I'm back home after a few days in Zurich. I had 120,000 Swiss francs worth of bids for the Hess-Divo sale, and managed to buy only 30,000 of lots. There were some erratic prices in my view, and some extremely high prices for relatively mediocre copies of not-that-rare works. Some lots were in poor condition.

There were some bargains as usual in such sales. I am pleased with what I bought, and my customers who gave me bids are also pleased...on the whole the prices were very high, and shows interest in books continues to be very strong. Apparently very few U.S. bidders participated unless they bid directly with the auction house. Was the economy a factor for them? It's very difficult to analyse, as with all sales of this kind.