Antique Books Price Guide

If you love the thrill of rummaging through piles of old books at garage sales, bidding on boxes of antique books at auctions or browsing shelves of old literary works at thrift stores while searching for hidden a treasure, one resource you should never be without is an antique books price guide.

Rare and Used Book Stores

People collect antique books for many different reasons. For some it is the mystical allure of a connection to earlier times. For others it is the historical importance of the work or the sheer beauty of the book itself. Still others are drawn to antique books because of their potential monetary value.

Regardless of the reason that you love collecting antique books, knowing the fair market value of these popular antiques will help you make an informed purchasing decision.

There are many excellent price guides for antique and collectible books. Although current price guides are essential for updated book values, many collectors also consider older price guides a valuable resource. Older guides include valuable information including records of previous sales used to determine if a book has been increasing in value.

• Huxford’s Old Book Value Guide by Bob Huxford lists more than 25,000 old books and their values.
• Published in April, 2008, Marie Tedford’s The Official Price Guide to Collecting Books, 6th Edition provides book values, market trends and future forecasts.
• Pocket Guide to the Identification of First Editions by Bill McBride

A popular free resource for antique book collectors, Faded Giant has a database listing more than 50,000 books. Although many of them are newer first editions, there are a great number of antique, collectible and rare books on the website. The listed values on Faded Giant are determined based on current auction selling prices. These market driven values are both timely and realistic.

Faded Giant also provides many additional resources and articles of interest to collectors of antique books including:

• A signature guide that includes the signatures of hundreds of authors which is a great resource for comparing signatures of signed first editions
• A description of the terms regarding the condition and grading of books
• Recommended books for buying, collecting and selling antique and collectible books
• Links to additional websites on various aspects of antique books
• Book buying and selling tips

There are many websites that sell antique and collectible books. Locating a book that you own, or are interested in buying, on one of these websites gives you the retail price of the book which may not be the actual selling price.

• Abe Books has a database of more than 110 million books which includes many wonderful rare and antique books.
• With more than 10,000 booksellers Alibris provides a wide selection of old, rare and antique books for sale. Like Abe Books, the prices given are the retail prices of the books.
• Biblio offers many antique books from a large number of book sellers throughout the world that specialize in antique books.
• Similar to Biblio, Antiq Book hosts more than 900 book sellers, most of which specialize in antique books.
• Another method of determining the value of an antique book is comparing it to one that sold on eBay. Always make certain you compare a book that is in the same condition as the one you have and use the search tool for completed auctions.

• Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America
• What’s It Worth to You
• Tom Folio

Whether you are new to the world of antique books or are have been collecting them for many years, a current antique books price guide is an important resource for keeping you updated on the fair market value of books you own or are thinking of adding to your collection.

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