Selling Books From an Estate: How to Tell Which Old Books Are Worth Something

First, Don't Box Everything Up

The most common mistake is packing a whole library into boxes before anyone looks at it. Once books are in cartons, nobody wants to open forty boxes to look for three good ones, and damp basements and hot garages do real damage in a single season. Leave the books on their shelves if you can. If the house has to be emptied quickly, pull out the shelf sections that look most promising (older bindings, leather, sets, signed books, local history, children's books in jackets) and keep them together and dry. Don't throw out loose papers tucked inside books until someone has looked at them; letters, photographs and documents sometimes matter more than the book they're in.

A One-Afternoon Sort: Three Piles

• Look closer: books printed before about 1900, leather or vellum bindings, books with author signatures or inscriptions, early editions of well-known 20th-century titles still in their dust jackets, illustrated and children's books in good condition, local or regional history, maps and atlases, and anything with handwritten notes from a notable person
• Probably reading copies: recent bestsellers, paperbacks, textbooks, book club editions, and common titles printed in large numbers
• Usually little resale value: encyclopedia sets, Reader's Digest condensed books, outdated reference books, and books with mold, water damage or missing pages
• Set aside anything personal before the sale: family Bibles with handwritten records, annotated cookbooks, diaries and scrapbooks. They may matter to relatives even if they mean nothing to a buyer

What Makes a Book Valuable

Age alone doesn't. AbeBooks, one of the largest used and rare book marketplaces, notes that common books such as the works of Shakespeare, prayer books, Bibles and encyclopedias were printed in huge quantities during the Victorian era and usually have little value. The Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA) says the value of a particular copy depends on its condition, its binding, its provenance (who owned it) and the significance of any inscription. Scarcity and demand sit on top of that: a book few people want stays inexpensive even if few copies survive. When a dealer or appraiser asks about a book, they want a short list of facts. The State Library of Pennsylvania's research guide lists eight: author, title, place of publication, publisher, date of publication, size (height), kind of binding, and condition. Most of that is on the title page or the back of it. Writing it down for the twenty books you think might matter is the most useful hour you can spend before calling anyone.

Is It Really a First Edition?

Families often find the words 'First Edition' on a copyright page and assume they've found something. The ABAA warns against placing blind faith in those words. Publishers have left 'First Edition' on the copyright page of later printings, and the row of numbers below it (the number line) often tells the real story: if it reads 10 9 8 7, the lowest number is 7 and the copy is a seventh printing. The Enoch Pratt Free Library's guide to evaluating old books gives the same rule and adds that a book is probably not a first edition if it shows more than one publication date or a phrase like '2nd Printing.' There is no single rule that works for every publisher, which is why the ABAA points people to reference guides and to member booksellers. The ABAA also notes that condition generally trumps printing: unless a book is exceedingly rare, many buyers will value a later printing in excellent condition over a first edition in tatters.

Book Club Editions: The Most Common Disappointment

A shelf of handsome hardcovers from the 1950s through the 1990s is often a shelf of book club editions. The ABAA glossary describes them as usually inexpensive reprints on lower-quality paper and binding, sold by subscription, and in general of low monetary value. The clues it lists: a discreet 'Book Club Edition' note somewhere on the jacket, no ISBN or year on the copyright page, a smaller trim size than the bookstore edition, and a jacket with no printed price or barcode, sometimes with a blank back panel. The Independent Online Booksellers Association's condition standards say a book club edition must always be described as one, whatever its condition. Fine-press publishers such as the Folio Society and the Limited Editions Club are a different category; the ABAA notes they reissue books with top-quality materials, and they're worth setting aside for a closer look.

How Dealers Describe Condition

Condition decides most book prices, and the trade uses a fairly standard vocabulary. Knowing it helps you describe books accurately on the phone and understand what you're reading in online listings.

• As New or Fine: no faults or defects. Near Fine: approaching that, with a couple of very minor defects that must be noted
• Very Good: shows some signs of wear; any defects must be noted
• Good: the average used book, complete and intact, with defects noted. In bookselling, 'Good' is not a compliment
• Fair: worn, with complete text but possibly missing endpapers or a half-title. Poor or Reading Copy: complete, legible text and little else
• Ex-library: must always be noted, whatever the condition. Library stamps, pockets and labels lower value
• Dust jacket: graded separately. The State Library of Pennsylvania notes that a missing jacket should be mentioned if the book was issued with one, and that a jacket, even a torn one, adds value. Keep every jacket with its book
• Foxing: brown spots in the paper. Signed or inscribed copies and any repairs should always be mentioned

How to Check What Similar Copies Sell For

The Library of Congress doesn't appraise books, but its Ask a Librarian service points people to large used-book search sites (Addall, Bookfinder and Vialibri) to compare copies. AbeBooks suggests searching by title, author, publisher and date, filtering for hardcover, dust jacket and signed copies where they apply, and using the ISBN alone for books published from 1970 on. Two cautions from the libraries themselves: these are asking prices set by sellers, not sale prices, and the Pratt Library notes that listed prices include the dealer's markup, so a dealer buying from you will offer less. Match edition, printing, jacket and condition before you trust a comparison; a 'first edition' listing for a fine copy in a jacket tells you nothing about a later printing without one.

Where Estate Books Usually Go

• Antiquarian or specialist bookseller: the right first call for older, rare, signed or specialist books. The ABAA's member directory can be searched by specialty and location. Expect an offer below retail; ask whether they buy outright or take books on consignment
• Formal appraisal: if an estate needs documented values for probate, insurance or a large donation, AbeBooks recommends paying for a formal appraisal from a rare book specialist. The Library of Congress points to auction houses, antiquarian booksellers and professional bodies such as the American Society of Appraisers
• Auction house: suited to genuinely rare books, important collections and signed material where a wider pool of bidders matters. Ask about the seller's commission and any photography or cataloging charges
• Estate sale: the practical route for general reading copies, cookbooks, decorative books by the foot, children's books and sets. Ask the company to pull anything that looks better for a dealer before the sale opens
• Used bookstore or library friends' sale: some will take general books, but they choose what they want and many decline encyclopedias, textbooks and damaged books. Call first
• Recycling: for moldy, water-damaged or badly broken books with no special value. Mold can spread to other books and isn't something to pass on

Storing Books While the Estate Is Settled

If the house will sit for months, books are worth a little care. Guidance summarized from the Library of Congress says to keep books in a cool, dry place out of direct light and away from radiators and vents, shelved upright with books of similar size or lying flat, and handled with clean hands. Plastic tubs and cardboard boxes in a damp basement are where estate libraries get ruined. If you have to box books for a move, pack them spine-down or flat, keep boxes off concrete floors, and label which boxes came from which shelves so the 'look closer' pile stays together.

Taxes and Paperwork

This is general information, not tax advice. Under 26 U.S.C. 1014, inherited property generally takes a basis equal to its fair market value at the date of death (or the alternate valuation date if the executor elects it). Most estate books sell for modest sums, often below that value. If the library includes a valuable book or collection, a dated appraisal near the date of death documents the basis and supports the price you ask. Donating a large collection raises its own appraisal questions, covered in our donation guide.

Questions to Ask a Dealer or Estate Sale Company

• Which books, if any, would you recommend selling separately from the estate sale, and why?
• Are you making an offer to buy, or offering to sell on consignment? What percentage do you keep?
• Will you put the offer in writing with a list of the books it covers?
• Do you handle signed books, early printings or local history yourselves, or refer them to a specialist?
• What happens to books that don't sell, and who pays to remove them?
• Will you return family papers, photographs and letters found inside books?