Books we'll never see, much less own.

The close of another year gives us a chance to look back at the Rare Book Hub Top 500 prices paid at auction in the books, manuscripts and ephemera field for 2015. These annual lists help us understand what is popular today, particularly among the highest end of collectors, and to take the pulse of the market. Here are a few things we found. 

For the first time since 2012, the top item fell just short of reaching eight figures. However, the most expensive piece is not indicative of much other than how badly someone wanted the most desired item offered. More indicative of the market is how great the price still is at the 500th most expensive item. For 2015, that number was $74,200, down from $79,800 (7%) the prior year. Next month, we will have a chance to get a broader look at what happened at auction in 2015, but this implies some market softness in the past year after a major gain in 2014. 

Last year saw a return of many great literary names to the Top 500, though not always their books. There has been a trend toward more interest in manuscripts and other often unique ephemeral items. Top dollar is as likely to go to a letter from the author or an original manuscript copy versus a first edition of the book itself. Books are found in healthy numbers on this list, but so are manuscripts (particularly pre-Gutenberg illuminated manuscripts), plates from books, maps, posters, photographs, and almost unheard of a decade ago but common today, comics. Unlike a few years ago, they are not just first issue comic books, but the original boards used to create them. These are sort of the comic equivalent of a book's original manuscript or typescript. We wondered whether comics should even be included in the books and paper field, but they are certainly works on paper, and leaving them out would leave an incomplete picture of what is selling today. 

At the end of this article, we will provide an explanation as to what sort of material qualifies for this list. 

Who was the most popular collectible author in 2015? The top two from 2014 exchanged places. John James Audubon is on top with 12 appearances on the list. Along with his complete books, single plates from the double-elephant folio first edition of his Birds of America continue to bring huge prices. Slipping back from first to second, with only 10 appearances, instead of 14 like last year, is Belgian George Remi, better known as Hergé. That one may leave Americans scratching their heads. Hergé was the creator of the French comic Tintin. 

Americans are probably wondering what it is about Tintin that leads Europeans to spend so much money on its boards, but Europeans are probably wondering what on earth leads Americans to spend so much on bizarre, often violent superhero comics. I can't explain either.