短短八天，美國文學界就失去了兩位巨擘：文風精煉的湯姆·沃爾夫和筆鋒辛辣的菲利普·羅斯于5月14日和22日先后辭世。偉大作家去世后，人們往往在他們身后的空虛中重燃了對逝者作品的興趣、對他們初版書簽名本的興趣，而后者可是越來越奇貨可居。

未來三天，古董書商協會倫敦珍本書展會展出西方文學界的奪目之作，你會看到人們對著它們評頭論足、討價還價。書展在倫敦洋氣時髦的巴特西公園舉辦，這是世界上最大、最著名的藏書界盛事。J.R.R.·托爾金的價錢已經確定了（《霍比特人》的初版預計會超過13000美元），但市場對剛剛去世的沃爾夫和羅斯的作品如何反應，尚不得而知。

“湯姆·沃爾夫去世后的48小時之內，他的簽名書銷量喜人。”珍本善本二手書電商及倫敦珍本書展古董角（Vintage Corner）的贊助商AbeBooks的公關宣傳經理理查德·戴維斯說：“我覺得市場對佩利·普羅斯作品的反應會差不多。”價格上升，這是簡單的經濟學現象。他還說：“羅斯和沃爾福都挺愛給書簽名，簽名版的數量很多。”但是簽名版的數量沒辦法增加了，市場的需求才剛剛開始上漲。

《虛榮的篝火》里講到了垃圾債券，但這本書本身永遠都不會成為高風險的垃圾債券。不同的作者和文風在市場上火爆程度起起伏伏,但按照《珍本文摘》（Rare Books Digest）的說法，“珍本市場鮮有大震蕩；因為這個市場的特點就是‘發(fā)展緩慢但是穩(wěn)定’。”

羅斯的處女作《別了，哥倫布》獲得了1960年美國國家圖書大獎，你有它的初版簽名本？恭喜你，其他人要想買本書況不錯的，可得掏6500美元。想從大減價的書攤里挑一本？皮面裝訂版《人性的污點》簽名本可是只需要花649.95美元。

不過你找找家里，看看自從女兒成年后就閑置的房間里，興許能從書架上找到一本布滿灰塵的1997年版《哈利波特和與魔法石》。“很多人都不知道他們正坐在珍本書上”，紐約Strand書店的新聞主管蕾·阿茨舒勒說，“而這本哈利波特有可能是本珍貴的初版書。”

沒有人能斷定接下來哪種風格或是哪個作者能火，但要記住，一本書要想有收藏價值或者成為珍本，可不一定得是舊書。最近藝術書籍開始受到收藏家的推崇。“我們注意到，人們對普通舊書的需求在減少，對于有視覺效果的書的需求在上升。”阿茨舒勒說。想想看，買一本裝幀精美的《夜色溫柔》或者是平面設計藝術家的新色彩書，“相當于買一送一”，蕾說，“既買到了作品，又擁有了藝術家的簽名。”

初版書和簽名書仍然是珍本書行業(yè)的兩大支柱。但就像葡萄酒、汽車和表類一樣，這個市場上也有獨角獸產品。戴維斯說：“《了不起的蓋茨比》的初版書已經非常稀有了，如果書的護封保存不錯，能再貴上10萬美元。”你可別想在eBay上買到一本這樣的。《珍本文摘》的市場分析表明：“稀有的初版書，重要的、原創(chuàng)的、限量供應的首印本，書籍作者具有較高收藏價值，是獨一無二的寶貝……具有這些特點的精品其實正在慢慢消失。”

書況很重要，題詞也同樣重要。下次你再排隊等簽售的時候，讓作者給你畫幅圖，或者是寫幾句有特色的段子。這能增值。“杰夫·范德米爾給《出生》（Borne）的一些書本上提了插圖”，阿茨舒勒說，“詩人帕特里夏·洛克伍德畫了《牧師回憶錄》里面的人物”，同樣的，能讓你的書增值。“上星期，一本《太空英雄》初版簽名書賣出了3500美元”，戴維斯說。這本書上有沃爾夫、查克·伊格爾和約翰·格倫的簽名，因此價錢飆升，遠遠超過只有沃爾夫一個人潦草簽名的普通版本。

在各種簽名書里，站在金字塔尖的是專屬致謝書，這種書的簽名簽在致謝頁上，題字的對象就是作者本書的感謝對象。市面上這種書顯然不多。想要嗎？如果你是小熊維尼的粉絲，花上2250美元，就可以擁有A·A·米爾恩妻子專屬的《生日派對和其他故事》。或者，只用花125美元，你也能把海倫·雷諾的《米蘭妮音樂1958》（1958 Music for Melanie）作者專門為她的妯娌珍妮題詞的那版買回家。

關于買書，書商的最終建議是：買你的心頭好。雖然說投資書籍能賺錢，但逐利不應該成為你的動機。戴維斯說：“書籍的價格像股票一樣，有漲有跌。”至于從哪買，她說，“如果你想要特定的某一本書，登錄像我們這樣的電商網站，立刻就滿足你的需求”，但也別忘了去淘淘傳統(tǒng)的二手店或者跳蚤市場，里面興許就藏著寶貝呢。誰知道呢？說不定你能淘到一本價值連城的書，這書能買下Strand書店三樓的善本室，那還放著一本亨利·馬蒂斯簽了名的詹姆斯·喬伊斯《尤里西斯》。只需要花上45000美元，你就能把這本書帶回家。（財富中文網）

譯者：Agatha

In a mere eight days, we lost two titans of American letters: first, the dapper Tom Wolfe on May 14 and then the acerbic Philip Roth on May 22. As is customary with the passing of any great artist, within the void they leave behind is born a renewed interest in their work—and an ever-decreasing supply of signed first editions.

For the next three days, highlights of the Western canon will be displayed, appraised, and haggled over at the Antiquarian Booksellers Association Rare Book Fair London. Held in the city’s sparkling new Battersea Evolution, it’s one of the largest and most prestigious bibliophilic happenings in the world. The price is already set for J.R.R. Tolkien (a first edition of The Hobbit is expected to fetch over $13,000), but who can say how the market will respond to the recently departed Wolfe and Roth.

“I saw dozens of signed Tom Wolfe books get purchased in the forty-eight hours after his death,” says Richard Davies, public relations and publicity manager at AbeBooks, an online dealer in used, rare, and collectible books, and sponsor of Rare Book Fair’s Vintage Corner. “I expect a similar reaction to Philip Roth.” Prices will rise; it’s simple economics. “Both Roth and Wolfe were generous book signers, and copies are plentiful,” he adds. But supply of signed copies just halted, and increased demand has only begun.

Bonfire of the Vanities may have been about junk bonds, though the book itself will probably never behave like one. Individual authors and genres trend up and down, yet, according to Rare Books Digest: “We have no expectation of drastic shifts in the rare book market; a market characterized as being ‘slow but steady.’”

Do you have a signed first edition of Goodbye, Columbus, Roth’s literary debut, which won the 1960 National Book Award? Good for you, because the rest of us will have to pony up $6,500 for a copy in good condition. On the bargain rack, a signed, leather-bound The Human Stain will set you back only $649.95.

But maybe you‘ve still got a dusty, 1997 copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone on your now-grown daughter‘s shelf in her ne’er used room at home. “A lot of people don’t know that they’re sitting on rare books,” says Leigh Altshuler, communications director for Strand Book Store in New York. “That Harry Potter may actually be a valuable first edition.”

No one can predict which genres or authors will trend in the near future, but keep in mind that for a book to be collectible and or rare it does not necessarily have to be old. Lately, art books are gaining traction among collectors. “We see less demands for simply old books, and more for visually captivating books,” says Altshuler. Think Tender is the Night with a beautiful dust jacket, or neo-coloring books from graphic artists. “You’re getting a twofer,” she says. “It’s an author and the signature of an artist.”

Still, first editions and signed copies are the two cornerstones of the rare book business. And as with wines or cars or watches, there are unicorns: “A first edition of The Great Gatsby,“ says Davies, “is a very rare book, and the presence of a jacket in fine condition would add about $100,000 to its value.” Don’t expect to find one on EBay. According to market analysis from Rare Books Digest: “Scarce first editions; first issue of important, original, limited availability, collectible authors’, one-of-a-kind treasures … this elite category of books is in-fact moving slowly towards extinction.”

Condition is vital, but so is the inscription. Next time you’re standing in line at a book signing, ask the author to draw a picture or inscribe something witty that stands out. It adds value. “Jeff VanderMeer inscribed copies of Borne with illustrations,” says Altshuler. “Poet Patricia Lockwood drew characters from Priestdaddy.” Again, added value. “Last week, a signed first edition of The Right Stuff sold for $3,500,” says Davies. It had been signed by Wolfe, Chuck Yeager, and John Glenn, skyrocketing its price past that of a generic signed copy with some hasty John Hancock from Wolfe.

The top of this signed book pyramid is called a dedication copy, meaning it’s signed on the dedication page and inscribed to the person for whom the author dedicated the book. There are, understandably, not many of these on the market. Want one? Winnie the Pooh fans can own A.A. Milne’s wife’s own copy of Birthday Party and Other Stories for $2,250. Or, for an easy $125, you can add to your nightstand Helen Reynolds’s 1958 Music for Melanie, inscribed by the author to her sister-in-law, Jean.

Ultimately, sellers advise, buy what you love. Although investing in books can make you money, profits shouldn’t be the motivation. “It’s like the stock market,” says Davies. “A book value’s can decrease as well as increase.” As for how to get started, “If you really want that particular book, you can get instant gratification via websites like ours,” she says, but don’t neglect the old fashioned shoe-leather search for treasures buried in thrift shops and yard sales. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find something worthy of the Strand’s third-floor Rare Book Room, where a signed copy of James Joyce’s Ulysses is also illustrated and signed by Henri Matisse. It can be yours for a mere $45,000.