Market value of large, late 19th century bible with gilded pages?

First page:

Presented to
Walter Girdler
by
Her Majesty the Queen
for diligence and punctuality
in attending the Shard Farm
Evening Class; during the season
ending april 1896

John Cody wrote:

First page:

Presented to
Walter Girdler
by
Her Majesty the Queen
for diligence and punctuality
in attending the Shard Farm
Evening Class; during the season
ending april 1896

The bible is the most widely-published book ever and most bibles have very
little market value.

In any case, like all secondhand books, it's worth no more or less than what
someone will pay for it. Americans visiting Europe might pay $30-50 or so
for a big old bible in good condition, and leave the shop clutching what to
them is a treasure, while the shopkeeper heaves a sigh of relief to be shot
of something that takes up space and a local customer is unlikely to want at
any price.

If it has illustrations, or a fine leather binding, or some other
distinguishing quality, it will be worth more. ABE has prices ranging from
$1 to nearly $7000 for bibles published between 1880 and 1900
(http://tinyurl.com/45jfs), so without knowing a bit more about your copy
it's impossible to be sure.

However, the kind of copy that one would expect to be presented to a student
for punctual attendance at night school is extremely unlikely to have any
significant market value, though it may have considerable sentimental value
(e.g., to a descendant of Walter Girdler).

--
John
http://rarebooksinjapan.com

In any case, like all secondhand books, it's worth no more or less than what
someone will pay for it. Americans visiting Europe might pay $30-50 or so
for a big old bible in good condition, and leave the shop clutching what to
them is a treasure, while the shopkeeper heaves a sigh of relief to be shot
of something that takes up space and a local customer is unlikely to want at
any price.

The way people value books can be odd. A few years ago I repaired
the family Bible for my uncle. It was the Bible on my mother's
side of the family, with all her family records written into it.
As a collectable book, it was worthless. A late 19th century Bible
mass produced with one of those padded leather covers. At least
this detail of its construction had some utility, as my
grandfather used to use it as a pillow when streteched out on the
floor in front of the wood stove after work during the 1920s.

I spent several days repairing the binding, rebuilding the covers
where material had been tore away, adding leather polish to hide
the scuff marks and brighten up the cover, painstakingly regluing
torn pages, reinserting pages that had fallen out and generally
putting the book in such a condition that it wouldn't crumble to
dust in the hands of the next person who opened it.

What was my reward? My aunt and uncle received it back and looked
it over with obvious disappointment in their faces. I asked them
what they thought of the repair job. My aunt just shook her head.
"Well, it isn't very old-looking any more, is it?" she said. That
was the extent of the thanks I got.

So, as I said, people value books in odd sorts of ways.