, sold earlier in 1970. Banks, In wild New Britain, not a scarce book, was sold for $32. Two editions of Ellis’ Polynesian Researches, brought $75 and $6O respectively, even though this work is available in reprint. Another surprise was Monckton’s books on New Guinea, which ranged from $l6 to $3O. Landtman, Kiwai Papuans, 1927, and Seligmann, Melanesians of British New Guinea, were each sold for $l4O.
What do these big Pacific prices mean? It takes at least two bidders to take a book to a high price.
With the establishment of new Pacific universities and a greater interest being taken in Pacific history by Australian and Ame rican universities, plus the growth of private collectors, the demand has outgrown the supply. A recent development is the reprinting of many Pacific books, which has helped to make more of them available, but these overseas re prints are still expensive.
How much should collectors pay for a Pacific book? What is a reasonable price? As a guide, Sydney bookseller Margaret Wood house, Macquarie Street, is pub lishing early in 1971 a new reference book called Australian Book Auction Records, 1969-70, which will detail Pacific books, including New Guineana, sold at auction in Australia.