What is this book worth?

 As an avid reader who feels books almost have souls, I want to cry when I see gutted old books that might have been vintage set up as decor, or art that rips book pages from old, classic, antique books. I want to sob for every Nancy Drew book that anyone has ever destroyed for the sake of art. Books, to me at least, are more valuable than gold. That being said, if you are going to or have to destroy a book find a novel that is trash on paper or worth nothing (so, not antique or vintage). Today we explore what books are worth money and what books are not.

Photo Courtesy of My Wall Decor Ideas
An example of abused books

Again, I implore you as a human being not to destroy these precious gifts that authors have given us and doom them to being useless decor. I know not everyone has room in their house to collect bookshelves of novels. There is a solution that will put some cash in your pocket or save you space - sell it or donate it. It is either that or you can pass the book on to the next reader in your family, friendship circle, or workplace. 

I, personally, only keep books I enjoy or collect on my bookshelves (of which I don't have enough). I am an addict when it comes to books and have to occasionally make sure I'm going to read all my books every so many years. To those who collect valuable editions and rare books, an antique shop shelf is an excellent place to look. If you are going to start, you need a guide. I can only help you so far, but here is a basic guide to what is worth buying and what you should leave for those that want to make decor cheap.

Rare Books

Rare books are hard to find because of earlier print dates, limited edition, historical interest, or rare binding or character. These are the last thing you want to make decor or gut. I will take these precious paper children from you willing to save them and so will bookshops in your area. You can sell them at a high price online if you wanted to. 

First editions, for starters, are worth a lot, and the older the book the more money you can get (especially 1900s). If it is published with 500 or fewer copies you may have an opportunity. Autographed books or books signed by someone famous are great, too. If anyone famous owned anything you can sell it for some spending or saving cash, as a general rule. If it was made by a specific printing technique that is no longer used you are holding something rare. Depending on the condition, you can adjust your prices. Mint condition (perfect with no wear) is money. Signed binding is another thing to look for.

Releases of special covers of books get attention. Some people want pretty, leather-bound books and pay well for them. Reprints with more decorated covers and more illustrations are sought out, as well. Specific typography is the same concept. If you have a cover of a book that is unique and hard to find (even if the content is the same as the cheap paperback of the same title) you should not harm it, especially if it is in mint condition. Fore-edged painting, painting done by hand on the edges of a page of a closed book is something to look for.

I will warn you that some books have more demand than others and this requires research to find out. A first edition alone does mean rare.  Also, identifying first editions is not as easy as you think. One way to check is to check the date it was copyrighted and the date it was printed. Does it match? If so, yes, it is the first edition. There are a few other ways, but you are going to have to go deeper and get a manual on first editions, due to the non-uniform nature of publishing companies.

Why Do Reprints and Originals Vary?

Photo by Los Angeles Times

You would not think that reprinting would change content, but I'm going to use Nancy Drews as an example here. Some books are re-edited when they are released again. The originals actually have slightly different content sometimes (this may be true of other books, but do your research). The covers of Nancy Drew dime novels (because they cost only a small amount) give away the time they were released. The ones released now are revised, every one of them. The guide at the link below will give you more details, but you see my point. Some collectors say the revised are not as good as the original, but most of the books sold in major book stores are the shiny revised. Take a trip through antique stores and look for the originals, if you are trying to collect them all. The same thing goes for the Hardy Boys collection.

http://www.series-books.com/nancydrew/text.html   (The link is specific, in case you need that.)

http://hardyboys.us/hbos.htm ( This is the Hardy Boys reprints that details the specifics.)

The Series That People Want Most

Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys are two series that are in demand from collectors. The book collectors out there tend to band together and show off their collection on bookshelves. Most likely, they also play Nancy Drew games, but that is beside the point. 

We also have, on this collectible list, "Birds of America" by James Audubon. It was auctioned for 6.6 million dollars. Good luck getting it.

Photo By 13th Dimension

Some may know how much DC and Marvel mean to the world right now. Their comic books are extremely valuable when in good condition and the people who collect will do so avidly. They, too, will show off their bookshelf to others. 

Edgar Allen Poe, it seems, is in demand. He is a gifted, dark poet that has been let into public education textbooks. This is thousands of dollars in auctions. Good luck finding much of this stuff for a student price. 

Next, we have Charles Darwin's "The Origin of Species". Expensive book, but if you want it I suppose the richest bidder will find it. It usually comes up at auctions every year or so. Again, you'd better be rich if you want this one.

Harry Potter is a classic series and is collected quite often. The first editions of this series cost some money, but are not as bad as the above book. 150,000 dollars for this is not unheard of (given it is the first edition). This is not an old book. It is not any less valuable because it isn't old. 

Least Valuable Books

Photo By The Guardian

Personally, I'm going to give my opinion and you can disagree, but the book series that I think you should gut is "Fifty Shades of Grey", every one of them. I have two reasons. One is that the content is pornographic in a dark nature and represents an unhealthy relationship that shouldn't be graphically shown to anyone. Reason two is that the content, even if it weren't graphic, is so badly written that it should never have been published at all. 

To see some of the many reasons why this book was royal crap on a plate read this link: https://www.workthegreymatter.com/50-novel-writing-mistakes-fifty-shades-grey-part-1/

Our role of dishonor continues with "Mein Kampf" written by Adolf Hitler. I don't have to tell you why.

After this opinions may go this way and that, so it is up to you after this, but if you can get money for it don't gut it. The money is useful for several things, but a gutted book is worth nothing. 

Sources:

https://antiques.lovetoknow.com/How_to_Identify_a_Rare_Book#:~:text=According%20to%20dictionary.com%20the,binding%2C%20or%20its%20historical%20interest.

https://blog.bookstellyouwhy.com/most-wanted-rare-books

https://geekforthewin.com/worst-books-ever/