r/rarebooks • u/TheRareBookBuyer • 1h ago
r/rarebooks • u/SsurebreC • Apr 23 '19
[Meta] Please post good pictures of your books
Hi all! I love this sub and I love to enjoy the books that are shared here and reading through the what is my book worth post to see if I can help.
I'm encountering a frequent problem: lack of good pictures.
For example, look at this recent post about Hitchhikers Guide which currently has 22 upvotes - a solid count. It has exactly one picture of the cover and nothing else.
Now let's compare that to my own Dante book [bias alert] which has background information on the book and a link to the gallery or here's another book.
What pictures have I taken?
- Front cover
- Spine
- Title page
- First page with illustration
- Two close-up photos of this page
- Two random pages with smaller illustrations
- Colophon page
It's 2019 and everyone here has access to a good camera (either digital or your phone) and a way to post all these pictures online for free (I use imgur).
Can we please start posting good pictures of books? I recommend the following:
- a good, clear picture of the cover and spine
- another picture of the title page, particularly if it has the year
- random pictures of the book, particularly if there are neat illustrations you think we should check out
- if it's an old book, photo of the colophon
- if it's a new book, the full page with the copyright and ISBN information
Try to make sure the photo's aren't blurry and take a picture of the full page. This is because some people want a similar book or, if you're posting a first-edition, they'd like to know what a first-edition book looks like. This is particularly true of books written by people like Mark Twain which have trivial but important features that have a significant effect on the price.
I don't believe it's a lot to ask and we all would like to enjoy the books and our shared passion. This is particularly true of anyone asking for appraisal help.
Thanks in advance!
r/rarebooks • u/TheyCallMeWalker • 8h ago
How to tell if this is a first true edition of The Return of Tarzan
The reason I ask, although the year and copyright page look appropriate, is because I see many copies in a similar binding but with a different-looking full title page? The copyright pages on all copies look identical but it is only the title page which differs across numerous copies, furthermore the copies I do see that have a identical title page are in a different binding and are from a later year?
r/rarebooks • u/Greencheek_conure • 1h ago
Any ideas on what these are?
I would really appreciate some ideas on what these books could be. Thanks!
Ok I can read the title page I mean are they rare editions and what could they be worth. I inherited them. Are they something I should give to a museum or sell? I would love any suggestions or advice.
r/rarebooks • u/Bookguy2007 • 10h ago
Help Spoiler
galleryI bought these two copies. Do you think these are signed, or is it a print? Both books have different patterns.
Please let me know the value of the books as well.
r/rarebooks • u/DrFrankenstein_ • 22h ago
My new limited edition of Confessions of an English Opium Eater
galleryr/rarebooks • u/aisinteresting • 16h ago
Is this a rare book?
It contains finance and investing knowledge pretty advanced for its time, cross sectional momentum etc. I found it nowhere so far.
r/rarebooks • u/NikkiWordsmith • 1d ago
What Dost This Sayeth?
I am having a huge book clear out and found this complete works of Shakespeare again.
The book is in a terrible condition but still readable thankfully.
Completely forgot there is an inscription signed from Easter 1898 I think 🤔
Still trying to work out the rest?
Might do a story on retracing the original book owner’s family if I can work the names out satisfactorily.
Thanks
Nikki 😎
r/rarebooks • u/patricksrarebooks • 2d ago
My wife’s recent collection additions.
My wife collects vintage and antiquarian beekeeping books. She recently found a sale that included a lot of them all in one place. She didn’t end up with all of them, but many have now joined her already extensive collection.
r/rarebooks • u/Noregretscoyote3 • 2d ago
Bought this for $12
galleryGot this 1st state, uncorrected proof on eBay for $12.
Truly thought I might get scammed.. and I was shocked when it came as described. Then, I opened it to find that it was also signed! It's beautifully inscribed by someone as well. I know it devalues the book, but I love it. Just thought I'd share.
r/rarebooks • u/Effective-Dish-1334 • 2d ago
single scribe in 300 CE wrote 52 papyrus leaves that survived intact in the Egyptian desert. In 2024 it sold at auction for $3.8 million
thing makes Crosby Schøyen Codex (MS 193) so unusual is that it sits right at the physical transition from rolled papyrus scrolls to bound codices.
Continuous handling usually destroyed organic vegetable fibers within a few generations. Because this codex was kept in the hyper-arid microclimate of Upper Egypt, 104 pages of early Sahidic Coptic script made it to the modern era with its original liturgical texts completely legible.
r/rarebooks • u/TheRareBookBuyer • 2d ago
When the dust jacket tells the story
Not exactly dust jackets, but these late 17th-early 18th century merchant burlap sacks were repurposed and turned into book jackets and covered volumes of the Hebrew Talmud on a ship - protecting them from their perilous journey. Adam Weinberger
r/rarebooks • u/AwkwardProtection987 • 2d ago
Ipnotismo Reo
Ipnotismo Reo — I was fascinated by the modern look of the cover art, even though it dates back to 1928. I found it at an antique market in Italy, but I can't find anything about it online. Can you guys help me out?
r/rarebooks • u/SPEC__01 • 2d ago
Delius Klasing Cayenne
galleryActually curious if this book is in any rare category.
r/rarebooks • u/Comfortable_Cell_504 • 2d ago
Old books.
I have received a lot of old books from aunt and I’m looking for a good website to use to see if they might be worth something. They’re nothing fancy so I doubt they would be worth much, but it’ll give me something to do. What are some sites to help me?
r/rarebooks • u/cellocaster • 3d ago
A weird thing I've noticed about a book I've been price watching - market manipulation?
This isn't the rarest book in the world, but it only had a handful of printings in the late 60s and is notable for its numerous illustrations by a well-known book illustrator.
Copies on ebay have sold throughout the year for about 25-40 dollars in various conditions, often ex-lib. Until recently, there were a couple of listings that were way too high, one for $125 and another for close to $250 that I thought would never sell.
A week ago, all three listings (there was a somewhat beat up copy at $40) sold.
Now the only listing on the internet left is over $700 "new" on amazon, and another at 250 used.
Is someone buying these off the market to hike up the price? Why would any normal buyer spend $250 on a book with a regular price history a tenth of that?
No, the book doesn't come up THAT often, but I'd say maybe a dozen or so a year hit ebay. Is this a thing in semi-rare books, people snapping up copies to speculate and move the market?
r/rarebooks • u/lufei26 • 2d ago
1942 North China Transportation Album
gallery1942 North China Transportation Album
r/rarebooks • u/Lord_Alviner • 3d ago
Histoire générale de la peinture — Rencontre, Lausanne (1966)
I found 9 volumes of this art encyclopedia in a free little library/book exchange. They cover art history from the Romanesque period through the 18th century.
I'm considering using some of the reproductions as material for a collage project, but I'd like to determine whether these particular volumes have any significant collectible or monetary value before cutting them up.
Photos of the covers, title pages and publication information are attached.