ANTIQUE APPRAISAL: BOOK APPRAISAL

There are several criteria that a book appraiser at EmailAppraisals.com will consider when preparing a book appraisal. To begin with, books that carry the highest demand among collectors usually are valued higher, and the majority of their interest is in first edition copies.

The condition of a book is always of importance in establishing value for a book appraisal. The book should have all the pages intact, a tight, solid spine, and still have the original components that it had when first published, such as the paper dust jacket, fold-out maps, tissues, and ribbons.

If a book was originally published with a paper dust jacket, and it is either still on the book, or it is missing, that point should be clear stated. The dust jacket often influences the eventual value by as much as 50%.

Certain types of books, such as those with colored illustrations may be valued higher in a retail store but not in a book appraisal, because the pictures can be removed and sold separately as individual art pieces.

Books, fifty years old and older, that focus on local history may be valued high in a book appraisal because the information in the text is of importance as reference material to scholars, and students

Old Bibles seldom carry high values in a book appraisal unless they were printed in Europe before 1600 and in the United States before the 1800’s. Encyclopedias that are over twenty-five years old are generally not valued high in a book appraisal unless they are first edition copies.

A book appraisal should contain relevant information that indicates and supports the appraised value, and the description should clearly state not only the title and author, but also the size, publishing format, and condition.