Sunday, July 16, 2006
The Rules of Antique Book Scarcity
By Silas Finch
There are many factors that contribute to the value of an antique book, manuscript, or map. Amongst them are age, of course, condition, scarcity, and trends in interests. A book that possesses some of these qualities but not others might still be valuable but it is likely compromised in the eyes of the serious collector. A very old book by an obscure author enjoying current notoriety that is missing some pages will still attract attention and a good price, but a book lacking in more than or perhaps two qualities is probably not worth a collector’s time.
All of these aspects, and others as well, affect a book's price and should be understood by any collector. Most of these traits are self-explanatory; age is quite obvious and assessing condition, while filled with jargonistic phrases, has a clear meaning.
To read the rest of this article click here.
There are many factors that contribute to the value of an antique book, manuscript, or map. Amongst them are age, of course, condition, scarcity, and trends in interests. A book that possesses some of these qualities but not others might still be valuable but it is likely compromised in the eyes of the serious collector. A very old book by an obscure author enjoying current notoriety that is missing some pages will still attract attention and a good price, but a book lacking in more than or perhaps two qualities is probably not worth a collector’s time.
All of these aspects, and others as well, affect a book's price and should be understood by any collector. Most of these traits are self-explanatory; age is quite obvious and assessing condition, while filled with jargonistic phrases, has a clear meaning.
To read the rest of this article click here.
# posted by Silas Finch @ 2:37 PM 
