Serial versions of novels - a question

I have a 1st edition of a 19th century novel which is in serial form in
3 bound "Harper's" volumes, covering a period of 18 months. The contents
of the volumes are in good shape but the bindings and covers are not.
What are the pros and cons of extracting the various chapters of this
novel from the bound volumes and binding them as a complete unit ? How
is the value effected ?
Fraser

Fraser ) wrote:

I have a 1st edition of a 19th century novel which is in serial form in
3 bound "Harper's" volumes, covering a period of 18 months. The contents
of the volumes are in good shape but the bindings and covers are not.
What are the pros and cons of extracting the various chapters of this
novel from the bound volumes and binding them as a complete unit ? How
is the value effected ?
Fraser

What you have is technically not a first edition, to begin with, and is not
necessarily more valuable than the odd volumes of Harper's would be anyway.
Part of the point for most researchers would be to see the context in which the
novel first appeared -- destroying that context would not be wise.

--Helen