Tag: Frederick Warne

The condition of second hand books is important when estimating their value. Ninety per cent of the art of valuing books is down to interpretation. I've seen books described as being in 'good condition' which are actually mint, or others described as 'VG condition' which are falling apart. Even experienced dealers have been known to make comments like "title page missing but otherwise VG condition". Absolute rubbish: If any pages are missing the book is in poor condition. How can it be anything else?

Before you explore further please familiarise yourself with the standard condition gradings used universally in the book trade. Click here for our article Guide to Condition Grades.

To use the table below effectively you need a starting point: A value for a book in a specified condition. You may have seen a copy of a book in your collection being sold at auction, or by a reputable book dealer, or you may be using the price guides on this website for your starting point. To illustrate how best to use the table I'll give three examples from books which are included in guides on this site:

Example 1:

• From our 'Dennis Wheatley, Select Bibliography and Price Guide'
• They Found Atlantis, a novel published by Hutchinson, 1936, 1st edition in VG condition, with a VG dust jacket, £450

In the table scroll down the column headed Value For VG Copy (GB£) until you come to '£450'

Now look along the row: This tells you the estimated value of the same book

• in mint condition is £750
• in fine condition is £600
• in good condition is £300
• in fair condition is £150
• and in poor condition is £37

Where values are offered for books with their dust jackets, these values will be affected considerably if the dust jacket is missing or in a different condition to the book itself. I'll explore this in a later blog.

Example 2:

• From our 'John Le Carré (1931-2020), Author of Espionage Thrillers: Select Bibliography and Price Guide'
• A Most Wanted Man, published in the UK by Hodder and Stoughton, 2008, 1st edition, fine condition in a fine dust jacket, £20

In the table scroll down the column headed Value For Fine Copy (GB£) until you come to '£20'

Now look along the row: This tells you the estimated value of the same book

• in mint condition is £25
• in VG (very good) condition is £15
• in good condition is £10
• in fair condition is £5
• and in poor condition is £1.25

Although the table offers a suggested value for this book in poor condition, in reality it is unlikely anyone would wish to pay any sum for a poor copy of such a modern book, when there are many copies available in much better condition.

Example 3:

• From our 'Kate Greenaway, British Illustrator of Children’s Books, Select Bibliography and Price Guide'
• Aunt Louisa's London Toy Books: Diamonds and Toads, first edition published by Frederick Warne and Co, 1871, illustrated boards, published without a dust jacket, in VG condition, £1,350

In the table scroll down the column headed Value For VG Copy (GB£) until you come to '£1,350'

Now look along the row: This tells you the estimated value of the same book

• in mint condition is from £2,250
• in fine condition is £1,800
• in good condition is £900
• in fair condition from is £450
• and in poor condition is £112

Although values are given in the table for books in 'poor' condition, it should be noted that many low value books are not desirable in the lower condition grades. However, a poor disbound copy of an illustrated book such as the one above, may be worth more if the illustrations are otherwise intact and the artist's work is sought after (as Kate Greenaway's work is). In contrast a mint condition copy of this book is likely to be so rare that it would sell for a considerable premium on the price stated in the example.

The table here will help give you a framework and a starting point to valuing your books, but always keep in mind: Everything in the second hand book market is subject to interpretation.

If you need values in US dollars, Euros or a host of other major currencies, a currency converter is included in the right hand sidebar of this page, and another in the footer area.

If you have a book valued at a sum not included above, for example a VG copy valued at £80, either use the nearest figure you can find or select two rows where the VG condition values add up to £80, and add the two values for each condition grade together.