Product Description

A Collector’s Guide to the Wonderful World of Books!

Whether you’ve found a century-old cookbook in your attic, are curious about your favorite contemporary author, or want to appraise a classic from your childhood, The Official ® Price Guide to Collecting Books offers all the professional advice and information you need to determine the right values and the proper care for your books.

COMPLETELY REVISED AND UPDATED: The Official ® Price Guide to Collecting Books contains values for thousands of titles, from classic to contemporary, to help you enrich your shelves with unforgettable stories and priceless collectibles!

LISTINGS BY AUTHOR FOR EASY REFERENCE: Plus, there are listings of authors cross-referenced by category.

EVERY GENRE IS INCLUDED: From medical texts and early travel journals to science fiction and poetry, this incredible sourcebook covers both the old and the new—from Shakespeare and Dickens to Clancy and Grisham.

PROFESSIONAL ADVICE: This book contains valuable tips on buying, selling, and preserving your books, as well as a complete glossary of book-collecting terms.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #714268 in Books
• Published on: 2002-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 496 pages

From the Publisher
It's easy to run into difficulties buying old books -- the language of antiquarian bookselling alone is confusing (I knew what "dog-eared" pages were, but what about books that are "foxed"?). The 30-odd-page glossary in OFFICIAL PRICE GUIDE TO OLD BOOKS is reason alone to own a copy. And there are so many variables on which prices for old books are set. Old books can be found at every flea market and garage sale, as well as those dusty, fascinating antiquarian bookshops and second-hand bookstores. Marie Tedford -- who is a bookseller herself -- and Pat Goudey have made life easier for all us old book lovers. The guide offers concrete examples of what can make a book worth its weight in gold -- or leave it worthy only for the recycling bin.

I especially loved the chapter on children's books. Right now, my old book searches are to locate copies of the Sue Barton and Cherry Ames nurse novels from the thirties and forties. Don't ask me why I loved those nurse books so much when I was a kid -- I wanted to be an actress then, and I'm an editor now -- but years ago, before I had the advantage of having a copy of OFFICIAL PRICE GUIDE TO OLD BOOKS, I paid way too much for a copy of my very favorite picture book from when I was three or four -- THE VALENTINE CAT. Thanks to Marie and Pat, I won't make that mistake again!

--Randy Ladenheim-Gil, Editor, House of Collectibles

Inside Flap Copy
A one-of-a-kind guide for book lovers and book collectors!
Like fine wine, books become better with age -- and increase in value! Completely revised, updated, and expanded, The Official Price Guide to Old Books lists the prices of a wide variety of volumes from classic to contemporary.
* COMPREHENSIVE. This incredible sourcebook provides the current values for thousands of books, from the old and the rare to more modern volumes.
* UP-TO-DATE. The Official Price Guide to Old Books also includes the hot areas of collecting, including mystery, military, children's books, and modern first editions.
* AUTHORITATIVE. Extensively researched, The Official Price Guide to Old Books includes tips on buying, selling, maintaining, and caring for these very delicate, fragile treasures.
* GLOSSARY. A glossary of antiquarian book collectors' terms, so both experts and novices can differentiate between "blindstamping" and "vellum" -- a complete mini-course in book collecting.
* FULLY ILLUSTRATED.

About the Author
MARIE TEDFORD started out in the book business as a scout for the Yankee Peddler, a rare bookstore in Rochester, New York. Now a bookseller in Vermont, she also writes children’s books.

PAT GOUDEY, Marie’s daughter, has worked as an editorial assistant and a newspaper reporter and has her own editorial service company in Vermont.

Customer Reviews

The Guide to Evaluating Books...
Why did I give this four stars you ask? Well it may say Price Guide in the title, but it spends more time of the evaluation and grading of old books.

I bought this to help with my selling of old books on online auction sites, and none of the old books I have are listed in this book as far as the book listing/prices go. BUT it did help me in other areas.

It helped me in evaluating or grading the condition of the old books I have, and in turn I have been descriptions on my online auctions.

This book has moderately in depth discussions on a review of the market, a closer look at the book trade today, the impact of the internet as far as buying and selling old books goes, the care and repair of old books. This book also includes a glossary, abbreviations, a listing of more that 15,000 books and prices, a listing of Bibles, Old Book dealers, and recommeded periodicals and research resources.

Old Books - A to Z
Nice hardcover A to Z listing by author.

Official Price Guide to Old Books
This is a treasure of a book and a wealth of knowledge. What fun it is for a collector to track their investment.