Skinner Inc.

Auctioneers and Appraisers

Tag Archives: value of old books

Selling Antique Books, Part II: Eight Ways to Determine Your Books’ Value

If there is one single thing that is a make or break for book value, it would be the dust jacket. The value of a first edition copy of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night with dust jacket is around $6,000. Without a dust jacket….$300. This huge difference in value is largely due to the fact that more than 90% of dust jackets are destroyed, either deliberately or due to their ephemeral and fragile nature. If you have one on a good book, treasure it. Also, be sure to protect it with a plastic sleeve.

Selling Antique Books, Part I: How to Tell a Rare Book From an Old Book

I’m an antique book appraiser, so I hear this phrase a lot, maybe eight or ten times a week. However, it doesn’t always inspire the excitement or anticipation that I usually feel at the start of a great antique book hunt. Old books aren’t necessarily rare books.