The Arader Grading System

Introduced by W. Graham Arader III in 1981, the Arader Grading System was created to bring the same rigor that has always driven the coin, stamp, and baseball card markets to the world of rare maps, books, and prints — a field that, until then, had no comparable standard.

Baseball cards, coins, diamonds, and stamps have long relied on formal grading systems to establish confidence and value for collectors. Rare maps, books, and prints — objects centuries older and often far more historically significant — had no such framework. In 1981, Arader Galleries set out to close that gap, publishing the Arader Grading System to give collectors a consistent way to evaluate what makes a map, book, or print exceptional. More than four decades later, it remains the standard we apply to every piece we offer.

The system rests on four factors, always considered in this order of importance.

Concept

Concept is the most important factor in evaluating a map, book, or print. Before the nineteenth century, the primary purpose of a map was to convey information — not to decorate. Concept measures the effect a piece had when it was made: how much new information it presented, and how important it remains historically today. A map that was the first to show a discovery, chart a coastline, or record an expedition carries far more weight than a later, more accurate copy made once the information was already known.

Concept ratings: Primal Impact · Major Impact · Considerable Impact · Important · Not Rated

Aesthetics

Aesthetics judges the original design, decoration, and craftsmanship of a piece — the balance of the composition, the appropriateness of ornament to its subject, and, where present, the quality of period coloring. Later repairs or added color are not counted here; they belong under Condition. Aesthetics is secondary to Concept, since a map's first purpose was always to inform, not to decorate.

Aesthetics ratings: Superb · Excellent · Very Good · Good · Not Rated

Condition

Condition accounts for everything that has happened to a piece between its publication and today — trimming, tears, fading, staining, and restoration. Because maps, books, and prints were made to be used, few survive in pristine state, and every mark of age must be weighed on its own terms by an experienced eye.

Condition ratings: Mint (10) · Very Fine (9) · Fine (8) · Very Good (7–6) · Good (5–4) · Fair (3–2) · Less Than Fair (1)

Rarity

Rarity is considered last, and deliberately so. A piece's scarcity has no bearing on its value unless its Concept, Aesthetics, and Condition already make it desirable — a rare but unimportant item is still unimportant. Rarity is judged both in absolute terms and relative to other examples of its kind.

Rarity ratings: One Known Example · Superlatively Rare · Exceedingly Rare · Very Rare · Quite Rare · Mildly Rare · Very Scarce · Quite Scarce · Mildly Scarce · Common

Why It Matters

Every map, book, and print offered by Arader Galleries is evaluated against these four factors — Concept first, then Aesthetics, Condition, and Rarity — before it ever reaches a client. It is the same discipline the finest collectible markets have always demanded, applied to material that deserves it more than most: the primary documents of how the world came to understand itself.

Read the Original Catalogue

The Arader Grading System was first published in July 1981 as Catalogue 28. Its cover featured Sebastian Münster and Hans Holbein the Younger's Typus Cosmographicus Universalis (1532), which remains available today.

View the Original 1981 Catalogue (PDF)  |  Read the Digital Edition (PDF)