How To Price A Wuthering Heights Book

[joko]

I have copy of this by emily bronte
Published by collins (home library)
Illustrated by A H Buckland
london & glasgow,
collins clear type press

But it has no date anywhere on it.
Its clearly very old, its a sort of red fabric with embossed flower design on the front & spine.
Its actually really beautiful, one of the nicest old books I've ever seen.


They only date on it, is a handwritten name & 1909 - which is when it was presumably gifted to the name.

So how do i found out - Ive scrolled & scrolled through pages and pages of google looking for this particular design, and nothing even similar is there.

Ive looked on rare book pages & they have loads of versions but not this one.

How can i go about getting a price for it?

& why is there no date anywhere? Did they not always bother putting dates on books?

I know most books have the - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
& you know which edition you have by the first number in the sequence, but it has none of that.

I'm doubtful its a first edition - because surely there'd be more of them out there & I believe there first edition came out in 3 parts & was with other stories & had quite a plain brown covers.
But its probably the first edition by this company of this style

I know its at the very least 110 years old so it must be worth something even if not much

Any ideas of where best to look?

If i find a pic online i'll link it

thanks :)

[Hazlinny]

AbeBooks online- but remember all old books are not valuable.

[Canary42]

I'll start the bidding £2.50

[douglas9401]

You could try asking on the Bush telegraph.

[wolf63]

Bookfinder.com might be worth a try.

[TheWinner]

I thought same as wolf63. Says £33.40 (if its the same one)


https://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl&st=sl&ref=bf_s2_a1_t1_1&qi=OIT5PPTbE3oaOn38VqN2vzARJII_1672866522_1:1:1&bq=author%3Demily%2520bronte%26title%3Dwuthering%2520heights

[joko]

Thanks all

The winner, thanks but from the description, that's not the same one, this was before 1909
it's not leather & there's no gilt edging.

Its such as nice book it's so odd that there aren't more about for sale!
i didnt see anything even similar

the embossed flowers are a bit like a cross between art nouveau & art deco style.
the straight stems of the flowers with some curly almost celtic knotwork, almost make it look like a design for a wrought iron fence.

[joko]

This is the same cover design - but this is a Dickens book

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265815191917

Mines in better condition, but also - that design doesn't look embossed, it looks printed on flat ... which is odd, because mine is very definitely embossed, mine also has a smoother appearance with almost a sheen.

[Buenchico]

I've done a bit of buying and selling of books in my time. I'm certainly no expert but I do know that Collins' Home Library editions of popular works were mass produced in the same sort of volumes that book club editions were later on. That means that they're basically worthless. (This dealer is extremely optimistic, in my opinion, in trying to get four quid for a different title in the series:
https://www.bailgatebooks.com/product/59745/The-Vicar-of-Wakefield
I'd be very surprised if he gets any takers for that offer).

If I was sorting books for a charity shop, I wouldn't waste my time with your copy of Wuthering Heights. I'd simply chuck it straight in the bin.

(Sorry!)

[douglas9401]

The committee thanks Christopher Blunt-Instrument.

[TheWinner]

I put it up mainly for the link.
You can refine the search to a different date.
We, on AB, don't know what it looks like.
Take a look here, perhaps you may recognise one that's similar.
https://picclick.co.uk/Wuthering-Heights-by-Emily-Bronte-9780141199085-Brand-352811159121.html

[jno]

did the Collins books have embossed covers, Buenchico? That suggests something a bit more upmarket to me. What were the copyright laws, if any, in those days? Could just anyone publish a Bronte novel?

[joko]

thanks all.

see at £4 thats cheaper than a brand new copy, & much nicer looking book! If I was going to buy it i'd choose one like that, than a modern one.

I think this may be a earlier version than that dickens one as it just looks like a 'better' one

If its not worth anything, i was wanting to 'restore' it - not like a proper restoration, just clean it, make it richer red again etc, just as a mini project so i might do that, make it look amazing.

when i used to buy a lot of books, just ordinary paper backs etc, i would get out my felt tips & colour in all the cracks & scuffs to match the cover image, and make it look all nice again. :D
ive not done one like this though.

[Buenchico]

>>> What were the copyright laws, if any, in those days? Could just anyone publish a Bronte novel?

Prior to the Copyright Act 1911, the provisions of the Statute of Anne of 1710 applied. Copyright in Wuthering Heights, published in 1847, expired 14 years later, in 1861. Thereafter anyone was free to publish their own edition of it.

[jno]

thank you, Buenchico.