Evaluating Old and Rare Books and Manuscripts.

Mass production of books began in the late 1600’s as the printing press became
available in many European cities. By the mid 1700’s it was quite possible to produce a
book in thousands of issues in a short period of time. Keep this in mind when you look
at antique volumes – the odds are good that most of them are not as rare as collectors
might think.

Books became a real commodity in the late 1700’s as literacy spread. Just about
everything that was published was mass produced in the 1800’s. There are rare
volumes, and age still tend to increase the value of a book, but don’t be fooled into
thinking that the old book you’re looking at is the only copy out there. It is almost never
true of volume produced after 1700.

As a rule, books printed before 1850 to 1860 are probably collectible. Later printings
should be looked at case by case.

The value of antique books is often dependent on:

- the author – better known can usually mean more valuable

- the issue – first editions are usually the most sought after
- signature – signed editions are worth more (assuming the author is known)
- condition – better preserved books are always worth more

Book sellers and collectors have a language to describe books by condition, edition, etc.
You need to know the right terms in order to show your buyers that you are accurately
describing a book:
- spine – the thin edge of the book where all the pages are bound together. A tight
spine will not flex, a loose spine will. A broken spine has been bent backwards to
the point where the pages have been separated.
- boards or covers – hardback books have a rigid front and back cover, call the
boards. The board is a piece of heavy cardboard stock. It will be covered with a
finish material, cloth, leather, etc. Check the edges and the corners carefully.
Edges tend to wear thin and show it. Corners tend to get broken or turned in,
“dog-eared”. The actual board can also be broken or bent so that the cover
shows a crease. More often, they can be exposed to moisture or other
conditions that lead to bowing so the cover does not lay flat.
- frontispiece – in many older books and finer books today, a front illustration was
oftern included. It could be a picture of the author, or an illustration of some
scene in the book. This is the frontispiece. Look at the condition of the page,
note fading, spotting, etc, and check if there was a tissue cover page – condition,
etc.
- endpapers or endsheets – the first two pages you see when you open the cover
– one is the inside of the cover, the other is the first side of the first page. These
are often very decorated in finer books. Looks at the condition, and check for
any inscriptions, bookplates, or other added notations from the owner, bookstore,
 library, etc. You will want to note all of these additions no matter how minor.
- flysheet – the first page in the book. One side is an endsheet. Check condition
and for notations as above.
- pages or leaves – all of the bound sheets are pages or leaves. Look for dog-
eared or torn corners, torn edges, stains, etc. Sometimes pages exposed to
moisture can develop spots known as “Foxing”. These are small mold spots that
are generally permanent. Older books can have foxing that has dried out but the
stains remain. (If a book is damp enough to continue developing spots, it should
be thoroughly dried to stop further growths.)

Book publishers did not develop consistent dating rules until the late 1800’s. Even after
that, many publishers continued to date their volume only by the original date of the first
edition. We‘ve seen books printed in the 1920’s with this formula, making it very difficult
to determine if the book is really a first edition or not.
Sometimes the only way to tell if a book is a first edition is to look at information on
other volumes to see if anyone has noted a second or later printing.
If the publisher has indicated the edition of a book, first, second, etc. , it is often noted
on the page with the publisher’s information. A series of numbers from 1 to 10 would be
printed in a row : 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10. If the 1 is shown, the book is a first edition. If the
first number is a 2, the book is a second edition, and so on.

Books with the author’s signature are commonly produced in “special editions”. These
volumes have a printed signature on the title page or similar, but they are not
considered signed editions in the normal sense. Printed signatures have no added
value. Signed editions are those where the author actually did the signing on the
particular book.

Selling antique and rare books:

Auctions rarely attract multiple bidders unless the volume is so rare that it cannot be
gotten any other way. Even at this, some rare volumes are simply not sought after.
Buy it now listings will usually perform better, especially with offers. Set the asking price
higher and determine the lowest acceptable selling price to set the offer floor.

Compare prices of the same volume offered on other internet sites:

ABE Books – a collection of offerings from many bookstores. If it isn’t available through
ABE, it is rare.

Biblio.com – a more targeted search for antiquarian and rare books.

Alibris.com – also a more targeted search for older books, also lists many textbooks.