I spend a lot of time on eBay, Facebook as well as other sites… Hunting for books. Last week I came across a bundle of 80 older books, on Facebook Marketplace.. the photos were not clear… I could not make out more than a few titles. I decided to take a risk and the seller was nice enough to hold for a week until I had funds. He also delivered them free of charge this afternoon.
I’ve got to say I am slightly disappointed, I was hoping for some better luck – I have not gone through all the books yet – there are a handful of gems in the pile, but all the potentially interesting finds were either Reprint Society or later editions. A Lot of these books will be donated to one of the thrift stores I visit.
So far the best book I’ve found is a 1st edition from 1896 of the works of a poet I had not heard of, but then again I would describe myself as a philistine when it comes to art, I have some interest… But not a lot of experience.
The History books that I found in this lot are interesting, but they are few in number. I hope that once I start adding them to the website I will find some more hidden gems… the age old axiom “Don’t Judge A Book By It’s Cover” is so true in the book business, I was hoping for some high value books mixed in – and there may be some – but for the price I paid… I learnt a valuable lesson… Do not buy random books blindly. I am usually pretty responsible when hunting down individual books – I research thoroughly and request more photos when unsure of what I am looking at.
Something I learnt a long time ago, collecting and selling books.. is that age does not make books valuable… I took a risk on this lot to bulk up the shelves on the online store a little more.. As I had come close to listing most of what we have available here. But I won’t be making deals of this kind unless I am able to inspect the books prior to purchase. If I can pass on any valuable information to the reader “A Potential” book collector or seller… stick to modern books… generally avoid anything pre 1920… As publishing information and history only started at this point. Before than there often is no date at all, or vaguely printing an initial copyright date. It is very hard to identify a 1st edition… and therefore it’s value.
I will be writing another post later today about my book hunting yesterday.. I had much luck and hope you enjoy reading it once its live 🙂
Until the next treasure hunt.