\u201cRare books can easily reach mid- to high-six figures and the low-seven figures,\u201d he says, noting the exceptional completeness of that First Folio.<\/p>\n
To qualify for a place in Peter Harrington\u2019s coveted inventory, books typically must be first editions, in exceptional condition, complete, and sought after by collectors. Rarity alone, as Sotheby\u2019s recently noted<\/a>, does not necessarily equal value.<\/p>\n \u201cMany of our buyers view these purchases as a \u2018passion investment,\u2019 \u201d Pedersen says. \u201cWe recommend collecting books because you love them. It should be something that\u2019s important to you if you\u2019re going to spend that kind of money.\u201d<\/p>\n Many of Peter Harrington\u2019s most coveted books and letters \u2014 including a first edition of Euclid\u2019s Elements \u2014 are making their way to Dallas<\/a> starting Friday, July 31, as part of the Dallas Antiquarian Book Fair at Half Price Books in Carrollton. Other rare works include a signed George Washington letter, an inscribed first edition of Cormac McCarthy\u2019s Blood Meridian, Richard Nixon\u2019s The Real War inscribed to Gerald Ford, and a first edition of Isaac Asimov\u2019s I, Robot.<\/p>\n Pedersen, who holds a degree in U.S. history and a graduate degree in 20th-century American literature, says his real training has been \u201con the job.\u201d The common denominator among rare book specialists is a love of books.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I started in this field, I thought I knew a lot about books, but what I really knew about was the people who wrote them,\u201d he says. \u201cYou need to know a lot more than that to be successful in the rare book world. After 20 years, I\u2019m learning new things every day.\u201d<\/p>\n News of the discovery of a historical letter, book, or document could prompt Pedersen to catch a flight immediately to examine the piece for possible inclusion in Peter Harrington\u2019s inventory. Part of his job entails cultivating relationships with collectors or potential buyers. His first question for potential clients is never about money or budgets. Instead, he asks about their favorite book, sparking conversations that could ultimately lead to a rare book finding a new home.<\/p>\n Accompanying Pedersen at the Dallas Antiquarian Book Fair will be a trove of rare documents and books, including:<\/p>\n Alan Turing\u2019s Faster Than Thought: One of the earliest accessible books on electronic computing, featuring one of Turing\u2019s final published essays and predicting the coming \u201csecond Industrial Revolution\u201d driven by computers. These and other works range from a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars. While multimillion-dollar sales of Shakespeare\u2019s First Folio can make the rare book market seem out of reach, Pedersen says historically significant books and documents are often available for just a few thousand dollars.<\/p>\n Texas highlights at the book fair will include an inscribed first edition of Cormac McCarthy\u2019s Blood Meridian. Published in 1985 but set along the Texas-Mexico border in 1849 and 1850, the novel explores the violence of America\u2019s westward expansion and is widely regarded as a modern reimagining of the Western myth. The signed first edition is priced at $44,000.<\/p>\n Collector demand drives the rare book market as much as any other factor, he adds, with science fiction, LGBTQ-related works and African Americana among the categories attracting increased interest. Many Texas buyers are interested in works tied to the state\u2019s history, as well as literature connected to Texas and the American West.<\/p>\n \u201cDallas has a lot of great private collectors,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re looking forward to meeting or reconnecting with them next week. My favorite part about this job is talking with people who love books. I\u2019m going to go have great conversations with people I\u2019ve never met, and the one thing we\u2019ll have in common is a love of books.\u201d<\/p>\n The Dallas Antiquarian Book Fair takes place from July 31 through August 2. Afterwards, make a day of it and visit Bird\u2019s Bookstore<\/a> or one of the other 10 Best Bookstores in Dallas<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the world of antiquarian book sales, Peter Harrington is a global leader. The London-based bookstore garnered national…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":387948,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103],"class_list":["post-387947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Eric](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Eric02_Original-scaled.jpg\")
Eric Pedersen, senior rare book specialist at London-based Peter Harrington, will showcase an array of rare books, letters, and historical documents at the Dallas Antiquarian Book Fair. (Photo by Andrey & Melissa PR)
\nA Day in the Life of a Rare Book Specialist<\/p>\n
\nJoseph Heller commission: The Army commission appointing Heller a second lieutenant, along with wartime documents he later annotated. His experiences as a bombardier would inspire Catch-22.
\nRichard Nixon\u2019s The Real War: Signed by Nixon and inscribed to President Gerald Ford, who signed it beneath Nixon\u2019s inscription. It\u2019s a remarkable artifact documenting one of the most consequential political relationships in modern American history.<\/p>\n![\"Alan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/188231-Bowden-scaled.jpg\")
One of the earliest accessible books on electronic computing, Faster Than Thought includes one of Alan Turing\u2019s final published essays and is among the highlights of Peter Harrington\u2019s exhibition. (Photo by Andrey & Melissa PR)
\nRare Texas Finds and Recent Trends in the Antiquarian Book Market<\/p>\n