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Book value?

post #1 of 13
10/4/09 at 1:33am
Thread Starter 
My grandmother recently passed away. She was an avid reader and today I was able to go through the boxes she left for me. My grandfather went over them with me and told me there were some pretty valuable ones... if anyone has an idea of their worth go ahead and chip in. For reference, I will never sell these books, I am just curious.

1st edition Interview with the Vampire
1st edition The Vampire Lestat
1st edition The Alchemist (the jacket is signed by Paulo Coelho)
1st edition Catcher in the Rye (also signed by Jarome Salinger)
1st edition Fahrenheit 451

These are the first edition ones... she has more with author signatures.. like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Life, The Universe, and Everything signed by Douglas Adams. But I think those are the only ones that might be worth anything?
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post #2 of 13
10/4/09 at 1:38am
www.bookfinder.com might give you an idea how much they're going for
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post #3 of 13
10/4/09 at 1:45am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ManofKent View Post
www.bookfinder.com might give you an idea how much they're going for

Awesome. They even have an option for signed and 1st edition. Thanks!
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post #4 of 13
10/5/09 at 6:28pm
Here's another:

http://www.choosebooks.com/index.do

It also depends on what genre those books are...
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post #5 of 13
10/6/09 at 1:29pm
Those are incredible--particularly Catcher.
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post #6 of 13
10/6/09 at 2:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zintintin View Post
1st edition Interview with the Vampire
1st edition The Vampire Lestat
1st edition The Alchemist (the jacket is signed by Paulo Coelho)
1st edition Catcher in the Rye (also signed by Jarome Salinger)
1st edition Fahrenheit 451

That one is probably phony.
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post #7 of 13
10/6/09 at 2:38pm
just out of curiosity I looked up 451 --- upwards of 18k!!! Holy shit. I figured maybe 1-$2,000. Cant imagine what the signed ones are worth. nice
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post #8 of 13
10/7/09 at 3:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Davidko19 View Post
just out of curiosity I looked up 451 --- upwards of 18k!!! Holy shit. I figured maybe 1-$2,000. Cant imagine what the signed ones are worth. nice

There've been a lot of editions of F. 451, can you post a picture of the cover and the copyright page?

The poster who says "Catcher" might be a fake is probably right, it's beyond rare to find a Salinger signed copy. Let's put it this way - a signed letter from Salinger is on www.abebooks.com for $50,000, an insane amount of money for a signature from a living person. A signed later printing of the first edition is asking $33,500.

Bauman Rare Books in NY is probably the best place to have the books authenticated, but don't sell to a dealer if you can help it - for books like these you'd do better to put them in a well publicized auction.
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post #9 of 13
10/7/09 at 3:49am
Thread Starter 
In regards to the questions about Catcher In The Rye... My grandfather told me my grandmother had it signed personally by Mr. Salinger in the 80s when she caught him waiting in a terminal for a plane and happened to have the copy with her. edit: also I don't actually plan on selling any of these books. I am just curious of the value... I could not and would not ever sell my grandmothers legacy and what she loved most, regardless of what I could get.
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post #10 of 13
10/7/09 at 3:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by imatlas View Post
There've been a lot of editions of F. 451, can you post a picture of the cover and the copyright page?

The poster who says "Catcher" might be a fake is probably right, it's beyond rare to find a Salinger signed copy. Let's put it this way - a signed letter from Salinger is on www.abebooks.com for $50,000, an insane amount of money for a signature from a living person. A signed later printing of the first edition is asking $33,500.

Bauman Rare Books in NY is probably the best place to have the books authenticated, but don't sell to a dealer if you can help it - for books like these you'd do better to put them in a well publicized auction.

I think he was joking...
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post #11 of 13
10/7/09 at 6:15am
I'm envious. I was one of those youths that totally related to Catcher and considered it "my favorite book" for years. Am also a huge fan of the Hitchhikers series and it is my goal to one day retire to the ocean somewhere collecting 1st editions. You are one lucky chap!
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post #12 of 13
10/8/09 at 4:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zintintin View Post
In regards to the questions about Catcher In The Rye... My grandfather told me my grandmother had it signed personally by Mr. Salinger in the 80s when she caught him waiting in a terminal for a plane and happened to have the copy with her.


edit: also I don't actually plan on selling any of these books. I am just curious of the value... I could not and would not ever sell my grandmothers legacy and what she loved most, regardless of what I could get.

Your grandmother happened to be in the airport with a rare and valuable first edition of one of the most sought after "modern firsts", and she happened to run into one of the most reclusive authors in the world, and he happened to be willing to sign it?

Sorry, but as they say, "pics or it didn't happen".
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post #13 of 13
10/8/09 at 4:13pm
The best place to start in determining the value of your book is to check its 'points'; that is, the idiosyncrasies of each edition and printing that a book dealer would use to place a book within its publishing history. Here is a set of points (possibly not definitive, but a good starting place) for the Catcher first/first:

http://www.bookpoi.com/the_catcher_i...ification.html
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