It was reported yesterday in The Bee (Antiques and the Arts Weekly) that Sandra J. Brant is selling her stake in The Magazine Antiques, the nation's oldest, most venerable and certainly highest-end antiques magazine.

It's no secret that TMA has been having issues of late - all segments of print are - but this is pretty big news. Two weeks ago the editor of the publication - Alison Ledes - lost her battle with cancer. She was only the fourth editor in the 80+ years of the mag, and quite a nice lady, too. I had the chance to speak with her on several occasions before she got too sick to continue, and always found her to be polite, professional and sharp as a tack. She is indeed missed in the business, if such things matter to you.

With Ms. Brant selling her stake in TMA (and Interview Mag and Art in America) to her ex-husband, one has to wonder about the future of the publication, not to mention its massive and invaluable archive - it is a virtual catalogue of the last century of material culture in America.

TMA's audience and Trader's audience don't really cross much, so we have no stake in its future, but on a personal level, as an editor and lover of antiques and their history, I have pull for it to survive.

Click on the link above to read The Bee's coverage.