Reply With QuoteHave a look on http://www.abebooks.co.uk/Originally Posted by london lad
From a quick look there a few listed from the same era from £50-£150.
Ben
Hi all,
I have an old book, Cyclopaedic Science Simplified by J. H. Pepper.
From what I can find on the web its looks as if the book dates from about 1869.
Has anyone any idea as to where or how I should go about getting the book valued ?
Have a look on http://www.abebooks.co.uk/
From a quick look there a few listed from the same era from £50-£150.
Ben
you will need to pay for it (£4.99) but it isn't much to get a proper valuation: -
http://www.valuemystuffnow.com/
A good friend knows the people behind this site and they are knowledgeable people.
just cos something is listed on abe for a ton doesnt mean that that is an accurate reflection of its resale valueHave a look on http://www.abebooks.co.uk/
From a quick look there a few listed from the same era from £50-£150.
Ben
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
This book appears to have been reprinted as an exact reproduction http://www.alibris.co.uk/booksearch?qwo ... t=p&cm_sp= ... are you sure yours is an original?
dunk
"Well they would say that ... wouldn't they!"
Generally, prices you'd get on ABE are what you'd pay retail -the other place to check would be to use vialibri.net; which is a meta
search engine for antiquarian book dealers. And for a lot of the pricier stuff you should be able to haggle with dealers :-)
As a rule, figure that you might if lucky get 1/3rd of what the retail prices on ABE come out at. And that's for stuff that's desirable.
If you want to check prior auction records, you might find http://www.liveauctioneers.com / http://www.bloomsburyauctions.com (in both cases you probably
need to register (free)) to see what prior copies have sold for at auction.
One method of determining scarcity is also to see what institutional holdings are of it - for the UK, try http://www.copac.ac.uk to see which libraries have
copies.
That all said; I don't think this is going to be worth a chunk of money (I found it as part of one prior sale at auction in a combined lot of similar - c20-30 quid per
volume).
al.
I thought that site rang a bell http://www.deborahmeaden.com/investment ... ff-now/13/
A long time ago in an house that was to be demolished i found{and still have}1893 Bradford street directory,I suppose it could be said it is like a yellow pages of it's day,it has all the addresses and the names of the people at the address and also there occupation,an addition that i don't think would be in any directory now is the information for pay days of all the local companies!,great if your a crook!,so you just look in the book and see what day the firm paid it's staff and go and collect your booty!.
I don't know if this book is of any value but it certainly makes for a good read thats for sure,if memory serves me well it advertises an holiday for 1 shilling and sixpence to the sunny southport hydro,if anyone does know what a book like this is worth then let me know i might sell it.
Rgds
Paul
As has already been stated Abebooks is probably the best way to get a feel for value. Also just because something is old doesn't make it valuable and in the book world 1869 isn't actually that old. Like with most things, with the really desirable items out there condition is everything. For example I have a first edition of the Jungle Book which I picked up for about IR£5 in my teens (I spent most of my teenage Saturdays in secondhand book shops in Dublin). It is in absolutely appalling condition and is not worth a great deal now (I also have what I believe to be a first edition The Light That Failed by the same author in excellent condition, now that I must get valued).
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
''1893 isn't actually that old'' I agree but.......
The book I have wasn't a book that would have been kept,it was like the modern day phone book and so would have been a throw away book and I guess not many would have survived.
Don't hold that against it :DI thought that site rang a bell http://www.deborahmeaden.com/investment ... ff-now/13/
Patrick van der Vorst's experience, and the team he has doing the appraisals, is excellent. I'm surprised they went the DD route but it certainly accelerated the growth of the business.
Thank you gentlemen for all your suggestions.
The book is not a reprint but is in poor condition.
I will report back here with any progress.
My apologies. I meant to quote the date of the OP's book and not yours; I've now amended this. Your point is entirely valid and by way of illustration; there is one East Prussian restaurant in Berlin called the Marjellchen and they have a copy of the Königsberg telephone directory from 1941. SWMBO's mother is from Königsberg (now called Kaliningrad of course) and it was absolutely fascinating to look up her mother's telephone number when we went for the first time. It's a great restaurant, by the way, definitely a good tip for anyone visiting Berlin.
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
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