Valuing old/rare books

[Misty P]

I have recently acquired a sselection of books which I think may be old/valuable/ rare. They range from bibles, hymn books, works of tennyson & shakespeare, through to picture books of the Queen. Because they are old- they do not have ISBN or other noted registry numbers. How & where can I find out what they are worth?
Thanks in advance

[micmak]

There is a website called Abe books. Search for one of your titles and see what they are selling for. Hope this helps.

[wolf63]

I'm using my old laptop and unable to type much but go to http://www.abebooks.co.uk/ and type in the information that you have for each book. A list of similar books should come up, this should give you an idea as to value.

Good luck

[jno]

Try a title search on Amazon/Abe books or eBay for a start. Picture books of the queen aren't likely to be worth all that much (unless the queen is Elizabeth I and they're signed by her)

[Buenchico]

I've bought and sold plenty of old books over the years, and I know quite a few people who are either full-time or part-time book dealers.

Most old books are completely worthless. In particular, old Bibles have no commercial value unless they're several centuries old (with magnificent leather bindings) and/or with direct links to famous people. Charity shops (who often employ specialists to look out for books with particular value) receive thousands of Bibles every year. Most of them are simply sent to be pulped. (Even large leather bound, Victorian editions are usually unsaleable).

Hymn books have even less value (if that's possible) than Bibles.

Every school (and many homes) will have had the works of Shakespeare and Tennyson on their shelves across several centuries. They're so common that many secondhand book shops won't touch them. If they do so, they'll be offered to the public for a pound or two (with the shopkeeper having bought them for a few pence each).

Picture books of the Queen can, if they're in particularly good condition, occasionally sell for a few pounds but (as many charity shop managers will tell you) they're so common that anyone who actually wants one already has a copy, so hardly anyone will buy them.

With the exception of antiquarian volumes full of beautiful coloured plates, the vast majority of Victorian (and earlier) books have no value. The only great 'treasures' for most book collectors are first editions penned by fairly recent authors before they'd achieved great popularity. For example, even a tatty first edition of Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel (Casino Royale) would fetch over £20,000. (If one could be found in 'mint' condition it might fetch 10 times that figure). A book from the first print run of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is worth around £25,000.

Chris

[askyourgran]

Thanks for that Chris I'm sad to think that old bibles are not considered valuable and I am loth to throw a couple of mine away. I have a Pears encyclopedia dated around 1916, someone told me that the frontspieces with the line drawings of each chapter may be worth something. Like Misty P I don't know who would advise me about that. Sorry I can't be of help to you Misty P.

[Misty P]

Thanks for all the input folks.
The most intriuging book is "Songs of Shakespeare" It's a miniature & finished in a soft velvety material. It was printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co.
Another being The Works of Tennyson. It has a hand written message inside with the date May 23rd 1891.. having trouble reading the writing tho!

[Ann]

I'm sad to read that old bibles are just thrown away - I'm sure a missionary society would be glad of them to send overseas?

[jno]

books are only worth what someone would pay for them. What would you pay for, say, a 1920 Bible or Tennyson anthology - bearing in mind that you can probably buy new ones for not very much?