I know that many of you who get these missives are beginning collectors and much of the information, especially on the auctions with their high-end material may seem totally unconnected to what you do. But here is the point: This top end effects all levels of photography collecting, even the very beginner. And many beginners (like I did, some 23 years ago) grow and develop. Without any roadmaps or understanding, it can be a costly experience. That and a little contact with the field is what I'm really trying to provide. I'll also try to cover some beginning level material now and in the future.

To that end, let me give you some opinions on typical questions that I get asked (in some cases by some very sophisticated people). I will also cover the most recent French and London auctions in the newsletter and some of the latest on the ebay crashes and other goings on. I suggest you print these pages out and read at your leisure. Please note that even though I list specific addressable web sites, many times web site links break in email transmission, so you may have to put these in by hand if you want to go to a site mentioned.

On Daguerreotypes

Make a good first step by joining the Daguerreian Society. You can reach them at their web site: http://www.daguerre.org .

You get a lot of bang for your buck here. First a one inch thick annual with some of the best features on the subject any where; second, the wonderful bi-monthly newsletter, which is really a full fledged magazine at this stage; third, a directory of other collectors and dealers; fourth the best conference and exhibit show in photography collecting (I wish there was something for paper photography like this); and finally the camaraderie of a great group of people.

Besides the Dag Society annuals (some back copies are available through the society), three dag-related books that I recommend heartily:

--The American Daguerreotype by the Rinharts (out of print and about $125; a copy was recently up on ebay for a bit more, but don't pay more than the $125).

--Nineteenth Century Photographic Cases and Frames by Berg. The latter is normally $65, but I have a few copies left for sale for $49.95 plus $3.50 shipping (by book rate 4th class/ins./handling). That's the lowest price that I know of: It even beats Amazon.com by about $10-12, when you include their rather high shipping charges. You can even call me to charge the book. It's the most comprehensive and most recent book on dag cases/frames.

--The three-volume set (Craig's Daguerreian Registry) on daguerreotypists by John Craig. In my opinion, this is the most important contribution made by a single individual to dag research.

These are three books/sets that are still three of the best despite some minor shortcomings.

Then there are the following books that you should consider purchasing: an excellent one on the chemistry of daguerreotypes by Susan Barger and William White: The Daguerreotype Nineteenth Century Technology and Modern Science; a super book on The Scenic Daguerreotype by John Wood (one of our more literate writers); the classic The Daguerreotype in America by Beaumont Newhall (getting a bit scarce now in first editions; you will be lucky to find a copy for under $100; but luckily low priced paperback reprints abound); the other classic book on cases by the Kraniks and still the best reproductions of cases on the market, but out of print; also another good book by the Rinhart's American Daguerreian Art; another classic on important daguerreian portraiture, Facing the Light; and finally the books on Cornelius and Southward & Hawes.
There are lots of other great dag books, but the above are the core of any research library.

On Cleaning and Dags

Most of the questions that I get about dags concern cleaning and how to tell when one has been cleaned. While I do not consider myself an expert (I will leave that title to people like Grant Romer), I will give you my opinion for what it is worth.

First, even telling an old seal from a new one comes with a little experience. Most dag collectors/dealers use Filmoplast P or P90 to reseal dags, which is available from Light Impressions of Rochester, NY. They even have a website. By the way, it's very possible to steam an old seal off, clean the dag and then reseal it. Also many dags were cleaned in the 19th century and early 20th, so old seals really aren't all that they are cracked up to be, despite the emphasis that a lot of collectors put on them. A black light will only tell you if something was done within the last 40 years or so, which is when fluorescence was added to the paper. If it's not falling apart, it's probably not an old seal, and if it is, it may not have prevented the dag from being cleaned any way.

How do you tell a dag is cleaned? Tough one, because there are good and bad ways to clean and some dags look quite wonderful cleaned and others look like a brillo pad has hit them. Most conservative dag collectors/dealers will not touch most dags, except to replace/clean bad glass or to reseal dags without seals or with broken ones (a rather common situation). In fact though, the current curatorial recommendation is to replace the glass at least once every 8-10 years. That means breaking the "precious" seal.

In general, a cleaned dag will have little evidence of tarnish, but even this can be controlled somewhat to keep that "ring" around the edges, especially with the newer ammonia process. If tinted, the tinting will be more subdued. Sometimes an older cleaned dag will exhibit "measles" or spotting, a common side effect of potassium cyanide cleaning. A badly cleaned dag may also exhibit wipes (from very light to bloody awful), loss of contrast and over deterioration of the image. Such a badly cleaned dag is probably to be avoided in most circumstances, but there are always exceptions. By the way, a fuzzy image is NOT one of the trademarks of cleaning but bad focus in the camera or movement in the subject. Also many extremely light surface 'scratches' are merely bad plate polishing marks.

Confused? Well join the club. The "experts" can't tell you definitively whether a well-cleaned dag has been cleaned or not (unless it's really obvious), unless they put the dag under electronic microscopic observation. A cleaning process more in vogue today involves various forms of ammonia treatment, some with electrical help. This process when done correctly can result in a surface that is actually "improved" rather than damaged (seriously, apparently no loss of silver at an atomic level). There is still apparently about a 2% chance that the dag will fog over in the process, although this is more a problem with sputtering cleaning (a not very practical cleaning method that is rarely used).

Also some fogging and surface grime can be removed in a warm distilled water bath. Is this 'cleaning'? Technically I would have to say it is, but is it a problem? Probably not, if done properly.

The problem with most cleaning is that it is done by amateurs using chemicals such as silver cleaners that remove the silver and destroy the plate.

I have personally never cleaned a dag, but I could see circumstances where I would send a dag to an experienced conservator for cleaning. I have also bought cleaned dags, as has EVERY dag dealer in the business, despite denials. Some of the loudest denials come from dealers who occasionally clean their own dags, so beware. A well-cleaned dag is not a detriment in my opinion, only a poorly cleaned one is. This is obviously a controversial statement, but I do think that Susan Barger's information on this subject relative to some forms of ammonia treatment supports this viewpoint. I would love to hear from people like Grant and Ken Nelson (by the way congrats and good luck to you and Meg Kaufman and your move further West). We need more honest and open discussion about this subject rather than some of the more irrational (and dare I say self-serving) responses one usually gets.


On Paper Prints and Hard Images and How to Tell Types

I often get people asking me how to tell the difference between an ambrotype and a dag, or between an albumen or printing out paper; or asking "What is a collotype?" or "How do you tell what is a salt print (something I am always in the market to buy, by the way)?" Here are four books to help you tell and they should be in any photographic library: The Keepers of Light by William Crawford; Care and Identification of 19th Century Photographic Prints by James M. Reilly (and published by Kodak); A Guide to Early Photographic Processes by Coe and Haworth-Booth (and published by the V&A Museum);and Looking at Photographs: A Guide to Technical Terms by Gordon Baldwin.

Basic Books on Photo Collecting

Here are a few of the very best basic core books for your library: The Photograph Collector's Guide by Witkin and London (out of print, I am afraid, but the occasional copy does come up on ebay every once in a while; expect to pay over $200 for the hardbound edition and about $125-150 for the paperback version); the International Guide to Nineteenth Century Photographs by photo dealer Gary Edwards (a great piece of research by Gary and one of my constant tools, but it too is out of print. Gary, do you want to reprint this one?); and while there are hundreds of wonderful histories of photography, let me recommend my friend Michel Frizot's fabulous new A New History of Photography. He was the editor on this huge project, which also involved a who's who of photo history researchers. This last book has recently been issued in English and you can buy this 776 page (!) massive book for under $40. I had recently broke down and paid nearly $250 for the French version before this version was printed! What a true bargain for some wonderful content and images.

If you collect either stereos or cdvs (carte-de-visites), the William Darrah books on these subjects are still the classic information source.

And the last item isn't a book but a CD-ROM: Michele and Michel Auer's Photographs Encyclopaedia International. It is the database where I find much of my information on a photographer.

Where can you get these books/CDs?

Well you can certainly try to buy them on-line at Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble's web site. But I like dealing with real live book dealers, who are helpful and find things that aren't on line. And many times the mammoth online bookstore will take your money but have you waiting for delivery for a VERY long time because they don't stock their own books in many cases (and then try to find a real person to complain to). I've even caught big online bookstores trying to sell out-of-print books that they will never get (but they will take your money for three months or so while you find that out). So here are a few places with real knowledgeable people to get your books:

--Fred and Elizabeth Pajerski at 212-255-6501 (publishes an extensive printed listings of books every quarter and keeps tens of thousands of books in stock), but they are not on-line yet. Best time to reach them is after 6 p.m. on weekdays. Mostly new and recently out of print books. But also a selection of rarer material as well. The best source in the U.S. (and even Europe for that matter) for foreign printed books. Worth setting up an appointment sometime, but they sell mostly from the catalogs. I've bought more books from Fred and Elizabeth than any one else. Maybe the most extensive photo book titles in the world.

--Dawson's Book Shop, Mike Dawson, at 213-469-2186 and listing on the web. This is one of the oldest (if not the oldest) photographically oriented bookstores in the US. Great stock of standard and rare texts. And Mike, like Fred and Elizabeth, is great people. Dawson's also deals in Western Americana, and several other specialty areas. Sells photos as well and puts on a nice lecture series at the shop in LA. Also maintains a large stock, but less Foreign titles.

Caney Booksellers, Joel and Rochelle Caney, at 609-667-7223 in Cherry Hill, NJ, publish catalogs every once and awhile, primarily monographs and rarer titles. Also by appointment and at many book and some photo shows. Good friends.

Henry Feldstein at 718-544-3002. Publishes catalogs occasionally and does the photo shows regularly. He also maintains probably the largest selection of Wegees and Albert Arthur Allens in the country. Good guy. His email is: henryfe@ix.netcom.com .

Also Stephen Rose, who has a new catalog out. He's at 317-926-6031 Email: roseart@indy.net .
Steve is another old friend.

And, of course, Swann's Auction House, 212-254-4710, has the largest selection of books at auction with usually one or two auctions a year. Contact Daile Kaplan.

Best On-Line Research

Try the Eastman House's newly redesigned web site and their database (although in a text only and very antiquated version). This is still the best database around on photographers with over 16,000 names. Look under the 'Ask the Curator' section for the Telnet database http://www.eastman.org/ .

There's also a more basic site with a very short list of some major photographers. You can find it at
http://masters-of-photography.com/ .

For dags, see the Dag Society site listed above under 'On Daguerreotypes'.

Also Robert Leggat's A History of Photography web site is the best such site on the web:
http://www.kbnet.co.uk/rleggat/photo/index.html .

And Bill Becker maintains the American Museum of Photography, with lots of information and some interesting exhibits, mostly from his personal collection. His site address is: http://www.photographymuseum.com/ .


Best Newsletter (Besides this one, of course)

The Photograph Collector is a newsletter that no serious collector or dealer should be without. Published monthly, this 16-page gem is sprightly written by Stephen Perloff and his many contributors (yours truly included). The annual subscription is only $149.95 ($169.95 international airmail). Credit cards are welcome. This newsletter has saved and made me many tens of thousands of dollars, easily repaying the small investment. Lots of insider information, auction reviews and an invaluable calendar of shows, auctions, exhibits, etc. Phone: 215-757-8921. Email: info@photoreview.org .

OK, it's not really for you if you collect very small things, but if you are getting serious about collecting (or dealing in) photography, it is a must.

In addition, it is part of a larger non-profit group that helps support photographers, so your money also goes to a good cause.

The group (Photo Review) has a charity auction each fall. Donations are very much appreciated. Just contact Steve and let him know what you want to donate. Also contact him if you would like to buy an auction catalog. I always get a few choice bargains here each Fall, and, again, it is for a good cause. Lots of reasonably priced items.
 

As I've mentioned in previous newsletters, great original source material seems to be drying up. The French auctions in Paris and Chartres were just not as exciting this year, and this month in particular, as they've been in the past. The dramatic images and good albums were simply missing.

That doesn't mean that there was nothing to buy, just that buyers had to be selective and that hundred thousand-dollar images were simply no where in sight. So far this year images haven't quite hit the $20,000 mark, a far cry from the past few years when Nadar's Clown Mime hit over $210,000 and Le Grays went for over $100,000.

What does this mean to the American market? Prices are going up on European master works and on even lower end material that most dealers buy in the form of albums. I didn't see a decent tissue stereo in the ten days that I spent in France looking over thousands of images at over two dozen dealers and four auctions. And dags were harder to come by, less interesting and decidedly more expensive. Good salt prints were scarce and decent vintage 20th century material even scarcer.

There were few steals and if you didn't act fast they were bought up by another French dealer and offered at double the price. I actually found several French dealers who had bought major groups of photographs in the U.S.A. to market in Europe and then back to the States.

Before I get to the auctions themselves, I should mention the role of the experts and how the French auctions differ from the British and American auctions. Experts in France are freelancers who work with the house to bring in consignments and help to stir up buyers for those consignments. They work on a straight commission (usually 5%) of anything that sells (hammer price, which is the sales price before the buyer premium is added).

Many Paris sales are viewed at Drouot Richelieu, a large building honeycombed with display rooms. Viewing is usually only the day before and the morning of the auction. Most auctions are in the afternoon in the same room as the viewing, but then display units have been moved out and chairs moved in. The bidding is generally a bit quicker than in other markets.

After your first successful bids, you are expected to give the house a signed blank check for your bids and then you are given a paddle number. I sometimes wonder what exactly would happen if someone were to wander away with these checks. But the French are a very honest lot.

And there are a few other differences as well. When it comes to reserves, the French auctions don't play by the American/English auction rules. In France, a reserve can be at less than 50% of the low estimate or even higher than the low estimate. In fact it can be any amount! Although in practice most auction houses in France, use the same system as American and London auctions. And bidders often jump increments that are either higher or lower than you would expect, although this practice can and does lead to controversy. At this June's auctions, an outright fight nearly broke out between dealers at Millon & Associates sale. And, finally, the premium is a shade below 11%.


Now to the auctions. I should note that all prices quoted are the hammer price, excluding buyer's premium, and that the French Franc was about six to the dollar. The first group of photographs and photo books came up on Thursday at an unheralded small book sale. With only about 20 lots of largely so-so albums being offered, the real target of most of the dealers in the room was a lot of 16 early large-format Baldus salt prints.

About 11 were saleable, seven good and three excellent. The best prints were purple-tinged and extremely interesting and rare views from the south of France. Of course, there were the normal views of the Louvre, the Tuilleries and monuments.

That lot sold to dealer and expert at Chartres and Pescheteau-Badin auctions, Marc Pagneux, for 145,000 FF, plus premium, a great value considering how early these prints were.

The first of the actual photographic auctions was Millon & Associates with Viviane Esders as expert. The auction consisted of a mix of largely 20th century material, Viviane's area of expertise. While there were no blockbusters, some wonderful and quirky prints could be had for reasonable prices.

The major items were a group of Man Ray's. The first was a late printed Rayograph signed and dated 1959. It appeared to be a print made for reproduction and sold for 80,000 FF, plus premium.

American dealer Alex Novak (yes, moi) bought the next Man Ray, signed and dated 1944 and anotated 'detrui te' at the bottom of the photograph. The image has been reproduced and most observers felt this was the best of the Man Ray's offered for sale.

Two of the other Man Ray lots were bought in and a last lot, one of the 'late' prints done after Man Ray died, sold for about $300--a tribute to collector Werner Bokelberg, who blew the whistle on 'fake' Man Rays. Viviane was very honest and up front about this print.

The house experienced its one real disappointment when one of its major lots, attributed to Henri-Victor Regnault, failed to attract a buyer. It was a poor print with staining, yellowing and irregular fading. Otherwise there would have been a lot more interest. But two other important vintage prints by Ilsa Bing found homes at around $5,000 U.S. per print, including the premium.

Viviane, by the way, is a joy to work with and is very helpful and supportive of her sellers and buyers.
Also I should note that New York City photo dealer, Patricia Laligant helped me with my bidding at this house. Patricia always has some some interesting prints and you should visit her web site at:
http://www.laligant-photography.com/ .

She has some very nice 20s-30s French material, including Atget, Krull, Kollar, etc.

The next sale-- Beaussant Lefevre with Pierre Marc Richard as expert-- was the auction that most had come to see. The Charles Marville Le Bois de Boulogne photographs were the big draw, but plenty of other intriguing buys could be made too.

A Henri Cartier-Bresson and two very large Robert Doisneau prints brought a lot of interest and hammer prices of 20,000 FF, 23,500 FF and 17,000 FF respectively. Not bad, considering that none of the prints had been signed, but seemed to be period prints from the 1950s.

A playful and exceedingly rare George Melies print of his set of Conte de la Grand-mere et Reve de l'enfant was bought in partnership by American dealers Charles Nes and Alex Novak (moi, again). Reproduced in the catalog, 'Melies' by the C.N.P., this 1908 cabinet card by one of the true pioneers of film is a part of film archeology. The item more than doubled the high estimate.

The real action for the afternoon was focused on the Marvilles, which were a minefield when it came to print quality. I walked away with six of the Marvilles outright and one in partnership, again with Charles Nes. The images included one of the big (by franc or dollar amount) prints of the day, as I wrested the Route de Suresnes from a persistent phone bidder for more than double the high estimate.

To me that image was the single most beautiful of the sale, although two others attracted my attention as well. The team of Novak and Nes found itself underbidding the cover lot (Kiosque Imperial) and the following lot (Ruisseau sous bois), which topped 63,000 FF hammer price. If I had any regrets, it was in not bidding up the cover lot more. Charles and I bought the image of the restaurant, which was probably in the best condition of any print in the sale.

Charles Nes also bought several of the Marvilles on his own. His bidding style (and 100-Franc tip) kept the pit man awake, often bidding with one twitch of a finger below his chair.

India Dhargalkar, formerly of Christie's South Kensington, also bid successfully for a client on a number of good lots, although she had to bow to the phone and the room on the very top lots.

And English-based dealer Robert Hershkowitz walked away with a nice print of a fountain.

But many prints in the sale, contrary to their description ("prints of extraordinary richness of color and in a superb state of conservation") were pale, pitted in a few cases and lightly spotted particularly in the sky and highlight areas. Many of these lesser pieces went to French dealers and collectors apparently looking for bargains. This was a sale to preview--and carefully. Even some of the top lots had minor problems. But the material is rare with most images only existing in French institutions.

French dealer Sylvain Calvier had found and consigned this rarity. I had dinner with Sylvain a few nights later at l'Excuse, a restaurant with no excuses at all, just beautifully prepared food and marvelous service. The proprietor Jean-Denis Barbet was a terrific host. Bill Clinton and the French Minister of Finance have both eaten here. This auction's proceeds should let Sylvain eat as well as his Minister for the foreseeable future.

The only disappointment at Beaussant came shortly after the Marvilles, when an early half-plate daguerreotype of Romania (or Bulgaria) failed to find a buyer. The low estimate was 150,000 FF and the buy-in stopped at 110,000 FF. London dealer Daniella Dangoor noted, with tongue in cheek, that there wasn't much of a photo market in Romania or Bulgaria these days.

The next lot of big interest provided the most humor for the day, when Nes and Novak, who had been partnering and bidding together for most of the day, encountered a lot that both had to go after individually: a rich group of small Desire Charnays including a self portrait. The auction house was confused to say the least. After the dust settled, Novak had won the lot, with Nes, who was bidding for a client, the underbidder.

Chartres was a week late and a dollar short. The house postponed the sale until June 12 from its original June 7 date, a full week later than the other two major auctions.

According to a number of French sources, Marc Pagneux, the expert, is rumored to prefer working with a Paris auction house. He has started to handle the Paris-based Pescheteau-Badin sales and has a very active and attractive gallery close to Drouot Richelieu, a great location and a 'must' stop on any photography collector/dealer itinerary. Again the word on the street is that most of the auction items in the Chartres sale were found by the house itself, a very strange thing in France, where the expert is expected to bring in the items.

Many French dealers that I talked to found the situation sad, because Chartres is an institution. One can only hope the house will work things out with Pagneaux and resolve its problems soon.

In any case, the high point of the Chartres auction for me was lunch with French dealers Bruno Tartarin, private sales only, and Arnaud Delas of the Hypnos Gallery, Paris. We ate at the elegant La Truie Qui File, which is the finest restaurant in Chartres, and the best one that I have personally eaten at in France. Bravo! And thank you, Bruno and Arnaud. You are amiable and entertaining hosts. Another high point of Chartres is a visit to the wonderful Cathedral, which unfortunately I missed this time around.

In any case the auction itself settled down to basically three major lots out of fewer than a hundred (including 34 added after the catalog came out). Before getting to the highlights, though, I should mention the two nearly identical Brassai prints of the Eiffel Tower at night dating to the 1950s that brought 8,000 and 11500 FF hammer prices, respectively-- about three to four times the estimate.

The first major lot was a large group of photographs and plans of Le Mont Saint Michael, some dating from as early as 1863. The lot, with over a hundred photographs, went for 22,000 FF. Not much excitement though.

Likewise the George Royer group. With about 500 pieces, including 400 silver prints, three autochromes and the rest glass negatives, the lot brought 26,000 FF against a pre-sale high estimate of only 5,000 FF. Billed as an Atget look-alike (but don't you believe it!), the lot--with the exception of about 30 prints or so--was a bit boring and hardly warranted the promotion.

Le Gray provided the most excitement of the sale. His massive (nearly three foot long) panorama of Paris was a decent, if not stunning, print. The left side was a bit lighter than the right, but it still made an impressive piece. After a brief spate of bidding the action took place primarily with one persistent phone bidder and Pagneux, who stonily looked out into space while bidding on his own commission. At 86,000 FF he gave it up to the phone bidder.

On June 28, Camels, Chambre, Cohen held a sale of modern art and some important 20th century photography, including interesting works by Man Ray, Raul Ubac, Dora Maar, Germaine Krull, Nic Aluf, Andre Kertesz, Frederick Sommer and others. About 47% sold at about 870,000 FF (hammer) or at over $150,000 with the buyers' premiums.

The highlight of the auction was clearly a 1920 photograph by Man Ray of his studio and the work called "Dancer", which sold for well over estimate at 275,000 FF (about $44,000), making it, I believe, the highest priced single photographic item to sell in a Paris auction this year. The group of PLM prints by Baldus sold in Lyon rather than Paris. A 1934 Man Ray portrait of Giorgio de Chirico also brought a good price of 115,000 FF. Still another Man Ray, a 1923 print of Louis Aragon with a ball of light, brought 85,000 FF.

The other "big" print of the sale was the fascinating and very rare image by Nic Aluf of "Sophie Taeuber Arp derriere sa tete Dada," which sold for 140,000 FF against a pre-sale estimated range of 60,000-80,000 FF.

But condition did appear to be a problem on a few lots, although some of the images, particularly the wonderful Dora Maar (sold for a mere 19,000 FF) and the Raul Ubac (unsold yet, but damaged) looked very impressive and tempting.

David Fleiss is the very helpful expert here, and he and his father maintain a popular gallery in Paris.


 

One of the last major auctions of the Spring/Summer season was the Sotheby's sale of the family archives of the Dr. John Murray estate on June 18.  Dr. John  Murray is one of the two pillars of early Indian photography, along with Capt. Linnaeus Tripe.  His extraordinarily large calotype negatives and their positive salt and albumen prints are truly a wonder to behold.  His huge multi-print panoramas are virtually unique in the history of photography. 

Probably well over 600,000 pounds sterling (or nearly $1 million) were sold at and slightly after the sale (the official number was 514,940 pounds, but that was before a lot of the real after-sale activity).  While the official records indicate a 68.58% sold percentage by lot, with extended after-sale activity that number is now well over 90%.  That is an extraordinary number considering that this was material from only one photographer, much of it duplicating itself, and that 70% is a decent mark for a regular London photo auction. 

The auction itself was sparsely attended (only about 25 people were in the room), but they were mostly heavy weight players, primarily American and British dealers and collectors, plus two major Indian collectors--one German and the other Kuwaiti.   And there was above average after-sale activity, with over 150,000 pounds sterling being sold later. 

I bought over half of my photographs actually after the auction and was one of the largest single buyers, along with Ebrahim Alkazi, the important Kuwaiti collector of Indian material.  Between the two of us we accounted for perhaps over a third of the sale's total value, although another German-based Indian collector and the dealer team of Chuck Isaacs and Robert Hershkowitz bought heavily.  London dealer, Daniella Dangoor, was bidding on my behalf and in partnership on a number of lots.  I had previewed most lots when I was in London in May for the regular Sotheby's auction.

The top four lots of the sale included:

--A group lot (#150) of 66 negatives of the Taj Mahal that sold for 51,000 pounds (about $82,000) to Ebrahim Alkazi.

--A regrouped Lot #105 The Pearl Mosque with three figures (one other lot was eliminated and most if it added to lot #105 when additional matching negative and positive images were found) went for an astounding 38,900 pounds (about $63,000) to the Canadian Centre for Architecture.  (It was good to see the Centre going for something big again.)  This became a five-piece lot, instead of just two pieces estimated at a mere 800 pounds in the catalog.  Talk about the need to be in the room!

--Lot #22, Dr. Murray's personal copy of  Picturesque Views in the North Western Provinces of India, which went to me after the sale.  The pre-sale estimate had been up to 60,000 (that's pounds sterling!).  There is only one other copy of this book known, and it is in the British Library.  There are 26 salt prints from waxed paper negatives in the book. 

--American dealer Lee Marks bought Lot 167, an absolutely fabulous salt print of the Pavilion and Mosque attached to the Taj, for her US collector, Howard Stein.  Stein, the former CEO of the Dreyfus Fund has--with Lee's excellent help--been putting together a world-class collection of photography.  The price on this exceptional image was 21,850 pounds (about $35,000).

After that prices dropped down to about half the level of this last lot and there were a large number of lots clustered around the 8,000-12,000 pound area. Other bidders at this level, besides those mentioned previously, included book dealer Bernie Shapero, Hans Kraus, Jr., Michael Wilson and Pierre Spake. Lydia Cresswell-Jones, the specialist in charge of this auction, in typically British understatement, said, I am very pleased with the result of today's sale.  It has been a privilege to handle such a complete body of work by one of the pre-eminent amateur photographers of India."

I was also able to buy a number of (relatively, in some instances on the three-part panels) matching sets of negatives and positives, including two Taj Mahal three-panel panoramic sets; a pair of two-panel sets of the Jama Masjid at Agra; and matching negative and positive single-image sets of the Taj Mahal, the King's Tower at Fort at Agra, and the Ruins of the Ancient Palace at Agra.  With my partner Daniella, we were also able to buy the entire run (only 27) of stereo positives, which are extremely rare and are in generally superb condition.

Besides over a 100 photographs and negatives, I was able to purchase the entire Murray correspondence files and both his and his wife's set of diaries, plus an excellent portrait of Murray by H.S. Mendelssohn.  My intention is to put together a major publication of this material to be published, hopefully, by next year.  If you want me to put you on the waiting list for details on this book, including pricing, etc., please let me know.  Please include your full name, address, and phone/fax information.  You can send me an email at: anovak@comcat.com .

As you can probably see, I am extremely bullish about the importance of Dr. John Murray and this auction.  I'm currently in discussions about an extended museum tour of the material.  If you have an interest as a museum, please feel free to contact me.

 

I am happy to report that I was blissfully unaware of the Ebay database server crash that occurred on June 10 and extended through nearly June 15, in terms of impact.  However, upon returning from Paris, I became quickly aware of the press reports (particularly in the high tech magazines like Internet Week) of the fiasco and I experienced my own little Ebay miracle (no, not avoiding this mess).  A REAL LIVE PERSON CALLED ME FROM EBAY WHO ACTUALLY APOLOGIZED FOR THE SHUTDOWN. 

Yes, that's right you don't have to read this twice.  She told me of the company's commitment to hire the best consultants and to put in a redundant system to provide backup.  I took the occasion to ask her a number of questions, including how exactly the Ebay purchase of Butterfield & Butterfield is going to effect each organization, and is Ebay going to buy Swann, as is rumored.  She said she'd have someone get back to me.  Guess what.  Yeh, no call back yet.  But she was very nice.

In any case, the $5 million blip in Ebay's financials and big stock price drop--down to a low of 133, now back up a good bit--even caught the attention of Meg and Pierre (Ebay's founders) themselves, who have actually signed a letter on the Ebay announcement board, apologizing for the outage and pledging better emphasis on the fundamentals (like site stability) rather than the bells and whistles.  We-e-e-l-l-l-l, unfortunately on June 28 and 29, the site got hit with CGI spikes in its CGI server pool, one of the problems in the earlier disaster.  Then on June 30 the site's database servers (the other problem in the big crash) had problems for several hours.  The saga continues.

According to Internet Week, Ebay suffered the earlier site-killing database and CGI server failures a mere two weeks before implementation of a high availability Sun Solaris-based system would have provided hot backup for the corrupted systems.  Looks like they're still behind schedule in their implementation or something else is amiss.

The hot-backup capability "might not have prevented the outage," according to Ebay spokesperson Kevin Pursglove, "but it would have shortened it by 20 or 21 hours."

According to Internet Week, the problems on the earlier system failure weren't a lack of redundancy, but a lack of a system software patch and an Ebay IT staff who were troubleshooting an applications performance problem by running complex diagnostics on a LIVE server.  Ebay said that these claims were "inaccurate" but declined to provide any further details, according to the magazine.  

The Nielson/Net Ratings noted that page views on Ebay dropped by 51% on June 11, but many of the customers and dealers were back by the next week.  But Ebay and other on-line alternatives generally experience a sharp slow down from just prior to July 4th to after Labor Day in Sept., as vacations and good weather take their toll on computer bidders.  I will probably not post much now until the Fall because of this factor.  But I'll spend the time trying to work on my upcoming web site.

By the way, if you think that the problem is just Ebay's, you're probably incorrect.  According to Internet Week, the situation could hit nearly any major interactive site.  Ebay's problems are just a reflection of their success, with the huge amount of buyers trafficking the site, but that's why most dealers use it.

We'll have to see what will happen at Sotheby's, who have teamed up with Amazon's auction team (now Amazon has one of the worst auction sites that I've ever experienced) to launch their higher end auction site this month!  Right in the middle of the summer doldrums.  S-m-a-a-r-r-t-t.

I'm still waiting to hear from Christie's on their on-line auction site.