Scarce Book

Scarce Book

Books in Your Home: How to Determine their Value

If you have a 200-year old family bible, or an old leather bound set of Charles Dickens, or a collection of leather bindings in foreign languages - you may be wondering if they are worth anything in the age of selling collectibles on ebay and other venues. But did you know that its age has very little to do with that value within the collectibles market?

Instead, the qualities of your book collection that matter to book dealers and collectors are their condition, how scarce they are and how in demand they are at the time you wish to sell them.

For example, your 200-year old family bible tracing its roots to the German settlers in eastern Pennsylvania may be of great interest to someone who is researching the Amish immigration to the Lancaster area. Especially if the bible is in excellent condition, all the pages are intact and your ancestors have been meticulous about adding birth, marriage and death dates of your family members within it. Someone in California, however, probably will pass it over with barely a glance.

If you have old leather books that you're looking to get appraised, you can go to a professional appraiser. However, you should know that an appraiser's services can be expensive and if you have books by the foot to appraise, the costs can stack up quickly. He or she will want to inspect your books in person and will then need to take time to research bibliographies and specialized sale records to determine their value.

Alternatively, you can do some of the leg work yourself however it is difficult to look up every book and also a challenge, even for some experienced booksellers, to properly determine the edition of the book and grade its condition and flaws.

Of course there is more to the value of books to an individual or family than purely their economic value. Books have sentimental value, the value that comes from reading and appreciating them, and they also have decorative value. There is almost nothing more beautiful and serene than antiquarian leather books lined up by the foot in a home library especially when such a library contains the works of great authors and literary classics.

If you're looking to add to your collection of antiquarian books by the foot, you will be able to find valuable books at prices below their true worth. Even the most experienced and sharp-eyed collectors and antiquarian book dealers miss valuable books.

However you wish to measure the value of your leather books, it is helpful to have some assistance in the process. I have helped clients catalog and appraise their libraries to find hidden gems that can be sold to an appreciate collector. I have also helped clients realize that the true value of their leather books is their decorative appeal and not the rarity of their content or edition, which resulted in a better sale to an interior design client instead of a collectible bookseller. Many of the clients I have worked with simply want to own an impressive library of the great works and I have helped them locate reasonably priced copies of wonderful authors and books in leather bindings, and avoid expensive copies that would not be a good investment.

About the Author

Thatcher Wine is a library design consultant, specializing in finding antique leather books and other book styles to complete and build a home library. Thatcher has access to books by the foot, ensuring that you will have what you need to complete your home library design.