Appraisers Association of America Lecture on Autographs and Manuscripts (New York City) – On Monday, May 9, The Appraisers Association of America will present the sixth and final lecture for the 2004-2005 season of the Ronald Bourgeault sponsored Lecture Series, Appraisin
News-Antique.com - Nov 30,-0001 - For his lecture to appraisers, curator and collectors Mr. Lowenherz will begin by talking about why certain autographs are valuable and give the components of content, condition, rarity, desirability, association and whether it has been published as the elements for consideration. He will define the terms and provide a brief study of the nomenclature of autograph, holograph, manuscript and introduce abbreviations such as ALS, TLS and DS. Other issues Mr. Lowenherz will consider are authenticity, and when appraising autographs why a dealer knows values better than a generalist appraiser. He will confront the conflict as a dealer of appraising what he wants. Following the introduction, Mr. Lowenherz will speak about appraisals of art, music and history.
While quite young, David was introduced to the world of autograph auctions and dealers by his father, an autograph collector. Twenty-six years ago David opened Lion Heart Autographs, Inc. and from the beginning he made his business international, buying and selling in the U.S. and Europe. The business grew from a one-man operation to one of the premier historical manuscript dealerships in the U.S. specializing in music, literature, science, art and history. Lion Heart Autographs combines David’s great love of rare collectibles, scholarship and a strong business sense. One long-standing client refers to David as his “personal curator.” He has published forty-two catalogues that themselves have become collectibles.
In 2000, David began working on a series of books that bring together famous and important letters organized by theme. The first book, The Greatest Love Letters of All Time, published by Crown, a division of Random House, has received enormous attention and praise since its January 2003 release and went, almost immediately, into second, third and now a fourth printing. In conjunction with the release of his book, David lectured to a sold out audience at New York’s 92nd St. Y, appeared on the BBC’s World Service and on many U.S. radio. He continued to speak on the subject of love letters and autograph collecting while completing his second book of the series, The 50 Greatest Letters from America’s Wars, published by Crown in December 2002.
As a collector David views his autographs not as signatures and words set to paper, but as historical monuments, frozen and preserved for all time. To him, they are tangible links to individuals and events of ages past. David’s personal collecting interest is Robert Frost. His Frost collection, perhaps the finest in private hands, was displayed at the Grolier Club in 1999, on the 125th anniversary of Frost’s birth. It is catalogued in the limited edition volume Robert Frost: The David H. Lowenherz Collection – Letters, Manuscripts, and Inscribed Books.
David is a member of the Manuscript Society and the Grolier Club. He is a Fellow of the Morgan Library, and co-founder, first president, and current treasurer of PADA – Professional Autograph Dealer’s Association. He has conducted insurance and IRS appraisals for The New York Times, The Library of Congress, Carnegie Hall, the music publishers Boosey and Hawkes, the
