How do I find out how much my antique book is worth?

Question

I can't find it listed on any of the rare books sites or any of the used books sites. It's too old to have a ISBN #.

Title: Lord Arthur Saville's Crime
Author: Oscar Wilde
Copyright and print date: September 1912
Publisher: Methuen & Co, London

This book may be worth more because it has an error, the face page and previous page are sealed together at the top. They were never cut properly.

Answer 1

Contact: ANTIQUE FISHING LURE BOOKS & REFERENCES
http://www.antiquelures.com/Books.htm

Try also:
http://www.philaprintshop.com/own.html

Answer 2

Be sure to check the book sites regularly; new books are added constantly, and hard to find things are sometimes snapped up very quickly. www.addall.com has a very thorough used and out of print title search that checks most of the major sites and lots of smaller ones at once.

You may want to put a "want" in at the book sites, so if any other copies show up for sale, you will be emailed with a link to the listing and get an idea of value from the asking price. If you have an ebay account, there is a link to search closed auctions, which you can use to see what it has sold for in the past. Also, try a web search on the book in general, the publisher, and both together to see if there is anything about this particular edition which makes it more valuable or if there are any records of previous selling prices.

Antiquarian book dealers can be extremely helpful, as well, but there is a bit of protocol. Be sure to call first and find out if they do appraisals, if they charge for them and how much, the best time to go and if you need an appointment. Be sure to ask if they would prefer you to send them photographs by email. Also, remember that it is nearly impossible to do an appraisal over the phone; even a Gutenberg Bible has to be carefully authenticated in person!

As for the binding flaw, new books sometimes used to be sent from the publishers with all of the pages uncut, to ensure that a nice, clean copy arrived at the shop. Some sellers would leave them uncut so the buyer would know that it was definitely not a used book. Uncut pages usually do not add much to the price unless all of the pages are uncut.

If you do find a selling price for the book, and want to sell it to a dealer, be aware that they will not offer you the full selling price, as they want to make a profit, too. Most book dealers prefer not to take items on consignment, unless they are very, very expensive, as it leaves a bit of loose ends, and would rather buy it outright.

Hope this helps. Congratulations on your find, and happy hunting!

Answer 3

frequently talking, a e book is properly worth in spite of all and sundry is keen to pay for it. in case you have been chuffed to pay $one hundred twenty five for it from a superb e book broker, then that's in all likelihood approximately what that's properly worth good now. What it's going to be properly worth interior the destiny is all and sundry's wager. in my opinion, i think of it is going to basically delight in consistent with inflation. it ought to no longer depreciate no rely if that's stored in stable situation - so as long as that's something you are going to appreciate meanwhile, you're no longer likely to be out of pocket, and in some a protracted time once you bequeath it on your grandchildren, they're going to, little question, be very extremely joyful. If, on the different hand, you're hoping for a rapid return with some income, then i think of it no longer likely; new books signed via debut authors are a much better investment, (ideally signed, first-lined, dated ... and, if available, doodled too). a somewhat riskier investment, maybe, via fact the in simple terms good fee of the e book relies upon no rely if the author strikes directly to large fulfillment or sinks into oblivion. yet once you have stable instincts, then a significant short-term income is a lot extra possibly.

Answer 4

Contact the Brattle Book Shop in Boston. If anyone will know, they will. At the very least they'll point you in the right direction of where to go next.

http://www.brattlebookshop.com/

Good luck! That's an exciting find!