What is the value of my book?

Book values are ethereal; they can fluctuate like any other piece of art. When the book market is hot for a particular author, genre of writing or a series of modern first, signed editions that have been authenticated (signatures) and there are more than one buyer bidding for the items, then prices can soar.

Scarcity also drives the market. But a book being scarce does not necessarily make it exceedingly valuable. The best way to judge the value of a book is to do your own research, at least as much as possible. The links that will be helpful and the associations that help foster the true pricing as well as the selling and buying of rare books or just books that are out of print in general are listed below:

·         The Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America was founded in 1949 to promote interest in rare and antiquarian books and book collecting, and to foster collegial relations. We strive to maintain the highest standards in the trade. All members agree to abide by the ABAA's Code of Ethics. While our members sell, buy, and appraise books and printed matter, our staff can assist you with finding a bookseller and with other trade-related matters.  https://www.abaa.org/about-abaa

·         ILAB - History of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers Amor Librorum Nos Unit. Today the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers unites 22 national associations under one roof. Some of them had already been established when the League was founded in 1947/1948. Five of them were the driving forces: the antiquarian booksellers of Great Britain, France, Denmark, Sweden and The Netherlands. 1906 was the year in which the oldest organization of its kind was established in Great Britain: the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association (ABA). The French Syndicat National de la Librairie Ancienne et Moderne (SLAM) was created in 1914, followed by Den Danske Antikvarboghandlerforening (ABF) in 1920. Economic crisis and radical political changes also affected the book market; rare booksellers realized that it could be an advantage to be organized. In 1935 the Nederlandsche Vereeniging van Antiquaren (NVvA) was established in Amsterdam. A year later the Swedish rare book dealers set up the Svenska Antikvariatföreningen (SVAF), then the Swiss booksellers founded the Vereinigung der Buchantiquare und Kupferstichhändler in der Schweiz (VEBUKU) in 1939. During the Second World War the Finnish Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association (SAY) was created in 1941, led for a long time by Erik Olsoni, whereas Jørgen W. Cappelen (Cappelens Antikvariat) and others established the Norsk Antikvarbokhandlerforening (NABF) in April 1942. Outside Europe the Brazilian booksellers were the first to form a national association: Walter Geyerhahn, his brother Stefan Geyerhahn and Erich Eichner, the proprietors of the famous "Livraria Editora KOSMOS", founded the Associação Brasileira de Livreiros Antiquários (ABLA) in Rio de Janeiro in 1945. And in Belgium the Chambre Professionelle Belge de la Librairie Ancienne et Moderne (CLAM) or Belgische Beroepskamer van Antiquaren (BBA) was founded in 1946. Accesses to all the regional associations are through the main web page of ILAB a great resource for buying and possibly selling your books to dealers.  https://www.ilab.org/eng/ilab/Why_ILAB.html

·         AbeBooks is an online marketplace for books. Millions of brand new books, used books, rare books, and out-of-print books are offered for sale through the AbeBooks websites from thousands of booksellers around the world.  Readers can find bestsellers, collectors can find rare books, students can find new and used textbooks, and treasure hunters can find long-lost books. AbeBooks Inc. is a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc. AbeBooks, an online bookselling pioneer, was acquired in December 2008 and remains a stand-alone operation with headquarters in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and a European office in Dusseldorf, Germany.  Our mission is to help people find and buy any book from any bookseller and our business stretches around the world with six international sites - AbeBooks.com, AbeBooks.co.uk, AbeBooks.de, AbeBooks.fr, AbeBooks.it, IberLibro.com, and ZVAB.com, a worldwide marketplace for German rare books. Founded in 1995 by two couples from Victoria, AbeBooks.com went live in 1996 and immediately began to transform the world’s used book business by making hard-to-find books easy to locate and purchase.  In 2002, the New York Times described the company as “an actual Internet success story.” By 2003, the United Nations acclaimed AbeBooks as one of the world’s leading ecommerce companies at its World Summit. The unique inventory of books for sale from booksellers includes the world’s finest antiquarian books dating back to the 15th century, countless out-of-print gems, millions of signed books, millions of used copies, a vast selection of college textbooks and new books too. AbeBooks remains a company with a passion for books. Booksellers love AbeBooks for helping them to sell books to buyers around the globe – 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  Buyers love AbeBooks for helping them to find and purchase books from the vast online inventory. The AbeBooks blog, Reading Copy, is a valuable daily source of company and book-related news. https://www.abebooks.com/?cm_sp=TopNav-_-static-_-Logo

·         Biblio was created for the love of books, and a desire to give local bookstores global reach. We understand the feeling of discovering a literary treasure because we’ve shared in the quest. Biblio is dedicated to helping you find the book or bookseller you seek.  FOR BIBLIOPHILES. We believe a book that has been owned, read and cherished only adds to its value and enriches its history. Our customers aren’t looking for just a common product; they’re searching for a genuine experience that harkens back to the touch and smells of an old bookshop from a former time. They find this experience in Biblio’s vast book collection, which is individually cultivated by our independent sellers. Find a Bookshop | Specialist booksellers FOR LITERACY. Biblio is privileged to be part of a global community of book lovers, and we’re committed to fostering its growth. We invite you to join in our sustainability practices and to support BiblioWorks, a 501c(3) non-profit we created in 2005, to provide books to communities in need. About BiblioWorks and our Social Responsibility. http://www.biblio.com/pages/why_shop_biblio.html

There are multiple other sites that you can go to and learn how to explore the potential value of your books and what the collection of books might be worth. Until you have found out, it is best to avoid selling books at a yard or estate sale. There are also bookdealers within your local area that can be of help. Some offer appraisal services and there are also some very good auction houses that specialize in rare books and if the works are properly described, they will take a book on consignment.

Chances are that if your relative that has left the books, papers and other ephemera, may have been known to bookdealers and other book collectors, so it would be wise to see if you can locate the purchase documentation, that helps establish the provenance or the trace of a book or a book collection.

Once you have learned a bit about how the process works, don’t panic. Learning how to catalog a book so that another bookdealer will have a description of the book and its condition will all be found on the web. There are also many books about books and about collecting, selling, auctioning and building a library. Additional information can also be found at the library associations. You can register for free and search libraries around the world for your book. This link is the one I often use when searching for some idea of how scarce a book might be. http://www.worldcat.org/

Richard Gabriel- Calix Books  http://store.calixbooks.com/