I just cant Help it.
I haven’t done much writing lately . . .
But, I’ve watched a couple of interesting documentaries:
The Booksellers
Out of Print
The two documentaries listed above are pretty interesting (if you are a booklover anyway). They are both available to watch on Amazon Prime. The Booksellers is probably the more interesting, at least in my opinion. You get an inside look at rare book dealers, history, anecdotal insights, stories, etc. Out of Print is more about the question of whether digital books will completely replace print books. I enjoyed watching both. It was a nice break from the political and Covid-19 news that has been so overwhelming as of late. Watching the two films led me to pull out a couple of books about books.
I had read Used and Rare a few years back. It was pretty good as I remember. The Man Who Loved Books Too Much I read just the other day. And then this, of course, led me to start searching through my books to see if I had anything of value. As usual, the books I would think might be valuable weren’t, and then there would be the odd one or two that would appear to be super valuable. For example there was a Tarzan book (#20 of the Ballantine Books set, a black covered paperback set) that someone on Abe Books has listed at around $2,000.
I have no idea why this particular book would be worth more than any other in the set. I had purchased the whole set years ago. I think I might have paid $160 for the whole set (24 books). I don’t remember. I wouldn’t sell it unless I have a duplicate of the one book, which I might have. I have six or seven odd books from this set, along with probably 10 or 15 other old copies of various earlier editions. I also have a handful of other ERB books, such as The Land That Time Forgot, The People That Time Forgot, The Chessmen of Mars, etc. I doubt whether anyone is going to pay $2,000 for #20 of Tarzan in any case. Not just the one book. But what do I know? I generally just buy books because I want a copy. Sometimes I used to look up a book that I had purchased at a thrift store to see what it was selling for. Usually, I would be wrong in thinking it was worth anything, and I would end up running across more books in the search that I would end up buying. Crazy.
I also buy books that are unique with regard to some subject I might want to research. I’ll collect books on just about any subject. The more obscure the subject, the better I love it. I have history books, art books, technology books, books on ivory, or glass blowing, or how to build or put ships in a bottle, poisons, herbs, guns, etc. If I’m writing a short story and need to do research on something, chances are I’ve got a book on the subject. Or sometimes I’ll just be thumbing through a book on some subject and decide to write a story where a character has expertise on that particular subject. Of course there is also the internet . . . However, there is nothing like the feel or smell of a book.
In any case, I have a couple thousand books, so I just started pulling books off shelves at random to see if any were listed or had any great value. Or, if I spotted a book on Abe books or wherever that I knew I had a copy of I would go digging around for it to see if the copy I own matches the one that is priced so high.
Which of the following would you think to be more valuable?
Believe it or not, the seventies copy on the right would apparently be more valuable if it were in better shape. This plain red copy was the one I read in High School. I think it was beat up when I got it. I should have purchased a brand new copy. I generally treat books with respect, and would not have abused it. The one on the left wasn’t listed as being that valuable. And, my copy (the one shown) has a page within where someone scribbled in pen at the bottom margin. Writing in books is also something I would never do, Nor do I believe in bending pages down to mark where I am.
The following Fritz Leiber book was listed as being worth $335.95 on Abe Books. I think I paid less than a dollar for it in a junk store. I had dug through a box and paid for a bundle of sci-fi and mystery books. I believe there were other copies listed for cheap, depending on condition.
The Panic in Needle Park, by James Mills (hardback, first edit.) was listed at $150. I think I paid $2 for it at a thrift store. I simply picked it up to read. I had seen the Al Pacino movie a long time ago. I just happened to see it listed on the site and dug out my copy to check.
And a 1956 (hardback with dust cover) copy of Crime and Punishment that I have, may be worth $125. Or maybe not. LOL. For some reason the image I scanned won’t upload here without an error.
The following two books aren’t worth more than a couple of dollars, but I had seen them listed and knew I had copies. I do have a Raymond Chandler Omnibus (hardback with dust jacket) that is listed at around $60.
I have a few early Sue Grafton first edition hardbacks that are supposedly worth a couple of thousand each. The only problem is that there seems to be a glut of them listed for sale at everything from $10 to $60 to $7000. I can’t tell the difference, or why there is such a disparity in pricing. Mine aren’t signed copies. Apparently she signed a lot of copies. And surprisingly, some of the signed ones are worth less than the unsigned from what I could tell by looking online. I haven’t checked recently. I guess I would have to contact an expert to find out whether mine are actually worth anything.
More cool covers . . .
I don’t think these are valuable at all. I just have a bunch of books like these. And I wanted to show my copy of The Corpse in the Green Pyjamas because Abe Books does have a cool page where they show a list of 101 covers that have “Corpse” in the title (this one included). I thought that was pretty cool. Here is the link if you want to check it out. It is worth it. I know, I get kind of goofy sometimes . . . but check it out anyway, please? LMAO.
https://www.abebooks.com/books/features/corpse-books/index.shtml
I guess the value of books, just like paintings or other items, is very subjective. It all boils down to what someone is actually willing to pay at the time you want to sell.
I’ll keep looking for the odd book that sits on one of my shelves, or in one of my stacks of books or boxes of books, that might really be worth something. I’m talking over $100,000. That would be really nice. As it stands, I’m probably going to have to sell off things in a few months just to eat. I hate losing the house, but I really, really hate losing the books. That will kill me.
If you like photos of books, antique books, rare books, books on shelves, etc. Check out Pintrest. I’m not a member (yet) but a slew of photos popped up for the site that were really cool looking. I tried to copy the link, but it didn’t work. Just look up Books| Rare books| Antiquarian books . . . and you should find it easy enough.
How can anyone not love books? There is the feel of the book in your hands as you hold it. The smell of the book as you flip the pages. The joy of wondering how a book (if it is hundreds of years old) has lasted so long. And then there is the story itself, or stories. By reading you can be transported to anyplace, or any time period, and experience adventure or romance, or whatever happened to be in the author’s imagination, etc.
Which reminds me, I really should get back to writing.