The Basics Of Book Collecting GUIDE (Repost)

Here is the start of a basic guide that I hope will give you a little more insight into book collecting and selling, starting with the book itself.

BOOK DEFINITIONS:

Antique pertains to books dating over 100 years old whilst vintage can be considered anything printed between 1930 and 1960

Retro could be considered anything later than 1960 to an extent. Please note that all of these are just loose bands.

Each band holds some very rare books - not just antique books are collectable and sought after!

Modern first editions are something of a marvel with some of the most collected such as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone selling for late hundreds up to thousands.

Here begins a short definition of different book types, features and designs:.

Art Deco Book Cover

Here is an Art Deco cover - a classic almost William Morris design. These designs are often floral and always striking with bright colours in bold design.

1910's Period Book Cover

I am not sure what era thus can be attributed to but it is one of the finest I have seen with intricate gilt detailing and multiple colours used in the design

Vintage Book Cover

Here is an Enid Blyton first edition from the 1950's and a classic vintage book+

Fine Binding

Here is a classic example of a finely bound book.

Often with leather, calf or vellum edges and marbled covers, these books were expensive to produce, to buy and are to collect.

They are also often strongly bound even now and are the staple of Dark wood or classic libraries the world over

The Late Victorian Decorative cover

Here is a fine example of the late Victorian book cover.

With exquisite detailing and unique font giving a window into the book, these covers can be captivating and striking such as the example below.

Modern Gilt / Deluxe Cover

Here is a modern cover from the iconic Guild Publishing house. With an intricate gilt design and a faux leather effect cover this book appears to be far older than the 1970's publication it is

Art Nouveau Cover Book

Here is a classic art nouveau style cover, featured on the collectable Chiswick Shakespeare series printed between the late 1890's and  the early 1900's

Front/ Rear Papers (FFEP's)

Virtually every hardback book has a front and rear paper before the main text. Some are plain, others more decorated with a repetitive pattern such as many late Victorian publications, and others unique such as the classic Hobbit map.

Frontispiece

After the cover and the front paper comes the frontispiece.

Not all books have them but a good number of antique and vintage books do. Often in older books these are black and white illustrations but in rarer or more recent publications these can be in colour and really add to the presentation of a title

The First Edition Print Line

The first edition is something that any collector wants. Be it an antique book or a modern one, a first edition is a nearly surefire way to add value to the book.

Ending in a one, the number line can read differently on some books.

Older titles were only really given one publication or printing so first editions for some antique texts were rather easy to come by. Similarly modern first editions are a certain best seller so popular books such as the later Harry Potter books were given a large print run in first edition form meaning values for these are low.

The Dust Jacket

A dust jacket is and was a popular way to protect books. Many antique book after the 1900's were issued with such covers even when the covers were bold and decorative, purely to protect such designs.

Books of an age still with such dust jackets can double in value

Folio Society and the Slipcase

Firstly, some books comes with a dust jacket as seen above whilst others come with slipcases. These are often more recent and valuable or collected texts. 

Secondly, the Folio Society is synonymous with quality, being a publishers that reprints a great range of world famous texts 

Gilt edging

Back to the externals of a book.

Gilt edging or gilding is reasonably common on more expensive books of the past with great popularity found in the late Victorian period. To have a book gilded nowadays to such quality can cost hundreds of pounds.

Most antique books have a single edge that has been gilded - often the top. Some nicer books can have tripled gilding which means every visible edge is covered with the shiny gold dusting

Disbound

Below is an example of a book that is no longer bound.

This text is complete and almost as it was printed except for the fact that the binding - most likely glue - has loosened or weakened completely resulting in the text block being completely separate from the covers.

A reparation is needed but this can cost a lot of money so in most cases, such a book is best kept as a 'reading copy' i.e not to sell or collect!

A tipped colour plate (Dulac)

Plates are pages with illustrations, maps etc featured throughout some antique books.

Often these are illustrations and can add value to a book.

For example the illustration below is a colour plate painted by Edmund Dulac and is collectable by itself with some separating and framing such images.

Look out for Arthur Rackham, Harry Rountree, Heath Robinson and Mable Lucy Atwell for collectable illustrators. 

Colour Plate

Colour plates are unique to each artist and also rare in pre 1890's books. In earleir cases such as early 1800's and prior, books with colour illustrations can fetch handsome sums purely due to the colour plates. 

Wood Engraving

Another type of illustration is the wood engraving.

Often more basic, more popular and more frequent, these illustrations can be found in many antique books.

Steel Engraving

The steel engraving is a more intricate, advanced form of illustrations often requiring thicker, stronger paper or card to print upon.

These are rarer than wood engravings, often full page and more valuable.

And this concludes my first brief guide to Antique and collectable books.

I hope that you found it useful and I hasten to add that the guide is basic and soon to be added to in coming posts.

Furthermore I can only give my knowledge and thoughts such are not always correct.

Regardless I hope this first post is something useful, informative or interesting for you and that you will come by again!

Antique Book Problems and Flaws GUIDE (Repost)

Antique Problems

Old and collectable books can suffer from a whole host of problems that may reduce the value significantly.
When a collector buys a book they often search for the best condition book; the copy that is closest to how it would have been when first published.

Listed below are a few of the more common problems affecting old books - look out for these and remember that some books can still hold value despite such flaws but many will suffer drops in value because of it.

Separation of Boards

Some older books have separated into two or three parts - here the front and back boards (or covers) come away completely from the text block. In this case books are rarely worth much unless rare or pre 1800

No Dust Jacket

A book without a Dust Jacket is not always worthless - in most cases the D/J just adds considerable value to a book that may already hold some value.
In 40's to 50's books having a D/J generally makes your book saleable and pre 1930's books with dust jackets are often collectable.

Remember that the D/J can in fact protect the covers of the book as per it's original use and as such books with them are likely to be in better condition than those without.

Missing Front Paper

Some books have had the first few blank pages removed - often due to an inscription or book plate. It is always wise to leave the book complete however.
Books missing such pages do not usually drop too much of their value.

Disbound

A disbound book is separate from the covers - the text block no longer stays attached to the boards. These books are often valueless unless extremely rare or if you are willing to pay a professional to repair the book.

Stamps

Books with stamps are often less desirable due to the fact that they have been in a library or institution of some sort.

In some cases they can hold a little interest/ bring provenance to the book.

Ex - Libris

Ex- Library books are often  ones to stay clear of. With stamps, stickers, writing and other damage these copies are only worth buying or collecting if they are particularly rare or old or sought after.

Browning

A book with browning is usually just an antique book.
Browning in the pages is sometimes due to paper quality and other times down to tobacco staining or other environmental situations.

Inscription

Inscriptions are common and usually not a problem UNLESS they cover text or feature on an important page. The example below shows a name written on the Title Page - arguably the most important page of the book. This decreases the value a fair amount.

Creasing

Usually irreversible, creasing can lower the value of a book to an extent.

Self Repair

When a book is damaged and someone has attempted to repair it in an amateur way as seen below, the effect is often worse than had they left the book alone!
Leave it to the experts if the book is valuable enough. Otherwise stay clear or keep for personal reading.

Cracking hinges

The front and rear inner
In many old copies, the binding can be seen due to cracking of the hinge. Whilst this is not always a problem it can lead to more serious weakness in the book and so often is wise to stay clear of.

hinge is often a place that can suffer wear and tear.

Foxing

Foxing is the bane of any book collector's life.

Mny books have it - it is simply an age and storage related problem resulting in brown spots appearing throughout the book. Sometimes this is only in the first few pages, sometimes it is only on the edges of the pages but it always lowers the value by a small amount at least

And there we have it!
I have tried to include as many problems as I can think of and to show them accurately in the hope that this guide may once again help you, the reader.

The Most Collectable Books GUIDE (Repost)

Here is an attempt to list some of the more collectable titles currently circulating.

These are books that are guaranteed to bring big money depending on the edition and seem to hold their value throughout the years.

Abebooks has a reasonably comprehensive list of such titles however I would argue the value of some of the books listed by them.

Ulysses:

This book is a classic, infamously known as the 'hardest novel to read' in popular literature. Early prints from third edition to first can hold high values with the true first editions selling for thousands.

The Origin of Species

Darwin's most renowned text changed human views for ever from when it was published, back in 1859. Even editions published in the 1920's can hold some value with earlier copies rising in value incrementally. The standard green art deco covered Sixth Edition from 1900 onward sells well for a minimum of £50 whilst pre 1880 copies are guaranteed to make hundreds or many thousands if a second or first edition.

The Hobbit

This novel is one of the most acclaimed children's stories. Although the original audience was the child, some adults may now struggle with the tale of adventure and dragons. Hardback editions dating from 1970-1975 can fetch up to £75 whilst every year earlier adds another few pounds to the value.

The 1966 edition with dust jacket can sell for £100 if in nice condition, the 1957 edition with dust jacket can reach £200 quite easily and so forth up to the 1937 first edition which reaches £7,000 in some cases.

Even 1980's hardbacks can sell well and the vintage paperbacks too - look out for the 1961 Puffin paperback which can be worth over £50 if in very good condition

Andersen's Fairy Tales

A real classic - one of the most notorious writers of short children's tales.

Illustrated editions tend to sell well, especially if dated prior to 1900. 1890's editions with colour illustrations can reach over £40 whilst certain editions such as the 1913 Heath Robinson illustrated edition can reach over £3,000.
A variety of illustrators have dabbled with Andersen's tales including Edmund Dulac, Arthur Rackham and Harry Rountree.

Mrs Beeton's Cookery Books

Mrs Beeton is the biggest name in vintage cookery books with a huge range of editions running from 1865.

Nice 1900-1920 copies can hold over £10 whilst the earlier pre 1900 copies often manage £30 to £40.

The larger Household Management books and the First Edition Cookery Books can reach over £100.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

No book of recent times is so collected as the Philosopher's Stone.
Two publishers of fame printed this book - the first being Bloomsbury and the second being Ted Smart. Ted Smart cam a year after Bloomsbury so a first edition/ first impression ted smart can only reach a few hundred pounds whilst a Bloomsbury first edition/ impression rarely sells for less that £800. Hardbacks are rarer too and sell for higher fees. Needless to say signed copies can once more set the price soaring higher.

Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

Lews Carroll's most famous story and perhaps the most famous child's tale in the world is immensely collectable with in excess of one hundred different editions available to the collector.

Look out for pre 1930's editions as they tend to sell well. With colour plates by famous illustrator's such as Arthur Rackham, copies can quite easily reach £100 whilst the red and gilt backed pre 1900 editions can reach thousands if in true first edition form.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayim

This classic poem, written many hundreds of year ago some believe, is rather collectable and has many diffeent editions available to buy. Some early illustrated editions (Edmund Dulac once more) sell for at least £100 whilst the rarest will easily sell for thousands.

The Highfield Mole

This low circulation children's story written by Roderick Gordon and Bryan Williams is a nice one to look out for although far less colecetable than Abebooks state. A signed first edition paperback can sell for £50 upwards whilst the hardback can easily treble that.

For Whom The Bell Tolls

This Ernest Hemingway classic is alleged to be one of the most collectible of his works. Even fifth impression can sell for a few pounds whilst first editions with dust jacket can reach hundreds but sometimes fall at the £30 mark.

1984/ Animal Farm

These two most celebrated works of \George Orwell sell very well in first edition form. Secker and Warburg early editions rarely drop below £10 whilst a true first for either books often reaches £300 in excellent condition.

Jules Verne's Works

This French author's most famous works sell well, especially with decorative covers or illustrated plaes. Pre 1920's copies usually reach £10 at least whilst 1880's or earlier copies can inevitably rise above £100 if particularly nice or rare.

Narnia

Books set in C.S Lewis's fictional world of Narnia are increasingly collectable, outselling Tolkien's Middle Earth series according to Abebooks.

Early imprints of his most famous books especially The Lion, he Witch and the Wardrobe can sell between £10 and £30 whilst first editions with dust jacket sell for low hundreds. Sets are worth looking out for.

Ian Fleming's James Bond

Look out for Jonathan Cape editions - these are the true first editions of this world famous spy series. Book Club editions published a year after the original firsts are still collectable, generally reach ing between £5 and £25 with dust jackets.
The Jonathan Cape first editions however, with D/J's can attain up to £300 for the particularly valuable Casino Royale.

Peter Pan

J.M Barrie's famous tale has captivated many children the world over and many collectors too. Early editions feature gilt decoration on the covers and lovely colour illustrations by famous illustrators. One first edition sold recently for far more than pocket money - £320 to be precise.

eBay - How To Upload Photos For Free GUIDE (Repost)

eBay.

A common problem that many face with eBay is the cost of listing photographs. You want to amply show your item but cannot afford to pay for 12 photos at 12p each.

Well, here is a guide that aims to run through free photo uploading to eBay.

This process is perfectly within eBay regulations and also quite simple.
By following these steps you will be able to insert as many photographs as you like for no extra cost!

Step 1. Register

There are several websites that allow you to upload photos for viewing but I find Photobucket.com the easiest.
Simply log on and register.

Once you have an account set up you can begin to upload your photographs.

Remember that the smaller size they are, they quicker it will be to upload

After clicking 'Upload' you will see the option to 'Choose photos and videos' - click on the box.

You will then be greeted with the standard Explorer browser as seen below - highlight your chosen photographs here after locating them.

You can select multiple photographs if you hold Ctrl whilst clicking.

Select 'Open' and then wait for them to upload. If you have a free account (which I recommend) you will be shown an advert - this can be clicked on to stop. 

Once they have uploaded you will be able to see the photographs shown in miniature.

Next, click on the top bar under 'Library' and find 'Recent Uploads' as seen below.

Under 'Recent Uploads' you will see the photographs you have uploaded. Click on the photo you want to upload to eBay first of all.

You will then be shown the photo in large. Here you can choose to edit the photo if you want (ie rotate etc)

When you are happy, click the HTML link as seen below

No need to right click here - if you simply click on the HTML link it will automatically copy.

Now go to your eBay listing - if you don't know how to list please feel free to read my Book Listing Guide:

http://theantiquebooksguide.blogspot.com/2013/08/ebay-book-selling-guide_4.html

If you have your listing, scroll down to the description as seen below and click 'HTML', just under 'Add a description'.

Now you are in HTML mode which means you can simply paste the link you copied earlier.

If you have multiple links repeat the process of clicking on the photo in Photobucket and pasting it here.

 Switch back to 'Standard' by clicking the 'Standard' tab just next to 'HTML'

And there you have it - your photo will now appear in the text section.

Once you are happy with the position and with your description then finish the listing.

A tip: Remember to write at the beginning of the description box that there are 'photos below' so that users know to scroll down.

It is also useful to put all of the writing before the photo's.

And there you have it - free photo uploads.

Make sure you still use the standard eBay photo lister to upload the cover photo - this one is free if you only need one.
Then let your photobucket photos fill the description to your hearts content.

I hope this guide helped - if it did please share, comment or read my other articles!