How to Appraise an Old Book: A Bookseller's Method
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You found a book. Perhaps in an inherited box, perhaps on a shelf you're dismantling. The binding is beautiful, the paper thick, the date ancient. Or, on the contrary: the cover is modest, the title unknown, the year recent. In either case, the same question arises.
Estimating an old book isn't something you improvise, but it can be learned. The method exists: seven criteria, in a specific order, that every specialized bookseller applies before giving an opinion. No algorithm combines them with the same reliability. Here's how they work.
A member of SLAM and LILA, Librairie KOEGUI uses this method on over 13,000 cataloged titles. Established in Bayonne since 2011, specializing in 19th and 20th-century literature, it operates throughout France to appraise libraries.
The 7 criteria for valuing an old book, in order
Would you prefer a direct appraisal? Request a free appraisal
How to appraise an old book: the edition first
Before condition, before binding, before anything else: what edition is it? This is the first question a bookseller asks, and often the most decisive.
The check takes thirty seconds. Title page: is there any mention of an edition number? "Second edition," "224th thousand," "definitive edition" immediately settle the matter. A book mentioned in this way is not a first edition. The absence of numbering, on the contrary, is a positive sign: first editions generally do not announce themselves as such.
The verso of the title page provides a second indication: the "achevé d'imprimer" (printer's colophon), when it exists, specifies the date and the number of copies printed. For 20th-century books from major literary publishers, this is often where everything plays out.
For the precise definition of the original edition and its variants (pre-publication, pre-original, issue, counterfeit): What is an original edition?
The print run: reading a justification
An original edition can itself be divided into several categories of copies. The "justificatif de tirage" (limitation page), a leaf placed at the beginning of the volume, prioritizes them.
It indicates the total number of copies printed and their distribution: so many on China paper, so many on Japan paper, so many on Holland paper, so many on pure rag paper, then the standard run. These copies on luxury papers constitute the "tirage de tête" (deluxe print run). Their value systematically exceeds that of standard copies, given equal condition.
Some books do not benefit from a large paper print run, as is the case for many first books by young authors.
The condition: the grading scale professionals use
This is the most visible criterion and, paradoxically, the one most often underestimated by non-experts. Two copies of the same print run, with the same number, can be traded at very different prices depending on their condition.
Professional vocabulary is precise. From best to worst:
As issued: the copy has never or hardly ever been opened. Fresh covers, unfaded spine, immaculate interior. The rarest category for 19th-century books.
Very fine: minuscule traces of use, nothing affecting the presentation.
Very good: slight traces of use without any noticeable defect. The common category for good bibliophile copies.
Good: a few minor defects without serious damage to the whole.
Fairly good: visible defects but complete and readable copy. Value drops significantly.
Acceptable: degraded condition. Low bibliophilic interest unless extremely rare.
Librairie KOEGUI's insight: our storage conditions maintain a temperature between 18 and 20 °C (64 and 68 °F) and a humidity level between 50 and 60%. This is not a minor detail. A book poorly preserved for six months can show damage that a century had not produced.
The binding: original, signed, or later?
First reflex: is it original? Books have often been rebound, then rebound again by successive owners, according to evolving tastes and fashions. An 18th-century calf binding may thus have been replaced in the 19th century by a cathedral-style morocco, itself deemed old-fashioned a century later. Today, bibliophiles prefer period bindings for 19th-century books.
How to spot a later binding? The contrast between the condition of the book and the condition of the binding is an indicator. A worn interior block under an impeccable morocco deserves questioning. Replaced marbled paper endpapers, reconstructed hinges, torn-out library labels leave traces.
Materials structure the appraisals: boards, vellum, sheepskin, calf, chagrin, box calf, and morocco. Morocco remains the prestige material.
Signed bindings constitute a separate category. Paul Bonet, Pierre Legrain, Pierre-Lucien Martin: their names double or triple the value of an already sought-after copy. The signature is sought at the tail of the board or on an endpaper.
The provenance: when a signature changes everything
A common book can become unique. It simply needs to have belonged to someone, or an author to have held it in their hands and left a mark.
Marks of ownership take several forms. The signed autograph inscription is the most sought after: the author has written, dated, signed, often addressed to a specific recipient. The more identifiable the recipient and the more linked to the author or literary history, the higher the value. an inscription from Proust to Reynaldo Hahn is not an inscription from Proust to an anonymous reader.
An identified ex-libris from a great library gives the book historical depth. An unidentified ex-libris counts for little, unless research allows it to be attributed.
A dedication to an unknown person is not worth much if the author was prolific with their inscriptions. It can be worth a lot if the author rarely dedicated books. The rarity of the inscription follows the logic of the rarity of the book: it's a question of supply and demand.
The collation: ensuring the copy is complete
To collate a book is to check that it is complete. Every part counts: numbered pages, unnumbered leaves, frontispiece, plates outside the text, publisher's catalog at the end of the volume.
For modern books, pagination is sufficient in most cases, provided you have the reference bibliographic description such as Vicaire or Carteret. For old books, it's another matter. Collation follows the signatures: these letters and numbers printed at the bottom of the gatherings allow the order of the volume to be reconstructed and any missing parts to be detected. As in mathematics, things get complicated as soon as letters replace numbers: A-J7, K4, L-Pp6. On a complex book, this can become a labyrinth that only a specialist can decipher, as is the case with the first edition of Sebastian Münster's Cosmographia, whose collation extends over several lines of signs that few booksellers read fluently.
An incomplete copy is worth significantly less. But for incunabula or certain 16th-century books, it is sometimes better to settle for a damaged copy than to have nothing at all.
Market demand: what no price list replaces
The six preceding criteria are relatively stable. The seventh is the only one that evolves.
Market demand fluctuates. A forgotten author can return to the limelight after a retrospective, a posthumous prize, a film adaptation. A popular author can see their value decline when a generation of collectors starts reselling their libraries. This movement is unpredictable and constant.
Is there a price guide for old books, like there is for cars? No. Auction results can be consulted on Invaluable or Artprice, but these services are paid and do not adequately cover the bookselling market.
What major bibliographic directories, like Clouzot or Vicaire, indicate as "rare and highly sought after" reflects the state of the market at their publication date, not the reality of the current market.
It is precisely for this reason that appraisal cannot be automated. It requires knowledge of the current market that only an active bookseller can possess.
Where to get an old book appraised?
First reflexive option, and the most hazardous: type the title on Abebooks or eBay and look at the displayed prices. These platforms mix professional booksellers and individuals, quality copies and damaged ones, consistent prices and fanciful figures: one copy at 30 euros, the other at 800. Result: great confusion.
Second option, uncertain: auction houses. Drouot offers free appraisals, it's true, but unlike Librairie KOEGUI, books are far from their priority. Auctioneers are not subject to any obligation of result, and if your books are not sold, the auction house will return them to you. A book deemed of little interest may be sold in a lot with others, without individual appraisal. Finally, in addition to commissions, there are delays: between deposit, sale, and potential return, several months can pass.
The best option: a specialized bookseller. An opinion based on the real market, rooted in their precise specialty, as each bookseller has their own.
Librairie KOEGUI specializes in 19th and 20th-century literature: first editions, fine paper copies, autograph inscriptions, illustrated books. This is what we buy, what we sell, what we follow on the French and international markets since 2011. A member of SLAM and LILA, present at the Paris Rare Book Fair and the ABAA New York Book Fair, we offer free and non-binding appraisals, remotely based on photos, by appointment in Bayonne, or at your home: we travel at our expense throughout France to appraise a library. The expertise is independent of any purchase commitment.
After the appraisal: three scenarios
Sell. In a specialized bookstore, at public auction, or online. Librairie KOEGUI offers a quick transaction and an immediate net price, whereas public sales involve long delays and are subject to the vagaries of the auction room, and online sales require market knowledge that few individuals possess: inconsistent pricing, inaccurate descriptions, dubious buyer.
Keep. An appraised book is a book whose value is known. This knowledge changes the precautions given to it: storage, insurance, handling.
Transmit. Inheritance, donation. A recent and documented appraisal simplifies procedures and prevents disputes.
Do you wish to sell your library? See our book buying service
Frequently asked questions
Is there a price guide for old books?
No. There is no official and regularly updated price list. Auction sale databases provide past results that can be consulted, but they do not cover the bookselling market. Appraisal remains the business of a professional who follows the market in real time.
My book does not have a barcode: can it still be appraised?
Yes. The absence of a barcode is the norm for any book published before the 1970s. Identification relies on other elements: title page, printer's colophon, limitation page, collation. This is precisely the work of a specialized bookseller.
How much can a book from 1800 be worth?
The date does not determine the value. A book from 1800 can be worth ten euros or ten thousand, depending on the author, the edition, the condition, and market demand. The date is only one of the seven criteria.
Does a damaged binding lower the value?
Yes, always. On a rare and sought-after copy, a worn binding reduces the value without eliminating it. On a common copy, it can reduce it to almost nothing. An original binding in poor condition is generally preferable to a later binding, unless it is a high-quality professional restoration.
How do I know if my book is rare?
Check the original print run, the number of surviving copies, and current demand. These three combined elements define true rarity. For a detailed answer: What makes a book rare?
Do you own a book whose value you would like to know? A member of SLAM and LILA, Librairie KOEGUI offers a free and non-binding appraisal, remotely or by appointment in Bayonne. We travel at our expense throughout France to appraise a library.
Sources
- Anne Lamort, La bibliophilie, SLAM, 2021 | www.slamlivrerare.org