Rare Books & Manuscripts Pricing History Data for Market Research & Investment
Realized auction prices for rare books, manuscripts, maps, atlases, letters and printed material from auction houses worldwide. 780,410 records across 358 auction houses, 1991 to 2026, every price normalized to USD. Real transactions, not asking prices.
One Rare Books & Manuscripts dataset. Six ways to put it to work.
From a thirty-second valuation to a full API feed, every ALT/FNDATA product runs on the same Rare Books & Manuscripts pricing data: 780,410 records, 358 houses, 475,720 realized sales.
See what the world's books & manuscripts actually sold for.
A live slice of the Rare Books & Manuscripts dataset: top realized results. Every figure is a real transaction, not an estimate.
Powerful visual insights
Top authors include
| authors | Lots |
|---|---|
| Lug Semic | 343 |
| HERGÉ | 336 |
| Potter | 250 |
| Charles Dickens | 246 |
| Bædeker, Karl | 201 |
| GOREY, EDWARD. | 194 |
| Jules Verne | 186 |
| JACOB LAWRENCE | 178 |
| ORTELIUS, ABRAHAM. | 177 |
| AUDUBON, JOHN JAMES. | 176 |
| STEINBECK, JOHN. 1902-1968. | 151 |
| OSLER, WILLIAM. 1849-1919. | 141 |
Market coverage
| Leading houses | Lots |
|---|---|
| Bonhams | 155,498 |
| Swann Auction Galleries | 75,467 |
| Artcurial | 28,636 |
| Sotheby's | 26,917 |
| Dominic Winter | 17,564 |
| Esquis Auctions | 15,736 |
| Ka-Mondo | 15,509 |
| Ader | 13,951 |
In every record
- author
- title
- format (book, manuscript, map, atlas)
- year & edition
- realized price (USD)
- sale date
- auction house
Enterprise data access for financial firms
Connect directly to the Rare Books & Manuscripts dataset via API, BigQuery or bulk download. Used by hedge funds, wealth managers, insurers and academic institutions.
- Full transaction-level data, 1991 to 2026
- Custom date ranges, filters and fields
- USD-normalized realized prices
- Dedicated onboarding support
Frequently asked questions
- How many Rare Books & Manuscripts records are in the dataset?
- 780,410 records, including 475,720 verified sold lots with realized prices, from 358 auction houses (1991-2026).
- What time period does it cover?
- 1991 to 2026 (35 years), updated continuously as new sales close.
- Are the prices realized or asking prices?
- Realized. Every figure is what an item actually sold for at auction, normalized to USD; unsold lots are tracked separately.
- How do I access the data?
- Through the app (Search Engine and AI Chat Assistant), the REST API, CSV export, or a bulk data licence. Start free, or talk to us about licensing.
Related datasets
Source: ALT/FNDATA, 19.24M realized auction results across 37 collectible categories, normalized to USD. Methodology · All datasets · Brands · Market statistics