Services — Le Chef-d'Œuvre Inconnu

My craft doesn’t stop at the bookshop’s walls. I’m here to examine, value, purchase and give a second life to libraries that have fallen asleep. Whether it’s a single volume or an entire collection, I work with the same care and the same honesty.

Expertise

I examine each book to identify its edition (original, reprint, facsimile), date it precisely, evaluate its state of conservation, and — when possible — trace its provenance.

This expertise is for heirs who want to know what sleeps in a family library, for curious people who came across a book by chance, and for professionals seeking a second opinion. My museum-trained eye (palaeography and the representation of death in 15th-century sculpture) brings a fine reading of the object — well beyond a dealer’s catalogue.

I deliver my conclusions in writing, documented and argued. You leave with a detailed report, usable for insurance, succession, or simply to understand.

Valuation

To value a book is to translate the object into a market price — without jargon, without inflation, without devaluation.

If a book has immense sentimental value but no market value, I’ll tell you. If a treasure is hiding under the dust, I’ll honour it. This transparency is the bookshop’s absolute rule: your time deserves more than empty promises.

A valuation can be on a single piece (a book, an engraving) or on an entire library. It can serve a sale, a division of estate, an insurance policy or simply your curiosity.

Library acquisition

I purchase antique books, themed collections and entire libraries. For each proposal, I draft a contract tailored to your situation: outright purchase, selective acquisition, consignment, advice for auction sale. The choice is always yours.

Let me be clear about prices: I don’t pay mortgages, but a fair tribute that recognises the object’s value while allowing me to carry on my work of preservation — conservation, restoration, finding serious buyers. My goal isn’t to make a fortune at your expense, but to ensure a rare book doesn’t end up pulped.

On-site visit

I travel free of charge across the Lille metropolitan area to value a library on site. For important libraries (fifty antique books or more), I travel throughout metropolitan France — travel expenses to be discussed depending on the distance.

Working where the books live means respecting their context and yours. Many questions find their answer simply by seeing how a library is arranged: who put it together, for what reasons, over what period. It’s also the moment when I can advise you on whether to sell — or not.