VALÉORINE London

Knowledge centre

Questions answered

A permanent reference of 108 questions on buying, registration, bidding, payment, shipping, export, valuation, condition, provenance, preservation and the security of your account — each answered on its own page.

An oak card-index cabinet at VALÉORINE, London, one drawer open on handwritten reference cards

108 questions across 17 topics

A bidder's numbered card and a tablet on an oak table beside a closed catalogue

Buying at Auction

How our sales are conducted, from catalogue to invoice.

All 9 questions
A registration form in a leather folder beside a document wallet and pen on walnut

Registration & Identity

Opening an account, registering for a sale and verification.

All 9 questions
A tablet propped on an oak desk showing a bidding screen beside a closed catalogue

Bidding

Increments, reserves, absentee and maximum bids, and closing.

All 9 questions
An invoice in a leather folder beside a brass letter opener and a stamped envelope

Payments & Invoices

Buyer premium, invoicing, settlement and refunds.

All 9 questions
Books wrapped in acid-free tissue with cotton tape and foam corners on a packing bench

Shipping & Collection

Packing, despatch, insurance in transit and collection in person.

All 9 questions
Packed lots labelled for despatch in the VALÉORINE London offices

International Buyers

Customs, duties, export licences and cross-border purchases.

All 9 questions
A brass loupe and folding rule laid on a typed valuation report beside a closed antiquarian book

Estimates & Valuations

Estimates, reserves, and valuations for insurance and probate.

All 9 questions
A consignment agreement open in a leather folder with a fountain pen resting across it

Consigning & Selling

Submitting an object, the review process and settlement.

All 9 questions
An antiquarian book showing a repaired tear beside a magnifier and a typed condition report

Authentication, Condition & Provenance

Condition reports, cataloguing conventions and ownership history.

All 9 questions
Labelled archival solander boxes on shelving in a climate-controlled store

Preservation, Storage & Insurance

Housing, environment, handling, display and cover.

All 9 questions
An illuminated manuscript leaf on vellum with a gilded initial, resting on grey felt

Manuscripts

Medieval and later manuscripts, charters, letters and archives.

All 1 question
Eighteenth-century calf-bound quarto volumes with gilt spines, one open on a foam cradle

Rare Books

Editions, issues, states, bindings and bibliographical description.

All 2 questions
A nineteenth-century autograph letter with its cover and a fragment of red wax seal

Autographs

Autograph letters, signed documents and questions of authenticity.

All 2 questions
Nineteenth-century albumen photographic prints mounted on card beside a cotton glove

Photography

Photographic processes, printing dates and vintage material.

All 2 questions
An engraved map and a pencil landscape study laid flat with archival interleaving tissue

Works on Paper

Drawings, watercolours, prints and questions of edition.

All 2 questions
A private client desk with a laptop, leather folder and brass lamp

Accounts

Your client account, its functions and the records held within it.

All 2 questions
Secured archival storage with labelled linen boxes at VALÉORINE, London

Privacy & Security

Confidentiality, personal data, cookies and protection against fraud.

All 7 questions
A specialist's desk at VALÉORINE, London, with a valuation report and an archival box of manuscripts
Specialist's desk

Each answer is written by the specialists who conduct our sales and revised as our practice develops. If a question is not answered here, it will be answered in writing.

Also in the reference library

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