QUESTIONS

We receive a lot of inquiries. Everyone it seems has a book they think might be of value. I would ask that you drop me an email at Rick@rickbarronrarebooks.com. Please provide images of the book so we can assess the condition, along with pictures of the title and copyright pages and anything else about the book you think we should know. If we are interested, we will get back to you with a fair offer to purchase your book. On occasson we offer free appraisal events. But aside from our regular clients, we don't generally offer appraisal services.

To be perfectly honest, most dealers in collectible books, myself included don't handle Rare Books per se, we handle scarce books. However, because in the book trade condition is everything, fine copies of scarce books border on being rare. They comand high prices because they are sought after by knowlegeable collectors. As a collector you should always be on the lookout for the finest copy of any book you are looking to purchase. Rare implies the book is extremely scarce and may only show up online or at auction once every few years or so. Be aware that just because a book is rare does not mean it is valuable. Do your research or contact a reputable book dealer before you spend your hard earned money.

As a collector or an investor you should always be looking for a first edition and preferably a first printing of a book. A first edition is the total number of copies produced in the first impression or printing. In reality, the first edition may have many printings depending on its popularity. But only the first printing is considered the first edition as far as collectors are concerned. An edition will stand until changed, so there could be 20 printings of the first edition before a change in text is made that would require a notation that it is a second edition. It is not always easy to tell a first edition or a first printing. Each publlisher seems to have a different method of differentiating between printings and editions, and often research is required before you purchase a book.

Whenever you decide on an author or subject matter to collect, one of the things you should consider is whether to try to get signed copies of the books. My experience as a book dealer is that an authors inscription or signature in a book increases the value. They generally will hold their value over time and are much easier to sell that unsigned copies of the same title.

Antiquarian is a general term implying collectible books as opposed to used books. It refers to old, rare and/or scarce books generally published prior to 1900. Modern firsts is a catagory that includes all authors whos works were published after 1900. Twentieth Century first editions is probably a much better term to use to define the stock of most "modern" first edition dealers.

A dust jacket or a dust wrapper is the paper cover either printed or pictorial that is issued with a book. Dust jackets were originally designed in the mid-nineteenth century to protect the books, and they were most often thrown away by the owner after purchase. Dust jackets found today on books printed prior to 1900 are indeed rare to find. Dust jackets on modern books increase the value considerably and fne copies are prized by collectors.