I have some old encyclopedias and shakespeare works that I would like to sell. What are they worth?

Question

The Doubleday Encyclopedias (my grandmothers) are a complete set and copyrighted 1931. They are in excellent condition. Interesting to read how World War I was called the Great War because WWII hadn't happened yet.

The Shakespeare set is a hard cover 18 volume arrangement of all his plays. They are in excellent condition and copyrighted 1909.

Can anyone hazard a guess as to what these books might be worth or direct me to some business or person who might be interested in buying them?

Answer 1

Ask the largest used book store in your county. If your county has only one UBS, go to the nearest big city.

Answer 2

In the scheme of things, that isn't a "real old" book. The reason you don't have a print date is that it isn't copyrighted. A quick trip to ebay is the best method. Now I see a ten volume 18th century set here for $340.00. Now that would qualify as "real old." Yours isn't worth remotely that, mass production made such volumes cheap at that time. A lot depends on the condition and original quality. Unless it has something special about it, I think even fifty bucks is calling it a bit high.

Answer 3

well, you could check out similar books on amazon.com and see what the used books are going for, or try to find a used book connoisseur--i wouldn't say just any old used book store, because i find that they pretty much try to buy your stuff for as cheap as possible, then re-sell it at ridiculous prices...so be careful! definitely ask around first.

Answer 4

to sell thesew treasure i would contact some used book dealer and see what they offer you..also check out some antiques dealers and see what they think..[know that the book dealers will offer you a low price and charge someone 4 times what they pay you [or more]