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Everyone has an "Antiques Roadshow" fantasy. Maybe a great-aunt passes away and you're asked to sort through her dusty, overstuffed attic. After digging through boxes and boxes of moth-ridden clothes and yellowed newspaper clippings, you come upon a tightly sealed chest. Prying the chest open with a crowbar, you find a row of pristine books with gilded edges and crisp, unopened bindings. You gently pull them from the chest: first editions of "The Catcher in the Rye," "To Kill a Mockingbird" and the complete "Lord of the Rings" trilogy! All signed by the authors! You've stumbled upon a rare book bonanza worth tens of thousands of dollars -- and that's why they call it a fantasy. How do you know if they're worth anything? Short of waiting for "Antiques Roadshow" to come to town, you can start by understanding the qualities and attributes of truly rare and valuable books. Just because a book is old doesn't mean that it's automatically valuable.
The most basic criterion is scarcity. Even if a book is hundreds of years old, it's worthless if there are thousands of copies in circulation (and if nobody particularly wants them). First editions generally carry the most value. If you think you own a rare and valuable book, start by examining its condition. In the next section, we'll explain how to grade a book from "as new" to "poor" and everything in between. The highest grade for a book's physical condition is "as new." This is a book that hasn't even been opened. It's been stored in impeccable conditions and shows absolutely no signs of wear or use. Be careful, though: The overuse of the term "fine" in online bookselling circles has caused some grumbling. Many "fine" books would more accurately qualify as "very good," which means a complete book with very minor defects. A book is deemed "fair" if it's complete, but the damage to the dust jacket or edges of the pages is more evident.
The lowest grade for an old book is "poor" or "reading copy." This is a book with significant damage that would only be worth selling if it includes rare signatures, inscriptions or was owned by a famous person. Dampstain -- A tan or gray stain due to water damage. It doesn't lower the value of otherwise rare books. Foxing -- Certain older types of printing paper include impurities like iron that can oxidize under humid conditions and leave rusty brown stains. Inscription --A handwritten, signed note from the author or another famous person. Rebound --If the original binding is damaged, an old book may be re-sewn into a new binding. In most cases, this lowers the value of the book considerably. If you think your old book is "fine," then it's time to seek out a professional opinion. In the next section, we'll discuss book appraisers. You don't just wake up one day and decide you want to appraise books for a living.
Most appraisers spend years working their way up through the world of antiques and collectibles. They might start off as a shelver in a used and rare bookstore or a "picker" for an antique shop -- someone who drives around to estate sales and other antique stores looking for rare finds. Over the years, they gain enough expertise to start collections of their own and eventually open their own bookshops. With enough experience, and close adherence to established standards of practice, the seemingly subjective art of book appraisal edges closer to a science. The most reliable appraisers are accredited by professional organizations like the American Society of Appraisers. Accredited members must take a test and vow to work in compliance with the "Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice," an annual publication put out by the Appraisal Foundation. In many cases, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) relies on accredited appraisers to determine an estate's value. Book appraisal doesn't require any specialized formal education.
People enter the field from diverse educational backgrounds. If you're in the market for a professional book appraiser, a great place to start is with a professional appraisal association, of which there are plenty. So unless your Bible is from the 15th century or is a first edition St. James Bible, it's probably not worth very much. The only family Bibles that are worth anything are those with inscriptions from famous families, which raises the question: Just how famous was great-great grandpa Zed, anyway? The most well-known such organization in the U.S. Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America. This 50-year-old organization includes 450 members located across the U.S., with significant concentrations in the Northeast and California. In France, it's the Syndicat National de la Librairie Ancienne et Moderne, which goes by the decidedly un-"ancienne" acronym of SLAM. This organization holds an annual international book fair in a different global capital. In 2009, the ILAB International Antiquarian Book Fair was held in Vienna, Austria.
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