Page 44 - JOA-Sept-2021

Book Questions

Dear Jim, I would rate their condition as fair. I attached some photos.
I am looking to get a value of favorite childhood book, Little Black Sambo. Do you think they have any value? I believe this was a set of 10 volumes
The book is in rough shape, and its pages are all but pulled away from … I have only 8 of the 10.
the binder. If you would like I can send you pictures next week. Thank you for your time. I also enjoy your columns in the Journal of
– D.L. Antiques [and Collectibles]!
– Joan
Dear D.L.,
There have been many editions of the book through the years, so I Dear Joan,
would need to know some more information about which edition you The set certainly has some value, but since you call the condition fair
have and the condition, but generally if it is in rough condition, it (which is not very good in the book collecting world), I’d need to know
probably has more sentimental value to you than monetary value to what the problems are: stains? foxing? water or insect damage? missing
anyone else. pages or illustrations? damaged bindings? etc. Also, I’d need to know
– Jim D. who published it and when as I believe it was reprinted a few times in
slightly different formats and my sources say that the original edition
Hi Jim, 1903 was in 12 volumes, so your set may be missing four volumes,
Any value on a small 5” long x 3” wide leather-bound book of The which is not very good.
Works of the Rt. Hon.Lord Byron In Eight Volumes, Vol. II, New Thanks – Jim D.
York: published by Wm. Borradaile At His Wholesale Bookstore, 114
Fulton Street. 1825. Stamped on another page: Leonard Demming, Books,
and Stationary, Ballads, Songs, & Pamphlets Wholesale and Retail. Also,
Barber’s Shop, Leonard Demming’s At No. 1, south side of Fanueil Hall,
corner of Market Square, Boston, 1830
Thanks for any info. – A.G.

Dear A.G. –
Not so much, it would appear. A complete set of the 8 volume 1825
New York Borradaile edition sold at auction in NY in 1999 for $200,
and obviously just an odd volume like you have would be worth much
less (that is unless you were lucky enough to find someone who needed
just that volume to complete their set). Currently online there is an odd
volume Vol 8 for sale for $17.94 and someone else has 5 volumes of
the 8 (volumes 2,3,4,5, and 6) for $66.50. None of these were in
great condition.
You didn’t mention the condition of yours, so I would estimate the An example of a collection of Harvard Classics.
value of yours at under $25 on a good day with a tail wind. Nothing I Dear L.H. [who had sent me a photo of some books] –
could use, but thanks. Sorry you missed me.
Jim D. The books on the top are International Collectors Library and look
like leather bindings but actually they are bound in a semi-gloss deco-
Thanks Jim. I figured it wouldn’t be worth much. Perhaps the most rated stiff paper. I don’t buy them because the paper bindings are fragile
interesting things about the book is the publisher and the seller. It seems that and usually split the first time someone opens one. Maybe $3 to $5
the South St. Seaport area in NYC and the Faneuil Hall Seaport area in each for decorative value. But I often see them for sale at antique malls
Boston were both a hub for publishers, booksellers, engravers i.e. Currier and online for ten times that by people who think they’re rare and valu-
and Ives etc.. able leather books, but they wouldn’t fool anyone who knows anything
about books.
Hi Jim – The second set is a modern 1970s inexpensive reprint of some of the
I’ve heard you speak in Chestertown a couple of times and have been a Harvard Classics again in a still paper binding. I have a shelf of them
buying customer in your shop way too many times! My husband and I are already priced at $5 each for people who want an inexpensive version
beginning to downsize, and I have come across some books we have “saved” of some world classic titles, but they are next to impossible to sell, even
that might have some value. Wondering if a couple of photos and a little at that price. Maybe $25 on the set. They are basically books that dec-
information might help you in rendering us an opinion? orators sometimes use to fill empty shelves because they’re cheap and
I have [a set of] eight books … The Novels of Jane Austen, each don’t look too bad from a distance. The clocks look more interesting,
illustrated by C.E.Brock and edited by R Brimley Johnson with colored but you should have a clock person look at them in person.
illustrations by C.L. and H.M. Brock. Thanks – Jim D.

James Dawson has owned and operated the Unicorn Bookshop in Trappe, MD since 1975, when he decided that it would be more fun to buy and sell old books and maps than to get
a “real” job. For a born collector like Jim, having a shop just might be another excuse to buy more books. He has about 30,000 second hand and rare books on the shelves, and just
about all subjects are represented. He can be contacted at P.O. Box 154; Trappe, MD 21673; 410-476-3838; unicornbookshopMD@gmail.com; www.unicornbookshop.com

42 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles