Unfortunately, there is no single reference work or “price guide” that can be relied upon to provide the current value of books, nor is there a simple way to explain how such values are determined. This page is intended to assist our patrons in evaluating books. Topics include some frequently asked questions about old books; suggestions on finding book values on the Internet and in print sources; appraisal of materials, including information on tax matters and standards of ethical conduct for librarians; and a list of selected appraisers.
Some frequently asked questions
(Quoted from Peter Van Wingen, Your Old Books
Libraries are obvious places to go to give or sell old books. Many academic and research libraries concentrate on rare and unique materials, but most public libraries collect materials that circulate frequently. Libraries are chronically short of money and must often depend on the generosity of supporters. By giving them to libraries you make unique and important materials available for study by scholars, students, and the general public. Before adding an old or rare book the library will consider the importance of the book, the reader demand for it, and the book’s condition. Research libraries may want to have materials on certain subjects regardless of current demand but will nevertheless insist on long-term scholarly importance and good condition. The “fair market value” of books given to tax-exempt libraries may be claimed as a charitable donation on income tax returns. A professional appraisal may be called for. This is the donor’s responsibility. The cost of the appraisal must always be weighed against the value of the item. The free and downloadable IRS publication Determining the Value of Donated Property (No. 561) is helpful. All libraries buy books, but some find the administrative details of buying from individuals difficult and on occasion impossible. If the library wants a book and is willing to pay for it, the person offering it probably will have to set the price, since many libraries are not permitted to make offers for materials. An appraisal may again be necessary.
Professional book appraisers and most booksellers appraise and evaluate book materials. Individuals who have been in the business for some years know market trends and have often handled the book or books in question. They are well aware of the criteria that give books value. The charge for an appraisal should be based on the time the appraisal takes. Expenses, such as travel, normally will be added to these charges. Lists of appraisers may be obtained by writing to: American Society of Appraisers, Dulles International Airport, Box 17265, Washington, DC 20041 (http://www.appraisers.org/); International Society of Fine Arts Appraisers, P.O. Box 5280, River Forest, IL 60305; Appraisers Association of America, 60 East 42nd Street, New York 10165.
Booksellers and appraisers are listed in various directories, although none is comprehensive. The Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (http://www.abaa.org) publishes an annual membership directory that lists addresses, phone numbers, and specialties (available from ABAA, 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020). And older listing which is still of use for locating ABAA members and smaller dealers across the country can be found in Rare Books 1983-1984;Trends, Collections, Sources, ed. by Alice D. Schreyer (New York: Bowker, 1984). Other useful lists include ABAA Membership Directory (New York: Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America, annual); and those to be found yearly in The Bookmans Yearbook (Clifton, NY: AB Bookman Publications, Inc.)
The Internet has transformed the world into a huge marketplace for books. We suggest the following sites to selectors and patrons who wish to find current market values for antiquarian or out-of-print books. A listing here does not imply an endorsement of any kind for the business. If you are looking for the value of an out-of-print book, you might want to browse several sites, since books may be posted on each by different dealers, at widely differing prices.
Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America
This searchable site has information and catalogs from a number of rare-book dealers.
AddAll Book Search and Price Comparison
Searches 41 on-line bookstores, including Abebooks, Alibris, Biblio, Bibliology, Bibliophile, and Bibliopoly.
This site provides searching capabilities for 13 million out-of-print book titles from a number of book dealers.
This is a searchable site for used, rare, and hard-to-find books.
A searchable site for used, rare, and out-of-print books from more than 1600 independent booksellers.
Bibliofind has combined with Amazon.com to provide millions of rare, used, and out-of-print books.
This aims to be the world’s premier site for early and rare books from leading international dealers, covering 250 subject categories, a date-range field, and extensive multi-lingual dictionaries of author and place names. Users may search in five languages.
Another centralized site for used, rare, antiquarian, and out-of-print books.
Bookfinder.com has its own listings and is an umbrella site that directs you to most of the others named here.
This site compares prices of books across major on-line booksellers in real time. Other services include rare-book searches and searching prices from eBay. eBay http://www.ebay.com An on-line auction site that features many books.
ChooseBooks.com is a worldwide marketplace for Used, Rare, Antiquarian and Out-of-Print Books, Autographs and Ephemera Items.
A bookstore for rare or out-of-print items. If you can't find what you are looking for, you can fill out an off-line search form, and they will search their off-line inventory and other bookstores for you.
International League of Antiquarian Booksellers
The site of an organization that encompasses national associations of antiquarian booksellers from around the world.
Periodical dealers who supply reprints, backsets, back volumes, and back issues of out-of-print periodicals and journals.
A rare book meta-search that also features a Quick Query Library Search tool that includes many international library union catalogues.
Buying books on the Internet: See above list for sources.
NB: Buying procedures on the Internet differ: Bibliofind.com, ABE.com, and Bibliology.com provide the phone numbers and e-mail addresses of booksellers who have your volume in stock, and then let you take it from there. Alibris.com doesn’t provide dealer contact information, but it completes the transaction for you (for a fee added to the dealer’s price). Bookfinder.com has its own listings and is an umbrella site that directs you to most of the others named here. Very rare books can often be found on WorldBookDealers.com.
The following list includes some useful reference books found in the Penn State Libraries. For further suggestions on reference books dealing with specific topics (first editions, book collecting, old Bibles, comic books, etc.), see Peter Van Wingen, Your Old Books.
American Book Prices Current
Z1000.A51
Rare Books & Mss—Reference Collection
1st Floor Paterno
Book Auction Records
Z1000.B65
Rare Books & Mss—Reference Collection
1st Floor Paterno
Book Prices, Used and Rare
Z1000.B724 1998
Rare Books & Mss—Reference Collection
1st Floor Paterno
Bookman’s Price Index
Z1000.B74
Rare Books and Mss—Reference Collection
1st Floor Paterno
The following is taken from the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Rare Book, Manuscripts, and Special Collections Librarians, RBMS Guidelines, Rare Books and Manuscripts Section, Association of College and Research Libraries, Copyright 2002, American Library Association.
Appraisal is here defined as the determination of the monetary value of an item or collection of items. Valuation of materials for internal administrative purpose is not considered appraisal.
In the course of working with donors, special collections librarians are often required to advise on market value of books and manuscripts. Although it is proper to assist in the use of reference tools for this purpose, special collections librarians must not appraise any rare book, manuscript, or special collections materials, either for compensation or pro bono.
Potential donors and others often seek guidance on the authenticity or market value of books and manuscripts. It is proper to assist the owner of materials in the use of reference tools for these purposes, but libraries must ensure that librarians exercise caution when offering further advice, characterizing it as informed opinion only and explicitly warning against employing it in place of professional appraisal. Caution must be exercised in giving written certification of the authenticity or authorship of specific materials beyond the ordinary non-binding statements made in the course of cataloging or normal reference work.
United States Internal Revenue Service regulations prohibit librarians from acting as appraisers of materials given to their institutions. While donors may be helped to find expert appraisers and tax advisers, special collections libraries must make certain to avoid any appearance of collusion with potential donors to bypass provisions of the law regarding gifts. Referrals Special collections libraries should avoid any appearance of collusion or favoritism by requiring librarians to provide, whenever possible, more than one name in referring potential donors or other inquirers to appraisers, booksellers, and other persons who may be of assistance to them.
Librarians may not make formal appraisals or establish values for old books for tax purposes, so we turn to antiquarian booksellers to assist us. The Web site for the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America is full of information about antiquarian booksellers and their trade.
Prices for appraisals vary; the cost is based on time and travel expenses. As an example, we quote from the Web page of one Pennsylvania appraiser: We charge, currently, $75.00 per hour for appraisal services. This does not include time spent in travel. But we do charge 25 cents per mile in addition to our hourly rate. Our hourly rate covers time spent both in physically handling the books and in the research and writing-up of the report.
The Special Collections Library does not endorse or recommend book dealers, restorers, binders, or appraisers, nor can we be responsible for the accuracy of the information provided herein. This list is provided as a courtesy and includes those who have requested to be included.
A list of Pennsylvania antiquarian and specialist book dealers, restorers, and binders can be found on the Web site for the State Library in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
The following is a list of members of ABAA in the Philadelphia area.
Catherine Barnes Autographs, Philadelphia, PA
Catherine Barnes
Email: cbarnes2@ix.netcom.com
Phone: (215) 247-9240; FAX: (215) 247-4645
Robert F. Batchelder, Ambler, PA
Robert F. Batchelder
Email: n/a
Phone: (215) 643-1430; FAX: (215) 643-6613
Jack Freas Tamerlane Books
P.O. Box C
Havertown, PA 19083.
Email: jfreas@erols.com
Phone: (610) 449-4400; FAX: (610) 449 -420
F. Thomas Heller, Swarthmore, PA
James Hinz
Email: TomeHeller@aol.com
Phone: (610)543-3582; FAX:(610)543-5602
James S. Jaffe Rare Books, Haverford, PA
James S. Jaffe
Email: jaffebks@pond.com
Phone: (610) 649-4221; FAX: (610) 649-4542
George S. MacManus Company, Bryn Mawr, PA
Clarence Wolf
Email: MacManus2@aol.com
Phone:(610) 520-7273; FAX: (610) 520-7272
Bruce McKittrick, Rare Books, Narberth, PA
Bruce Mckittrick
Email: mckrare@voicenet.com
Phone: (610) 660-0132FAX: (610) 660-0133
Palinurus Antiquarian Books, Jenkintown, PA
John Hellebrand
Email: palbook@voicenet.com
Phone: (215) 884-2297FAX: (215) 884-2531
The Philadelphia Rare Books & Manuscripts Co. (PRB&M), Philadelphia, PA
David M. Szewczyk, Cynthia Davis Buffington
Email: rarebks@prbm.com
Phone: (215) 744-6734; FAX: (215) 744-6137
Other Pennsylvania members of ABAA:
Charles Agvent, Mertztown, PA
Charles Agvent
Email: Agvent@erols.com
Phone: (610) 682-4750; FAX: (610) 682-4620
The Americanist, Pottstown, PA
Norman Kane, Michal Kane
E mail: americanist@kanebooks.com
Phone: (610) 323-5289; FAX: (610) 323-0885
Buckingham Books, Greencastle, PA
Lewis J. Buckingham
Email: buckingham@innernet.net
Phone: (717) 597-5657; FAX: (717) 597-1003
Caliban Book Shop, Pittsburgh, PA
John Ezra Schulman
Email: Caliban@telerama.com
Phone: (412) 681-9111; FAX: (412) 681-9113
Erie Book Store, Erie, PA
Kathleen Cantrell
Email: eriebook@velocity.net
Phone: (814) 480-5671 or (800) 252-3354; FAX: (814) 480-5675
The Family Album, Kinzers, PA 17535
Ronald Lieberman
Email: Rarebooks@POBox.Com
Phone: (717) 442-0220; FAX: (717) 442-7904
Mosher Books, Millersville, PA
Philip R. Bishop
Email: mosher@ptdprolog.net
Phone: (717) 872-9209; FAX: upon request
Stephen Wenner Quill & Scroll
RR 1 Box 337, Mifflinburg, PA 17844-9743
E-mail: quilscrl@ptdprolog.net
Phone: (570) 922-4452; FAX: (570) 922-4630
J. H. Woolmer, Revere, PA
J. Howard Woolmer
Email: jhw@epix.net
Phone: (215) 847-5074; FAX: (215) 847-2624
Some other appraisers:
R & A Petrilla, Roosevelt, NJ
Robert and Alison Petrilla
Email: petrillabooks@comcast.net
Phone: (609) 426-4999
Gordon Hollis, Golden Legend, Inc.
211 South Beverly Drive Suite 114, Beverly Hills, CA 90212
Email: lengenda@goldenlegend.com
Phone: (310) 385-1903; Fax: (310) 385-1905
For questions or further information, contact:
Sandra Stelts
Curator Rare Books and Manuscripts
Penn State Libraries
Email: sks5@psu.edu
