Huge Lot of Antique Books - I only need one to be worth something

[mjm579]

Not my area of expertise by any stretch of the imagination. But, what do you have to lose at $0.50 each. I'll put up as many pictures as I can. If you need better pictures of any specific book let me know. The newest books here are the Atlas from 1943 and the Elbert Hubbard book from 1930. All of the others are ca 1890 to ca 1910 max.

 

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[capt-zero]

Check the late 19th and early 20th century books for illustrations. Some old books are filled with valuable etchings and lithographs. If you find any of either research by artist. You may have done very well. Some very well known artists made their bread and butter money illustrating books. Some examples are Rockwell Kent, Aubrey Beardsley, John Sloan, ect.

 

[DizzyDigger]

I see several there that will have good value. Most important, are they clean, and
"smell free", with no odor of mildew?

 

[centfladigger]

also check inside front for any signatures

 

[mjm579]

I dont see any author signatures, but many are signed by the gift giver. In a few cases, they still have the receipt from where/when they were purchased. Funny that a book was $0.13 to $0.25 back in 1905.

 

[mjm579]

Some of the books have a little evidence of odor and/mildew, but not a great deal considering they are over 100 years old. Just wondering at this point how to confirm their value. Might check with a local book dealer or do some extensive google searching. That is the worst thing about finding items that I know little about - the research!

 

[Don't Blink]

Look at picture 4, the book The Compleat Angler by Izaak Walton. It looks like it is leather with gold inlay, maybe?
How many chapters does it have 13, 21 or more?
Does it have a printing date?
Is there another Author on the title page?
Does it have illustrations?
The book has been in print since 1653. It was modified by the author during his lifetime from 13 to 21 chapters. All modern editions of this book show to be much larger (more pages). So you may have an early edition, that may be valuable.

 

[Don't Blink]

In picture 2 you have Uncle Tom's Cabin, the brown one I think is the older one.
What is the date on those?
The copyright entered the public domain in 1893, then publishing was a free for all.

 

[DizzyDigger]

To actually determine edition/value on the books you'll likely need to get some
help from an experienced bookseller. Determining edition status of books from that
time period is difficult, as there are very subtle nuances that make the difference.
Also, during that time period there could be multiple releases of the same title by
different publishers, and each one might mark it as "First Edition", but in reality
they are not.

With books it is all about condition, and even if the volume is very old all books
are graded on the same scale. I see some titles from the 40's, and the paper
used during the war was not the best, so there may be some foxing (brown spots)
appearing. Do look close for any that show signs or smell of mildew, and be sure
to move those books away from the ones that don't so the rest don't pick
up the mildew as well. Hopefully, they're in the the house and not the garage, as
the fluctuating humidity and heat/cold/moisture are deadly book killers.

One volume I do see is "Daughters of the Revolution and their Times". That was
published by Houghton Mifflin in 1895, and if in Good condition or better it should
sell somewhere in the mid-$20 range.

You can do the research and check the points for each volume/title, but a bookseller
could save you a huge amount of time.

 

[duffytrash]

dryer sheets will take care of the musty smell...or open em up outside for a few days...turnin pages every once in awhile....

 

[diggummup]

Might check with a local book dealer or do some extensive google searching. That is the worst thing about finding items that I know little about - the research!

No! Wrong! For me the best thing about finding items that I know little about is the research. I love it. It makes you more prepared for the next time you run across a similar situation, besides the knowledge gained.

I don't know too much about old books but I think the best in your bunch (for me anyway) is the "Daughters of the American Revolution 1769-1776". I believe that to be the rarest one you have. What does the copyright page say? Photo maybe?

 

[mjm579]

Look at picture 4, the book The Compleat Angler by Izaak Walton. It looks like it is leather with gold inlay, maybe?
How many chapters does it have 13, 21 or more?
Does it have a printing date?
Is there another Author on the title page?
Does it have illustrations?
The book has been in print since 1653. It was modified by the author during his lifetime from 13 to 21 chapters. All modern editions of this book show to be much larger (more pages). So you may have an early edition, that may be valuable.

I attached a few more pictures. It looks to be from 1905.

 

[mjm579]

In picture 2 you have Uncle Tom's Cabin, the brown one I think is the older one.
What is the date on those?
The copyright entered the public domain in 1893, then publishing was a free for all.

It looks like the brown one is from 1879 and the green one is from 1851 or 1852. I have attached pictures of these two books with the title page and the publishing information.

 

[mjm579]

To actually determine edition/value on the books you'll likely need to get some
help from an experienced bookseller. Determining edition status of books from that
time period is difficult, as there are very subtle nuances that make the difference.
Also, during that time period there could be multiple releases of the same title by
different publishers, and each one might mark it as "First Edition", but in reality
they are not.

With books it is all about condition, and even if the volume is very old all books
are graded on the same scale. I see some titles from the 40's, and the paper
used during the war was not the best, so there may be some foxing (brown spots)
appearing. Do look close for any that show signs or smell of mildew, and be sure
to move those books away from the ones that don't so the rest don't pick
up the mildew as well. Hopefully, they're in the the house and not the garage, as
the fluctuating humidity and heat/cold/moisture are deadly book killers.

One volume I do see is "Daughters of the Revolution and their Times". That was
published by Houghton Mifflin in 1895, and if in Good condition or better it should
sell somewhere in the mid-$20 range.

You can do the research and check the points for each volume/title, but a bookseller
could save you a huge amount of time.

I have attached a few pictures of this particular book. Looks to me to be the 1895 version. I think the pictures in this one are really neat, so I thought I would share. Thanks for the information.

 

[mjm579]

No! Wrong! For me the best thing about finding items that I know little about is the research. I love it. It makes you more prepared for the next time you run across a similar situation, besides the knowledge gained.

I don't know too much about old books but I think the best in your bunch (for me anyway) is the "Daughters of the American Revolution 1769-1776". I believe that to be the rarest one you have. What does the copyright page say? Photo maybe?

I'm more of a research person myself, but I'm a chemist by training, so that likely influences this a bit. I attached a few pictures of this book for you to take a look. I believe this book is from 1895.

 

[Metro Retro]

Fabulous buy! Excellent advice -- can't add anything to it, except to see if any of the art is on vellum (check that bible one for example) and you will need to investigate if there is added value in having first editions among any of the titles.

Have you tried checking BookFinder.com: Search for New & Used Books, Textbooks, Out-of-Print and Rare Books ? That's a good starting point, however, I suggest clicking on the "Show more options" link on that initial screen, and then click on the "Classic search display, all languages" at the bottom of the box -- so that all of the titles appear on one screen and you can scroll down and see all of the pertinent information at a glance.

Otherwise, the default search makes you click on each and every hit, in order to read the details, which would take a lot of extra time (and unnecessary of you select the Classic Search option).

 

[woodstock]

As for myself I have and own quite a few vintage books and their value is only as high as the collector is willing to pay . And I personally have never seen the printing company place claims that a book that has been printed before them as a first edition book . Mainly because of legal issues seeing as a copy write is similar to a patent . And that being said, if I found a first edition and took it to a dealer who claimed it wasn't they'd have to show me their book that they claim is. Now I have heard of dealers doing this to devalue your book to the point where you feel it's worthless and then offer you 10% of it's real value . I've seen this done with many collectibles not only books by dealers if they feel your clueless . Some second hand shops will go through them first before they get sold and anyone who's had them handed down to them commonly do the same before the garage sale .
Gilded edges and hand inked highlighted pages also signed books is where the values are . Best said , just because it's old doesn't mean it's valuable enough to make tons of money . Back in the day "books" where the best way to pass communication mass information be it based on reality or fiction so there where masses of them printed . Books have been on a slow slope of decline since the invention of the radio , TV , and today the internet .
I'm not saying they have no values but finding the one out of millions that has a big value is like finding a 1913 Liberty Nickle ... IMHO , Woodstock

 

[Metro Retro]

MJM, I'm sure you know that a first edition is never going to bear the words "first edition", and that each publisher can have their own code for a first "printing" (which differs from a first edition). One must study the verso and also investigate the publication history of that title. And then there's the whole area of dust jackets, but that's another matter.

BTW, I receive auction notices from most houses, and got this one last week from Doyle's rare book sale. It's always good to study these ...
ANDREW JACKSON LETTER ACHIEVES $37,500 AT DOYLE NEW YORKS APRIL 23, 2013 AUCTION OF RARE BOOK, AUTOGRAPHS & ILLUSTRATION ART - 2353 - Doyle New York

 

[diggummup]

woodstock (or anyone else)- It seems you may know a little more than a lot of us on here when it comes to old books (more than me anyway).
Question-The book I mentioned earlier, "Daughters of the American Revolution 1769-1776". I cannot find that book for sale anywhere, other than facsimile copies, or free ebooks. 1- If this book had a low number of copies printed originally making it by definition a "rare" book, will that help to increase the value? and 2- Being that it is available to read for free via the internet, does that devalue that same book at all? Thoughts?

 

[mjm579]

Sounds like I have a lot of research ahead of me. I stopped back at the same yard sale today and picked up another 20+ books. I will post pictures when I get home. He said he didn't bring them all out yesterday bc he didn't want to waste his time if no one would buy them. I also picked up a HUGE box full of old sheet music that I will post - subject of a separate thread.

I want to thank everyone for ALL of their help with these books. It is fun to look through them all. Last night we were fanning through them and a ripped $1 bill fell out (makes me wonder what the story behind that one was)!