We collectors often use the terms “uncommon,” “scarce” and “rare” when we describe this or that piece of magicana. And dealers really love to use those terms to “pump up” the desirability of an item offered for sale – sell the sizzle, it’s the American way!

Alas, little common ground and agreement seems to exist on the meaning and use of such terms in the collecting world, and I’ve struggled over the years to develop a consistency of my own usage. A recent exchange with a fellow collector got me thinking about this anew. Although it’s almost certainly an exercise in futility, here are some talking points and suggested definitions for these terms, using magic books as examples.

A book is uncommon if (a) new copies are no longer for sale and (b) less than 500 copies were printed or are known to exist.

A book is scarce if (a) new copies are no longer for sale and (b) less than 100 copies were printed or are known to exist.

A book is rare if (a) new copies are no longer for sale and (b) less than 30 copies were printed or are known to exist.

A book is very rare if (a) new copies are no longer for sale and (b) less than 10 copies were printed or are known to exist.

Note that the following suggested definitions deal in absolute numbers; that is, the focus is on the number of copies in existence and not on the cost or market demand for same. So, a rare book could exist that nobody wants (and thus such a book would not fetch a high price), and conversely, there could be an uncommon (or common) book that everybody wants (and thus such a book might be very expensive indeed to buy).

As collectors, we’ve all experienced the frustration of trying to locate a copy of a book which had a relatively large print run (at least in the magic publishing business), and learning that (a) obtaining a copy costs a ton of money or (b) it’s difficult to find a ready seller. So where do the defined terms “uncommon,” “scarce” and “rare” fit in with these situations? My belief: they don’t fit in very well at all.

In situation (a), the high price is simply a matter of there being more ready buyers than sellers, and it doesn’t matter how many copies of a book were printed (i.e., the rarity of a book has nothing to do with the price). If 40 collectors want to own a copy of a book printed in an edition of 25 copies, then the price will be high. And if 12,000 collectors want to own a copy of a book printed in an edition of 10,000 copies, then the price will also be high. Ricky Jay’s Cards as Weapons is a good example of a relatively high-priced book of which thousands of copies probably exist.

Situation (b) is a completely different animal, and here, the words “uncommon,” “scarce” and “rare” can be adapted to help define the market scarcity levels of magicana. Here are my suggested definitions for describing market scarcity, again using magic books as examples.

A book is uncommon in commerce if (a) new copies are no longer for sale, and (b) there are times during a 5-year period when no copies are available for purchase via the internet and/or from well-known or highly-publicized sources, and (c) fewer than 25 copies are offered for sale via the internet and/or from well-known or highly-publicized sources during a 5-year period.

A book is scarce in commerce if (a) new copies are no longer for sale, and (b) there are extended periods of time during a 5-year period when no copies are available for purchase via the internet and/or from well-known or highly-publicized sources, and (c) fewer than 10 copies are offered for sale via the internet and/or from well-known or highly-publicized sources during a 5-year period.

A book is rare in commerce if (a) new copies are no longer for sale, and (b) for the majority of time in a 5-year period no copies are available for purchase via the internet and/or from well-known or highly-publicized sources, and (c) fewer than 5 copies are offered for sale via the internet and/or from well-known or highly-publicized sources during a 5-year period.

A book is very rare in commerce if (a) new copies are no longer for sale, and (b) on average only one copy is offered for sale via the internet and/or from well-known or highly-publicized sources every 10 years.

If any good dialogue (or, heaven forbid, some consensus) comes of this, that’d be great. I’ll concede up front that Webster’s, etc., will define “rare” and "scarce" quite differently, but would argue that established antiquarian book dealers would find such dictionary definitions largely inapplicable to book cataloguing and description.

Clay

Clay,
Very interesting reading. I see you mention the one book that for the life of me I cannot figure out. That book is Cards as Weapons by Ricky Jay, absolutely NO MAGIC in the book at all, yet sells for an astronomical price. I have a copy and the only reason I do is because of its value, not because of its content.
Rennie

Hi Rennie,

Chalk it up to the tremendous popularity of Jay. As time passes, it is likely, IMHO, that prices for this title will drop dramatically, because there were thousands of copies printed.

Granted, the subject of what qualifies as a "rare" item is NOT a very sexy topic, yet "rare" and "scarce" are frequently used by all of us. I'm a bit disappointed that, with such frequent usage, there seems to be no real interest in discussing the matter.

Clay

Thanks for clearing that up. I thought it had to do with taking feathers from the breast of a grey goose, tossing them up in the air and seeing which way the wind blew.

Bill,
Lately, I think your system may be more accurate.