I have some old books and i need to know there prices (more info inside)?

Question

I have an old Wizard of Oz by frank baum, copyright date 1903
The Bronze Bow Elizabeth George Speare 1961
Daniel Boone, John Mason Brown 1952


How much are they worth?

Answer 1

You could try some online book clubs or collector auctions. You could also browse ebay. I have just inherited a bunch of old books from the same era that you have. I noticed ebay didnt give as much money for them as i thought they would. So im on the same hunt,right now im looking for sites that dont charge to auction or sell your items. You could also try your local antique dealers and see what they think. Good luck!

Answer 2

The value of used/rare books is related to the condition of the book (including whether it has been in a library and hence marked thus), whether it has a dust jacket and if so the quality of the dj, whether it is a first edition (first printing), whether it is autographed or inscribed, and foremost whether there is a demand for the title among collectors.

I recommend that you check abebooks.com to see the range of prices quoted for a book like yours. Do an advanced search and enter the title. author, and date.

For example, at the time I checked, the 1903 Wizard of Oz, is listed 69 times, ranging all the way from $25 to $1000. The 1903 edition is apparently the second editon. The $25 copy is only in fair condition and has no dustjacket. It is described as having "spine worn at edges top and bottom and along edge of spine front." It is called a "reading copy," meaning it has no particular value to collectors but is in good shape for personal reading (not fragile, no pages missing, etc.).

Notice the difference in one of the copies priced at $400: "Good. No Jacket. Denslow, W.W. (illustrator). 1903 Edition of the quintessential American classic in children's literature. Includes 8 color plates, one of which is disbound. Pages are medium foxed, but otherwise clean. Boards are pine green with purple lettering. Edgewear/shelfwear present; white stain on rear panel. Corners and ends of backstrip are frayed. Gift inscription on FFEP."

Dealers, of course, differ in the prices they assign books, but if you compare their descriptions with yor copy, you can get an idea of its worth. Frankly, that's ususally the way dealers arrive at their prices.

For The Bronze Bow, first editions w/ dust jackets range from $15 to $85, all described as "very good" condition. The $85 edition is signed and inscribed by the author and has a dj in very good to near fine condition. The $15 is a 1st edition, but not a first printing.

There are 219 copies of the Daniel Boone book, ranging up to $35.

As you can tell, determining the "worth" of a book is no easy matter. I would definitely NOT recommend e-Bay as the place to determine value. I prefer abebooks.com, but alibris.com and bookfinder.com are other possibilities.

Answer 3

Okay i looked up www.alibris.com my father in law owned a used bookstore and we would also sell books over the Internet and look up prices he could put on his books ....now give or take the prices you find on here ..think of them as estimates ...i wish you good luck this is the best i could find right now .Depending on how many pages there is on the results of the books you see you will notice the prices go up and down depending on the condition and year published etc..

Answer 4

enough to make me happy