DO YOU HAVE A BOOK QUESTION?

[manor_house_books]

Hi all, pippy_oak here, posting under my brand new user name. Hopefully, Richard will pin this thread, as it seems a nice tidy place to pose specific questions about a book (Is it a 1st edition, what's it worth, where to find it etc. etc.) Don't just come here with a question. If you think you have the answer, then let's hear it.

Or we could just mooch around and learn a few things.

Cheers

Paul

[sigmapsidelta]

What number is it?

Any number over 70 is a collectable.

The later ones, from around number 80, with laminated boards, are the real collectables.

Some fetch 3 figures.

. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Whomever you may murder, there's no police like Holmes.

[sigmapsidelta]

It is. The first, that is.

Number 76. Nice copies can fetch that and more, though eBay can be an odd place for them - prices all over the place.

. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Whomever you may murder, there's no police like Holmes.

[black-country-books]

Thanks Steve, sounds quite promising. Don't quite understand the later ones - aren't earlier ones worth more? I have a laminated boards issue: Athletics 1984.

[sigmapsidelta]

As the series went on they became less popular.

There are fewer of the laminated type.

That copy of Athletics is not a Warne publication, is it?

Number 98, the last in the series, was published in 1982. Number 99 'The Observer's Book of Observer's Books' was published much more recently, in the same format as the old Warne issues, but not by the same folks who took over the 'Observer's' titles after 1982.

. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Whomever you may murder, there's no police like Holmes.

[sigmapsidelta]

Many of the later, laminated issues were recalled and lots were pulped. So the remaining ones are quite scarce.

I think your 'Athletics' might be a Penguin Observer or a Bloomsbury. Not the same thing at all and Warne Observer's collectors sneer at 'em.

. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Whomever you may murder, there's no police like Holmes.

[black-country-books]

Ahhh, I hadn't thought of that.

Yes, Steve, it is a Warne publication - No. N13.

Go on...! Go on....!

[sigmapsidelta]

It is a late one, beyond the main collectable series. Sorry.

Any numbered 1 to 98 and you're on target.

70 to 98 are the scarcer ones (generally).

There are a few in the 90s that can go for £150.

. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Whomever you may murder, there's no police like Holmes.

[ok-mrs-bee]

I've got a Warne one, to hand (British Geology). Where are you finding the number you're talking about?

[black-country-books]

On the spine, Bee.

[ok-mrs-bee]

Oooooh, yes, 10! Never knew that. Must go and look at the others. But I take it they're not worth anything?

[sigmapsidelta]

ASQ me your email address and I'll send you a scan of the Book and Magazine Collector list of the original 98 titles.

. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Whomever you may murder, there's no police like Holmes.

[sigmapsidelta]

The value of the earlier numbers depends on their condition, the printing (1st, 2nd, etc.), presence of a dust wrapper and one or two other points involving advertising.

Get the right advert on the back of an Observer's dust wrapper and you can add a couple of zeroes to the price.

. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Whomever you may murder, there's no police like Holmes.

[ok-mrs-bee]

Thanks for the offer, Steve, or was that to Chris. I'm just an interested observer (!) with several of these books - downstairs. I was going to make tea an hour ago! People will keep posting interesting things.

[sigmapsidelta]

Anyone who wants it is welcome to it.

. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Whomever you may murder, there's no police like Holmes.

[black-country-books]

That's very kind of you Steve. I would take you up on it but I've just found some excellent sites on Google - one even illustrates the dustjackets. Will look at the numbers from now on.

[jasaauctions]

The main one that springs to mind is the Observer Book of Opera, allways used to go for more than £150 here but now sells at around £50 a copy.

[black-country-books]

An interesting subject and one I'm keen to learn more about.

Meanwhile, given what I've paid for mine, I would be pleased to make a fraction of those prices. 🙂

[manor_house_books]

I once binned an Observers Book of Paris along with a load of worthless travel books. That was a hard lesson!!

[ok-mrs-bee]

I binned a load of books, a couple of years back. Now, I'm rather glad I can't remember what they were.

[black-country-books]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing!!! Two years ago I gave away a stack of Eagle Annuals, Rupert Annuals, Enid Blyton from 50's in dustjackets..... My only consolation is that they went to Air Ambulance shop. Just hope they got good prices for them.:-(

And, last year, I binned hundreds of postcards! It doesn't bear thinking about.