Collectable books?

I would expect a potential increase in value, but as a matter of fact, there is little that somebody isn't collecting. I would suggest you don't pay any such a premium above it's value as reading material. It's a specialized hobby with lots of pitfalls.

Book collecting has its rabid devotees. I know a few in the antiques business and they are fairly well read. (I always assumed that collectors of books and scientific intruments were morons but have been surprised at how many book collectors are actualy associated in the literary pursuits).

CONDITION and RARITY, That guides the market. A premier first edition of a well known book with a pristine dust jacket can bring in the 1 to 10000$ range. Earlier books, like all the original 6 editions of DArwins pblished by his patient publisher and dated in the years produced can be worth over 100000$ because he changed so much in each edition that each ws, in effect, a new book that showed a theory in maturation.

Probably the most expensive modern book is the John james Audubon "elephant folio" of his famous "birds of North America". The last one on the market sold for 11 000 000$. Now, there are some Midieval books that could rival that (Leonardos Leicester Chronicle) but that one has already been snapped up by Bill GAtes and is on display. Im sure the "Book of Kells" is worth a coupla penienze .

If youre thinking of developing this obsession , take the advice of one who collects a bunch of different things (not books though), find someone really knowledgeable and leech onto them , develop a mentor/ee relationship with that person and follow some good trade newspaper like "The MAine Antiques Digest". That has lots of news o specific high end colletibles and antiques auctions and who is doing what, and where theres a good seminar,etc.

A selling point for many new items, including books, is labeling them "Collector's Edition." It snags the gullible.

Yeh thats really true. Tagging anything with the term "collectible" is like a kiss of death. I remember the "collectible" plates from Franklin mint. These plates were designed and made and marketed in lots of 10 thousand edition and sold originally for like 2995 a plate. Collectors, thinking this was a retirement strategy, bought em up and now, I see collector plates at auctions for 1 and 2$ each.
My wife bought me a few of "The SImpsons" to hang in my office.

Anybody remember "Beenie Babies?" or "Hummel figurines"? Even Mickey Mouse **** has peaked and is on the downslope of value.

My daughter at one time had a mountainous pile of Beanie Babies. She could have sold them for big bucks. Now, they are forgotten rags in a box somewhere.

Sheesh, no, I don't want to start collecting anything; to the contrary, we are downsizing and trying to sell some of our ridiculously large collection of books. When deciding what price to ask for a book, I look at what others are asking for the same book in more or less the same condition. Some of them have a price of 99 cents for a book in "good" condition, or $199 for the same book in "collectable" condition.

Maybe some of the collectables really are valuable just for the aesthetics, such as a tooled leather cover, something like that. But I can't imagine why anyone would pay such a premium just to get a first edition.

Rarity and condition , remember this governs any collectible. Thats why National Geographics will never be worth anything because, for some unknown reason, whoever has a subscription, never parts with the damn things. Weve got an attic full of Nat Geos from when we first got married. Its an unbroken chain that spans the years. I saw a complete collection of Nat Geos at an auction. It covered the early 1900's till about 1985 (I believe) Lessee, 85 times 12. Thats over a thousand issues, and it only went for like 25 bucks.

Collectible editions come in all ranges and sometimes include just nice, desirable books that are in very good condition. Interestingly, some authors will have a special short-run edition of between 50 and 1000 copies of their work published in Moroccan leather with gorgeous slipcases, fine paper, extra-special illustrations and hand-datings, inserts, and signatures, which are much more collectible than a standard first edition, first printing.

Collectible books may also be reprints that have been specially published, again with finer than normal paper, ink, covers, & illustrations.

If you are looking for a comparable book to one you have in hand, there are several things to check if you want to make sure you have the same edition. First, the publisher & date of publication, then the number of pages, then the edition (often described as "stated"). With newer books, you can check the print run -- 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 -- shows a first printing, if the 1 were missing, then it is in the second printing, if all but the 10 are missing, it is the 10th printing. You might also check for known errors in a printing, like a double word on page 37. Those will be stated by some booksellers as a way of showing that their book is genuine.

I've found that www.abebooks.com is one of the easiest online sites to search for comparable book editions. I've done this for several years as a volunteer service for my library, trying to get the best prices for books donated to our book sales.

If you cannot find a book listed there, then be careful. We recently had a book from a regular publisher that could not be found on abebooks. It was a short memoir by a detective from Scotland Yard. I gave it to the woman who puts our books online for sale and she decided to offer it for $18. Within 4 hours she had three offers to buy and feels now that she should have asked more money. You don't want to price your books out of the market, but you do want to get a good price, too. You need to learn to gauge the condition of your book and also be careful... they are so easily damaged with rough handling or when stored with other books.

Good luck with your selling. If you have a specific question about a specific book, I'd help you look at abebooks to see what you've got. Truly, there is not likely to be two books in the same condition that would be offered for sale with such a huge difference in price ($0.99 to $199.00). Sounds like you're missing something important... if you don't mind me saying so.

(listening here)

That sounds like a steal. There are some volumes that are highly desirable which I'll list below. You might want to check out this page from abebooks, which has some collections similar to what you describe for a lot more money. Of course, they haven't sold yet, but they're also ex-lib.

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=National+Geographic&y=6&x=80&sortby=1

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE...1917-1956, 79 Volumes
National Geographic..)
Price: US$ 2690.00
Book Description: National Geographic Society, Washington. Embossed Boards. Book Condition: Good- to Very Good-. Photographs, Folding Maps (illustrator). Size: Approx. 7 " x 10 ". Vol. 31-110. 79 Volumes. Brown embossed covers with gilt. Circular globe with gilt propeller plane sitting on top. Gilt lettering on covers and spine. Exteriors: Good- to Very Good-. Ex. lib. markings: "date due" paper on endpaper and pocket with slip on free endpaper. Otherwise interiors are Very Good +. Only one paper label on spine. Can purchase the additional volumes from 1913-1916 and 1957-1999 in different bindings. National Geographic.


Also... here's some info on some of the most desirable issues:

The earliest issues of National Geographic are the most valuable, especially the first volume, which ocnsisted of only 4 issues. While the first issue will generally fetch upwards of $4000, the usual range is from $7-9,000, with a very few sales over the $10,000 mark. It is considered by collectors to be one of the most highly-prized of any magazine within the past 150 years and it is very difficult to find in anything better than good condition.

The three issues which followed in the first volume are nearly as rare and prices will range between $2000-5000, though not higher. After that, prices fall dramatically, into the hundreds for pre-1900 issues and lower as time progresses. Many good collections are still in the hands of families - in basements, attics and storage areas, but as the population ages, many are being sold online, at auctions or via estate and newspaper classified sales.


Consecutive run estimates (ranges from good to mint):
1888-present: $25,000 - 80,000
1888-1900: $15,000 - 45,000
1900-present: $7,000 - 15,000
1900-1920: $3,000 - 8,000
1921-1945: $1,500 - 3,500
1946-1975: $750 - 1,500
1976-present: $200 - 500

Key Issues:
Volume 1, #1: Initial publication
1891-1895: Brochure issues (Volumes 3-6)
January, 1896: Beginning of regular monthly publication.
October, 1909: Discovery of the North Pole
October, 1912: China
October, 1917: Flag Number
May, 1923: Tomb of Tutankhamen
April, 1937: Colonial Williamsburg
October, 1941: Ancient Egypt
June, 1943: Insignia of US Armed Forces
October, 1943: Decorative Medals and Service Ribbons
October 1947: Antarctica
February, 1951: American Paintings
July, 1954: Mt. Everest
June, 1962: John Glenn Orbits the Earth
August, 1963: Disneyland
October, 1963: 75th Anniversary of National Geographic Society
December, 1969: Apollo 11
December, 1975: The Mayan People
March, 1984: American Eagle Holograph cover
November, 1985: Early Man Holograph cover
January, 1988: 100 Years of the National Geographic Society
September, 1988: 100 Years of the National Geographic Society
December, 1988: McDonald's Holographic ad (back cover)

Thats all great piffka but , like any auction, it requires a buyre willing to pay. Here in Pa, Nat Geos go as "box lots" of decades of some families subscriptions. I was surprised at those value numbers and I wonder whether theyre not like "Hummel" values.Hummels had a brief high value period, then they just tanked .

I have the Tutankhamen issue from the 20's and Im sure I didnt pay but a few dollars for it.
If you read the "Maine Antiques Digest" which is a trade paper, They never , to my knowledge, had any NAt GEos listed for any of the prices you quoted from abebooks. My wife has gotten the "Fake" leather bound slip cases for our own collection. We usually keep about 5 years on a shelf in the library and then box em up and we get the summary index from Nat GEo, just in case someone needs to do reference. (Now the Nat GEo is available on a selection of CDs, which is a much easier way for on-site research)

I know a large number of dealers and many book and ephemera dealers from NC to MAine. I know of no-one that features NAt GEographics. The magazine could be a sleeper and will blossom here in the East Coast sometime in the future. However, in todays antiques market, Nat Geos are not a hot item .

I'm sure you are right about your area, farmerman, but I thought I'd show those price listings since they seemed so complete and thought you might want to look for some of those more valuable editions.

Here's another online check on those prices, just to show you that I'm not totally half-baked. I won't link to these because you can only look at completed sales or feedback if you are logged onto the site. If you are, these are easily verifed. Of course, people who buy from eBay are not neccessarily smart buyers, nevertheless, I checked some recent sales:

On eBay, there's a seller called Doug's Vintage National Geographics who has several sales. I looked at the feedback he'd rec'd from a recent sale for a 1888-89 set, reprinted and bound in 1964:

Winning bid: US $144.95
Ended: Jan-10-07 17:48:36 PST
Shipping costs: US $9.10

And another for a May 1988 National Geographic...
price: US $4.45
Ended: Jan-14-07 17:07:37 PST
Shipping costs: US $4.60


Anyway, this was a thread about collectible books. What I said about those is accurate, I think.

I see that krausebooksdotcom has published Richard Russell's second ed of "Book Collectors Price Guide" It covers about 13 categories. Each category begins with the "top 10" of that genre. It also has about 100 pages of insider info , including pseudonyms and a guide to signatures.

1st edition, 1st printing, good condition (especially the dust jacket) are important... but even then it needs to be a short run. For instance; by the time Steinbeck did "Grapes of Wrath", everyone knew him so the "first printing" was so enormous that the book will never acquire any real value. Contrarily, the relatively new John Grisham's "A Time to Kill" by Wynwood Press (NOT THE BOOK CLUB VERSION), only ran with 5,000 (or was it 10,000?) copies and they are already valued in the thousands. This is because Grisham was nobody when he first published the book.

Stephen King is an A-Hole in this respect, as he deliberately messes with the system in his books routinely. Original AA books are priceless, so always be on the lookout for those. Ayn Rand ran short printing blocks for her two biggest; Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead... so even 2nd and 3rd printings have value. I saw a mint condition set of the two sell for over $20,000 on ebay a couple few years ago when I was actively collecting.

I agree with Piffka that comparing your books to Abe's is probably the best way to assess value. However, unless your collection was purchased with collecting in mind, it is very unlikely you'll find many gems in your library. Typically, the assessed value of even a large library is measured buy the pound and is the measure of what you'll be charged to remove it from your premises. I have well over $10,000 in purchased books myself, but would be lucky to get 20 cents on the dollar, trying to offload them. In all likelihood, I'll give them away to someone who really wants them before accepting the paltry sums I could hope to raise. I'd advise searching for Gems and then giving away the balance if you no longer want them.