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USING THIS GUIDE

All books listed herein are first editions/first printings of the individual titles, unless otherwise stated. Each of the entries includes sufficient information to allow the reader to identify editions of the book in-hand. The prices are our best estimates for the books in the condition described below. What we have tried to do is outline how a publisher identifies their first printings (First Edition Identification By Publisher), and note exceptions. In other words, if the book you have is published by Random House and the First Edition Identification By Publisher states that Random House states “First Printing” on their books, and they didn’t on the book in-hand, the entry will say “first edition not stated” (otherwise there will be no exception noted and the book in-hand should, in this example, state “First Printing” — or it isn’t a first).

Remember, we are not trying to tell you if a book is a $50 or $60 book, we are trying to tell you if it is closer to $50 than to $500. The more expensive it is, the more research you should do.

The entries are composed of:

Author, title, place of publication, date of publication, and only that additional information needed to identify the issue, the state or edition, and the value.

All entries start with the first editions (first printings) unless otherwise stated. “Trade” is used to indicate the first general edition available for public sale after a limited edition has been issued; usually the same sheets are used for both the limited and trade editions. The later entries under the same title usually show the first U.S. or first U.K. editions, illustrated editions or other editions of some value.

If the author’s name does not appear on the title page, the entry will start with the title. If the author used a pseudonym, the pseudonym will appear first and the entry will include the author’s name in parentheses.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

The section on First Edition Identification by Publisher is applicable to each entry unless otherwise stated.

Author’s first books: There are many titles listed which state that the title is the author’s first book. In most cases, in our opinion, an author’s first book puts an upper limit on the value of his or her books. This is why the value of the first book can often be used as a rough guide to estimating the prices of later books. If a current catalog price or auction record is available, it could, of course, be more reliable. But if such records are not available and you find two books by the same author, one published in 1930 and one in 1940, the one published in 1930 will normally be valued higher, and it will be important to know whether the author’s first book was published in 1900 or 1929. This rule applies to unsigned trade editions only (often a signed and limited edition of a later book will be valued more highly than the first or earlier book). There are exceptions—for example, when a first or early book had a large printing; or when a later book is much scarcer and/or is acclaimed as an “important” book with lasting literary value; or perhaps when a popular movie has been made out of a later book.

BAL, VAB, etc: Occasionally an entry will reference VAB (Van Allen Bradley's Handbook of Values, 1982-1983) if there were points in VAB that could not be found in any other reference work, and we thought they should not be left out. In addition, some entries include reference to specific bibliographies, such as Bibliography of American Literature (BAL), First Printings of American Authors (FPAA), Modern First Editions, by Merle Johnson (Johnson), and USiana by Wright Howes (Howes). Full titles of these and other bibliographies used to develop this guide can be found in Selected Bibliography of Works Consulted.

Book of the Month Club (BOMC): It should be noted that most of the BOMC editions look exactly like the true first editions and may actually state "First Edition.” See Reprint Publishers and Book Clubs above. These are not first editions.

Dates/Places: If the place of publication or date does not appear on the title page, this information will be in parentheses in the entries, e.g. (New York, 1963) would indicate that neither the place or date were on the title page but were printed in the book elsewhere, normally on the copyright page. This is particularly significant because the presence of a date on the title page may be the only way to differentiate between first and later printings. But, as we have taken the entries from many sources and in some cases have never actually handled the particular book, we may think the book has the date or place on the title page when in fact it doesn’t. Many dealers follow the convention of using the parentheses (and brackets, see below) but most do not bother.

If the place of publication or date does not appear in the book at all, but is known by the compilers, it will appear in brackets, e.g. [1969]. If not known it might be [circa 1930] or “no-date.”

If there is no date on the title page, check to see if the publisher is one of the reprint publishers who never put dates on their publications, but only publish reprints, and that would immediately tell you the book is not a first edition (with a few exceptions specifically noted in the entries, and certain young adult and children’s books such as Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, etc.): Blakiston, A. L. Burt, Grosset & Dunlap, Hurst, Modern Library, Sun Dial or Tower Books (World).

Limited Editions Club (LEC): The list of titles that follows includes hundreds published by the LEC. The club was started in 1929 and published 12 titles a year. All of them, until recent years, were limited to 1500 copies and signed by the illustrators. A few were also signed by the authors. But most of our entries do not state that the books are signed by the illustrators.

Quantities: If the entry states a quantity of copies, such as “One of 500 copies,” this means the edition is numbered 1 to 500 or states someplace in the book that it is one of 500 copies. If the entry states “One of 26 copies” it normally means 26 copies were lettered A to Z. If the entry includes a quantity in parentheses “(200 copies)” it means it is known that there were 200 copies printed, but there is no indication in the book itself of this fact.

ESTIMATED VALUES

Please check the date on the title page carefully. If the entry herein does not have the date in parentheses “( )”, which specifically indicates the date is not on the title page, the date should be on the title page. However, there are cases where we assumed from our sources that the date is on the title page but it isn’t. So be aware of that possibility. Compare your book’s condition to the conditions listed below.

All prices in this volume are for books in following CONDITION:

Books published before 1800: rebound in the 19^th century unless otherwise stated. Copies in original bindings (even extensively repaired) or contemporary bindings would have a higher value.

Books published from 1800 to 1849: rebound at some early date after the date of publication unless otherwise stated. Binding is clean and intact. The original binding would greatly increase the value.

Books published from 1850 to 1924: in original leather, cloth (cloth-covered boards), boards (paper-covered boards) or paperwraps unless otherwise stated. From 1850 to 1889, the book is good to very good condition with only minor edge wear or loss but still tight and clean. From 1890 to 1924, the book is clean and bright with no loss or tears on the edges. Fine to very fine copies or copies in dust jackets from this period would bring more.

Books published from 1925 to 1949: must be very good to fine with only minimal (if any) soiling. In original dust jackets (unless in wraps or a limited edition in slipcase) that is clean with only minimal soiling or fading and only a few small chips and closed tears. If the dust jacket is missing the value is greatly reduced (75% or more on fiction and 20% or more on non-fiction).

Books published after 1950: a book from 1950 to 1985 must be fine in original dust jacket that shows only very minor wear, fading or soiling and may or may not be price-clipped. From 1985 until the present, the book and dust jacket should look close to new and the dust jacket should not be price-clipped.

The dollar values shown are our estimates of the retail value of the book as outlined above. The estimated values are believed to be accurate, plus or minus 20 percent. This may seem to be a very wide range, but it is not unusual to see the same book in different dealer catalogs or at auction with that wide a range (or even wider) within the same year. If you prefer, you can consider the range to represent the difference in condition between a very good copy and a fine copy of the individual book. It is also not unusual for an absolutely mint copy of a book to bring twice the price of a very good to fine copy. On the other hand, copies with even minor defects might sell for as little as 50 percent of the values shown, worn and chipped copies (books and/or dust jackets) might only be worth 25 to 30 percent of the values shown, and books without dust jackets (after 1924) would normally sell for 15 to 25 percent of the values shown.

The value listed for any particular title should be considered only as a guide. In some cases the books are truly rare, and the fact that we have estimated a price based on a catalog or auction entry that may have been years old does not mean this price is accurate. As many dealers will tell you, when you have found a book on their shelves for $500, that is listed in our guide for $300, “Go buy it from them.”