Internet rewrites history for collectors of rare and antique books

Jan. 18, 2002
Fear not if your copy of Petrus' commentary on the Psalms seems a little tattered. If you've got the $8,500 to plunk down, Tavistock Books in Alameda can sell you the edition published in 1480.
Internet searches are making hard-to-find books easier to locate, and the recession is forcing rare book prices to plateau after swelling with the economic boom. But the core of rare book lovers remain, say dealers like Tavistock owner Vic Zoschak Jr., and they're finding a shelf full of potential deals.
But Zoschak says price appreciation should be the last reason to buy. "You should buy a book because you love it," he says.
Truly rare books -- like incunabula, or "inky," from the 15th-century cradle of printing -- remain expensive, but the rate of appreciation has slowed from about 20 percent a year to 5 to 10 percent, Zoschak says.
Prices for popular 20th-century American literature -- well-known books snatched up quickly in recent years -- also have leveled out after a 10- to 15-year climb, says Tom Goldwasser, owner of 12-year-old Thomas A. Goldwasser Rare Books in San Francisco. That's mainly due to the departure of many unsophisticated buyers who had entered the market.