Books: The Confident Collector ID & Price Guide

HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Chapter One

Market Report

"Baby Boomers are redefining the market for rare books," says a February 1993 article in the Wall Street Journal publication "Smart Money." As the Baby Boomer generation has entered the market in recent years, it has brought a new mindset to the world of book collecting. It has turned the "popular" book into the collectible book. What's in and interesting has become what you collect; and "hot" new writers have become collectible overnight.

This new era of book collecting began with mysteries, detective stories, and science fiction, and now includes horror fiction and thrillers as well. Handsomely illustrated children's books, pop-ups, movie- and TV-related material, Disneyana, juvenile series books (meaning Nancy Drew, Tom Swift, and company), and early ("vintage") paperbacks, have now joined nineteenth-century literary first editions, fine bindings, color plate books, and others, at the active center of the book-collecting world.

The latest burst was led, some years ago, by Stephen King. The first editions of his earlier books (Carrie, 'Salem's Lot, The Shining, Night Shift, The Stand) go at the moment for $150 to $1,000. His limited editions can run up to $2,500.

First editions of Tom Clancy's The Hunt for Red October sell for $400 to $750, and Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire for $250 to over $550. The first of Sue Grafton's "alphabet series" of mysteries, "A" Is for Alibi, can go for as much as $850, while "B" Is for Burglar is worth $200 to $400.

With children's books, the first editions of the beloved classics—Winnie the Pooh, Charlotte's Web, The Secret Garden, Raggedy Ann, Anne of Green Gables, and many more—continue to be bought and sold at high figures. Among nonfiction works, the first public edition of the government printing of "The Smyth Report" on atomic energy is now offered for around $750. Contemporary histories of the fighting units in World War II are valued at $75 to $200 or more, depending on the unit.

Auction Results

The "Smart Money" article stated that since 1987, Sotheby's, Christie's, and New York-based Swann Galleries have produced over $182 million in their US book auctions alone. In the past year at Sotheby's, a first edition of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz sold for $39,600, and a first edition of Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon, estimated to go for about $5,000, brought $29,000 at the end of a bidding war; a presentation copy of Bram Stoker's Dracula sold for $44,000; F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby brought $14,300, and J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, $19,800.

The Swann Gallery's March 1992 sale of the Jack Gorlin collection drew tremendous attention. Mr. Gorlin was an amateur fencer and dueler, and during his travels amassed a rare and valuable collection of books in his area of interest.

At Swann's fiftieth anniversary auction in April 1992, the celebrated Raymond Epstein collection was on the block. The books collected by Mr. Epstein over a forty-year period brought a total of over $327,000. Highlights included original editions of The Wealth of Nations at $26,400; Leaves of Grass, $30,000; The Tale of Peter Rabbit, $55,000; Gone With the Wind, $4,180; and Frankenstein, $30,800.

Excerpted from Books: The Confident Collector ID & Price Guideby Nance Wright Copyright © 2008 by Nance Wright. Excerpted by permission.
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