|
Book History Publications | Locating and Pricing Out-of-Print
Books | Book History Associations
Booksellers & Finding Services | Other
Resources and Exhibits
Book History Publications at USC
The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America
T. Howard Hill, Editor, Thomas Cooper Library, University of South Carolina.
Early American Literature
David Shields, Editor, Department of English, University of South Carolina.
Locating and Pricing Out-of-Print Books- The best introductory discussion for non-specialists trying to check on a potentially rare or valuable book is Your Old Books.
More specific guides on pricing are more useful when one understands the general issues involved.
Note that (a) the price a dealer tries to get for a book is not necessarily what he/she
can actually get; and (b) price varies a lot by condition. First
editions, in good/original condition, with unmarked dustjackets (where
relevant), and interesting inscriptions, are generally the most valuable.
On-Line Resources
On-line resources are now the basic tool for finding out-of-print books and
filling gaps in older collections. They allow up-to-date price comparison for a
wide range of books, but are limited as a pricing guide to those books currently
on offer. There are several, though some have recently fallen victim to
takeovers. As a starting point, the ABE, as described below, can be set to limit searches to first
editions and/or to inscribed copies. Note: FMV=fair market value for appraisal.
- Advanced Book Exchange [ABE]
-
A sophisticated search engine originally for "better"
antiquarian dealers only, but now more general. Descriptions generally specify condition according to
established trade criteria. Prices vary, but generally within trade FMV expectations.
Print Resources
Print resources are retrospective, and of little or no help in
locating copies still for sale. They are best for checking
possible special features of rarer books, or for checking the realism
of a single catalogue price. They may indicate dealers and sources
with special interests for possible contact. Prices in print
sources become dated quickly. These resources may be found in the reference
section of Rare Books and Special Collections.
-
Bookman's Price Index
- Bookman's covers items listed in bookdealer's catalogues, primarily those at the top and
middle of the rare book market. Prices listed are those asked, though the item
may not have actually sold for that amount. The index is arranged in sequences of books, and "inscribed & association
copies". Bookman's is indexed every ten volumes or so, with brief detail for cross-referencing to
the main entry volume.
- American Book Prices Current
- This listing covers only items sold at auction and items in top end of market; list of
auction-houses are covered at the front. Less outstanding items are often bought for resale (i.e. prices
below FMV, allowing markup). The index is arranged in two sequences: manuscripts and books,
and is indexed every four or five years. It is most valuable for tracking items that only
emerge into the market at rare intervals.
Book History Associations
- The American Printing
History Association (APHA)
- "APHA encourages the preservation of printing
artifacts and source materials for printing history, as well as the
development of museums and libraries to house them."
- The
Bibliographical Society
- "Founded in 1892, the Bibliographical Society
is the senior learned society dealing with the study of the book and its
history."
- The Bibliographical Society
of America (BSA)
- "The Bibliographical Society of America (BSA)
was organized in 1904 and incorporated in 1927. Its principal objectives
are to promote bibliographical research and to issue bibliographical
publications."
- The
Bibliographical Society of Canada
La Société
Bibliographique du Canada
- "The principal aims of the Society are to
promote bibliographical publications; to encourage the preservation and to
extend the knowledge of printed works and manuscripts, particularly those
relating to Canada; to facilitate the exchange of information concerning
rare Canadiana; to coordinate bibliographical activity and to set
standards."
- The Printing Historical
Society
- "...the Society fosters interest in the
history of printing and encourages both the study and the preservation of
printing machinery, records, and equipment of historical value."
- The Society for the History of
Authorship, Reading & Publishing (SHARP)
- "The Society for the History of Authorship,
Reading and Publishing was created in 1991 to provide a global network for
book historians, who until then had usually worked in isolation. SHARP now
has about 900 members in 20 countries, including professors of literature,
historians, librarians, publishing professionals, sociologists,
bibliophiles, classicists, booksellers, art historians, reading
instructors, and independent scholars."
- Society for
Textual Scholarship (STS)
- "Founded in 1979, STS is an organization
devoted to providing a forum . . . for the discussion of the
interdisciplinary implications of current research into various aspects of
contemporary textual work: the discovery, enumeration, description,
bibliographical analysis, editing, and annotation of texts in disciplines
such as literature (particularly European, American, and Oriental),
history, musicology, classical and biblical studies, philosophy, art
history, legal history, history of science and technology, computer
science, library science, lexicography, epigraphy, palaeography,
codicology, cinema studies, theater, linguistics, and textual and literary
theory."
- The University of Iowa Center
for the Book
- "The University of Iowa Center for the Book
is an interdisciplinary program for the study and practice of the
traditional and non-traditional arts of the book as well as the study of
the book as a cultural artifact."
Booksellers and Bookfinding Services
- Alibris
- "The Ultimate Source for Used, Rare, and
Hard-to-Find Books."
- American Book Exchange
- "World's Largest Source of Out of Print Books
- 13 million titles listed"
- Antiqbook
- A service of NAN, the Nederlands Antiquaren
Netwerk [Netherlands Antique Booksellers' Network], this site has four
online databases, including one devoted to maps and prints and another for
prints from the Illustrated London News.
- Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of
America (ABAA)
- "ABAA-booknet specializes in rare and
antiquarian books, maps, and prints."
- Blackwell's Bookshops
- Blackwell's web site "offers the same
traditional virtues that have established Blackwell's as the world's finest
academic bookseller since our first terrestrial bookshop opened in Oxford
more than 100 years ago."
- Bookavenue.com
- "Bookavenue.com a cyber-avenue where
booksellers and readers meet to buy and sell the best book, at the best
price. Why pay extra, buy direct! No superstore mark-up, just folks buying
and selling on bookavenue."
- Bookfinder.Com
- This site indexes the online catalogues of
eight different booksellers and includes recent publications as well as
hard-to-find items.
- TomFolio.com
- An international cooperative of used and rare
booksellers.
-
Google's directory of used, antique, and rare books resources
Other Resources and Exhibits
-
The
Smithsonian Institution Libraries' List of Web Exhibits
- An alphabetical listing of over a Thousand
rarebook exhibits and online from major libraries accros the United States.
-
History of Books and Printing: A Research Guide
- From the General Research Division of the New
York Public Library.
- A
History of Printing
- "Gutenberg's invention of the printing press
is widely thought of as the origin of mass communication—it marked Western
culture's first viable method of disseminating ideas and information from a
single source to a large and far-ranging audience. A closer look at the
history of print, however, shows that the invention of the printing press
depended on a confluence of both cultural and technological forces that had
been unfolding for several centuries. Print culture and technology also
needed to go through centuries of change after Gutenberg's time before the
"massification" of audiences could fully crystallize."
- A
list of Rare Books Resources on the Web
- Search engines and links to on-line rare
books collections.
|
