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BEST BIDS: The Insider’s Guide to Buying at Auction
Viking Studio/Penguin Books


For first-time bidders who might be somewhat mystified and intimidated by the auction process, Best Bids spells it all out—from the preview to the bidding, from small country auctions to giant internationals like Sotheby’s and Christie’s, and to bidding on the Internet. This comprehensive book details the nuts and bolts of the auction process: how to bid, how to consign an object for sale, how to evaluate an item, and how to recognize a fake.

Best Bids is also filled with illustrated examples and advice from experts in sixteen of the most popular collecting fields, such as American folk art, American furniture, books and manuscripts, contemporary art, European ceramics, paintings, photographs, 20th-century decorative arts and more. Each of these chapters covers such topics as condition, quality, rarity and pricing.

The appendix contains the names and addresses of more than 150 auction houses throughout the United States, together with the type of merchandise they handle, as well as a listing of helpful art and antiques resources. Best Bids offers a wealth of valuable information on a fascinating subject presented clearly and readably for all to enjoy and learn to use.

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