6 books

I know someone who has some books he thinks might be worth something.
I'm very skeptical but I agreed to post the information he has so
that people who actually know something about books can give their
opinion. The books are as follows:

(1) Author: Catherine D. Bell
Title: Horace and May; or unconscious influence
Place,pub and yr: NY: Anson D.F.Randolf, 1859
Condition is alleged to be good, but there is an inscription reading
approximately: "George ... from his loving aunt L.L.Shapely, July 1862"
(2) The poetical works of Thomas More, with explanatory notes, complete in
one volume.
NY: Hurst and Co. No year given. Good condition
(3) The scarlet letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, NY: John B. Alden, 1892
Good condition
(4) Child's history of England, vol.15, by Charles Dickens
NY and Boston: Book, Inc. 1851. Good condition
(5) A book entitled Narrative Poems. Front cover detached and first
few pages missing, as is back cover. Hence, no publisher, no place
of publication and no year available. The book probably goes back to
at least 1935, when he acquired it. As this book is of great sentimental
value, being the first book he ever owned, he wouldn't consider selling
it for less than half a million dollars, but is curious to know whether
it is actually worth anything.
(6) Title: We Japanese, 3 volumes in one.
Author: There isn't exactly an author. It seems to have been put together
by Fujiyama Hotel, Ltd, situated in Miyano****a, Hakone, Japan,
and published in Yokohama by Yamagata Press in 1950, there having
been earlier editions going back to the 1930's.
For reasons similar to those of (5), this also is unavailable for less
than half a million. Good condition.

This posting is on the level, even though I consider some of the books
ridiculous. If I don't get other opinions on this, he is going to spend
well over 20 dollars in cab fare to attend some kind of book fare where
experts will be appraising books and my guess is that this is at least
20 dollars more than the books are worth.
--
Ignorantly,
Allan Adler
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near Boston.

"Allan Adler" wrote in message
...

I know someone who has some books he thinks might be worth something.
I'm very skeptical but I agreed to post the information he has so
that people who actually know something about books can give their
opinion. The books are as follows:

Here is a website that you can use to look up books by author and title and
get an idea of the prices currently being asked by dealers:
http://used.addall.com/
There are a few caveats: Many dealers list on more than one venue, and since
this site compiles from several venues, you could see the same book listed
multiple times. Condition is everything. Try your best to find books that
are similar to yours in condition. Remember that these are asking prices,
and the books may or may not ever sell for those prices.

Alice

Allan Adler wrote:

If I don't get other opinions on this, he is going to spend
well over 20 dollars in cab fare to attend some kind of book
fare where experts will be appraising books and my guess is
that this is at least 20 dollars more than the books are worth.

That's about the size of it, I'm afraid, with the possible exception of one
of them. Here's my take, for what it's worth.

(1) Author: Catherine D. Bell
Title: Horace and May; or unconscious influence
Place,pub and yr: NY: Anson D.F.Randolf, 1859

If it were a decent copy of the first edition (which it is not) it might
fetch a few dollars, but as it is he'd be lucky to get $5 for it from a
dealer.

(2) The poetical works of Thomas More, with explanatory notes, complete in
one volume.
NY: Hurst and Co. No year given. Good condition

Might fetch $5 in a thrift store?

(3) The scarlet letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, NY: John B. Alden, 1892
Good condition

Depends what "good condition" means. What's the binding like? Are the pages
foxed? There's a copy on ABE for over $100 (http://tinyurl.com/fovfd), but I
couldn't say whether the seller is being realistic or just hopeful.

(4) Child's history of England, vol.15, by Charles Dickens
NY and Boston: Book, Inc. 1851. Good condition

Not quite sure what animal we have here. Officially, this was not published
in book form at this time, and when it did come out it was in three volumes.
It did appear serially in Household Words from Jan. 1851 onwards, and this
may be a pirated edition of one or two chapters. Don't know what value it
would have, but as a loose volume from a series it wouldn't be much.

(5) A book entitled Narrative Poems. Front cover detached and first
few pages missing, as is back cover. Hence, no publisher, no place
of publication and no year available.

Commercially worthless.

(6) Title: We Japanese, 3 volumes in one.
Author: There isn't exactly an author. It seems to have been put
together
by Fujiyama Hotel, Ltd, situated in Miyano****a, Hakone,
Japan,
and published in Yokohama by Yamagata Press in 1950, there
having
been earlier editions going back to the 1930's.

Reprint edition, perhaps worth $5 or $10 as a reading copy, providing it's
in decent condition.

Value also depends on where a book is placed. A dealer who would put a book
in the shop window with a $50 price tag on it is unlikely to want to pay
more than $20 or so for it, and preferably less than half that.

--
John
http://rarebooksinjapan.com