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

[dee3483]

 Audubon illustrations are exquisite.  But that price is beyond the dreams of avarice, isn't it. 

[jinx7666]

Hi. I'm hoping that some of you still check on this thread even though it seems to have been quiet for a while.

I need some expert advice, I have a book (yes really) that I'm finding impossible to date, value or even find any detail on.

The lettering on the spine simply says "The Mohawk Minstrels" and it appears to be a bound collection of "The Mohawk Minstrels Magazine of favourite songs and ballads as sung by them at The Agricultural Hall, London".

There's no publication date on the book itself or on any of the magazines and no details of any publisher. The only name I can find anywhere in the book that isn't directly related to the music and lyrics is "Berridge Bros Engravers & Steam Lithos".

I've spent hours on the net trying to find information but so far all I've turned up were a few seperate song sheets and the fact that they were popular towards the end of the 19th century.

Any advice on where to turn would be very gratefully recieved.

John.

[jeffbrg23]

I've had a look on bookfinder.com with Mohawk Minstrels as the title.

Theres no exact match, but there do seem to have been a series of annuals with very similar titles. People are asking about £15-30 for them.

[jinx7666]

Thanks for the heads up on bookfinder.com, hadn't looked at that one (though I've trawled god knows how many others).

The ones on there seem to be softback whereas the one sitting in front of me is hardback (some kind of patterned material on board with gold coloured embossing on the spine).

Thanks for taking the time to look, much appreciated.

John.

[moon0769]

I am Looking for a Book with man living on the dark side of the moon and aliens living on Earth. Everybody has a plug in the back of their head to plug into the CC. When they die they are cloned and a central Computer overlooks the law. If you commit a crime the CC judges you and takes you back before you committed any crime. They have a bank that store their memories and every year it is updated. They can change sex in a day grow bigger or smaller. or look different. I have STEEL BEACH which is the same type of Book. CAN ANYONE HELP.??????? Dizzy.

[hazelbooks2000]

Hello, I wonder if anyone can help...I've acquired an edition of Dickens 'David Copperfield', Household Edition, Chapman and Hall. It is undated but the picture of Dickens inside is dated 1868 and Chapman and Hall stopped publishing him after 1870, so it must be an edition of around 1868-70.

Here's the thing. It is signed below the picture of Dickens, with his signature. Then it is dated '1870.' (with the full stop). I have checked autograph sites and it is very much as his signature was at that point in his life. I have checked for all the obvious signs that it is a forgery. In 1870 he died, but he was active, giving readings and so forth for the first 5 months of that year.

So, my first question is, how on earth do I know if I have a geniune signature? Are there a lot of Dickens' forgeries? Secondly, if it was genuine, where would you go to sell it?

[jimbooks360]

I'm afraid that it will have been printed, so you cant retire yet.

[jeffbrg23]

As Jim says its a facsimile.

If you ever did find something of real value I'd go to a physical auction house to sell rather than Ebay, one which specialises in books such as:

http://www.dominic-winter.co.uk/

They are pretty good at valuations if you email images.

[hazelbooks2000]

Aww how disappointing. Still, somehow I thought it was rather unlikely...well, back to selling books for 99p then...

Thanks for the link Jeff, indeed I do need to investigate the value and where to sell one or two seriously old books, so will need to find a good place to go with them, so that's very helpful.

[patgal4]

Where has everyone gone?  When I stopped selling books I8 months ago there was no need to go on asking relevant and irrelevant questions about 'to sell or not to sell'.  Did this Board disappear for a while or did you all, like me,  just give up?

So many names giving out sound advice on just about every topic and oft not book related at all.  It was fun.

[rogersbooks32]

With all the changes ebay  made this board has died a death, you still get some of the older faces around but there are few new threads and little of the old banter.

[westcountrypottery]

What is a stamp on the tail edges of a book likely to be/mean please (it's a D in a circle in grey/black ink)

tia!

[rogersbooks32]

If you mean ther bottom edges of ther print block in could be a remander mark, I have seen American books like this, where the book is not sold in a book shop and is returned to the publishers this mark is put on before the book goes to discount reselleri THINK.

[rogersbooks32]

No edit, think should not have been caps clicked post without reading.

[100collectables100]

I have 8 volumes of The history of the great european war all in fair condition.  2 of the spines are badly faded the rest pretty good.  All books appear complete with pictures etc.

Question : would it be better to sell as a set (I realise that there should be 10 volumes) or one by one?

[jeffbrg23]

It's a difficult one, as none of the individual volumes or the part sets have sold recently on Ebay. The only one to sell recently was a completed set of 10 volumes for £55.

I would be inclined to sell as a set, just because there is less work involved in listing them and you might be able to get rid of them all in one go and clear some space.

[westcountrypottery]

If you mean ther bottom edges of ther print block in could be a remander mark, I have seen American books like this, where the book is not sold in a book shop and is returned to the publishers this mark is put on before the book goes to discount reselleri THINK.

thank you :0)

[oldbookshopnj]

That particular mark is not one I have seen used by an American publisher, but there is a very wide variety of marks used on remainders--besides stamps, spray painting and felt-tip slashes are used.

[flowers49lampeter]

Hello, I've got a 1979 1st edition signed copy of masquerade kit williams. I'm guessing that its valuable, any ideas how much?

[jeffbrg23]

Three signed copies sold recently on Ebay, one at £20.99 and two at £30. The ones listed at £70 and £80 failed to sell.

So certainly worth £30, probably worth trying for a little bit more on a BIN £40-£50 to see what happens, in my opinion.