Rare Book Valuation How I Do That Part One "Ground Rules"

Rare Book Valuation

How I Do That

Part One

"Ground Rules"

            The stupidest old book (“RARE BOOK”) query I am asked is not “DO YOU HAVE A COPY?” of one single book that the ask-E wants; a one book.  A ‘one book’ they “want”.

I acquire old books from attic floors and dead scholar – collector’s libraries, their offices and... ‘book dens’.  I am not a ‘do you have’ one particular book.  At one point I had five warehouse units full of matching taped closed cardboard boxes of books (containing 40 to 44 books each) with those books in the boxes being a “I have never looked at”.  Eventually I did look at each book in each box at least very, very briefly and then... sold them.  Every now and then I’d find an actual rare book doing this (look very briefly at each book).  At the end of that; a my professional rare book epoch, I sold “all the books”.  We estimated that “all” to be five hundred and forty-seven thousand old (“RARE”) books.  All were sold.  But:

            To this day I have a constant gatherings of hundreds (usually around 360) of matching cardboard boxes full and taped shut of old (“RARE”) books... at any point in my time as an active... wait for it... “RARE BOOK DEALER”.  The result is that I do not have nor would ever know I have, the ‘that’ one book that ... YOU... “want”.  I am still asked “anyway”.

            The stupidest question actually is... to know (no) surprise... “HOW MUCH IS IT WORTH!” (an exclamatory sentence; NOT a question) with this usually relative to a single old book held of hand being right then foisted toward me to... ahhhh.... take (and “look at”).  I don’t do either of those and that old book may then fall from free space to the floor (dropped).  Don’t worry:  In my realm of antiquarian bibliomania books in freefall are a constant as are piles of old books on the floor.  If I am in the mood of antiquarian book adroit, I may add that their old book is worth “one dollar”.  But the long term effort of that utterance has radically curtailed me ‘even saying that’.

            Good enough?

            Or

            “How Much is My Rare Book Worth?”

            That’s right:  This one never goes away.  Followed by “How do you know that?” and “How do you do that?” should I actually speak a valuation (“one dollar”). All that (‘this’... for it is on-going) is a ground rule

            For understanding how I... I ‘valuation’ of a ‘rare book’

            Most; that full vastness of old books, are not... a... rare books.  They are at best a used old book that no one wants.  That is a ground rule.  Apply it yourself:  When you find an old book that for a fleeting moment you engage that it is a ‘rare’ ‘old’ ‘book’... drop it on the floor and walk away from ALL OF THIS; rare books and their valuation.  You don’t have a rare book.  You do not even have a ‘good’ ‘old’ book.  I don’t care what you say. You don’t.  Walk from it... after dropping it and

            Shutting up.  Too.

When I have the taped closed boxes of old used books I, when I am ‘going through’ ‘a box’ “very fast” (a shallow glance at each book) may discern a possible old book that possibly could be a possible rare book.  Possibly.  Maybe.  That is a ground rule.

When someone foists a their book at me to, for them, grant a valuation... with additional verification that the lone tome is a ‘rare book’... AS WAS THINK IT BE too I do not value and verify.  Nor do I think.  Think does not work well for true rare books.  I use feel; I FEEL as to if an old book is rare.  Don’t bother to think about feeling all this. All this is a ground Rule

Double

Too.

            The forest and the trees are getting thicker?  Cannot see.  Cannot feel.  Cannot think.  One finds oneself in a warehouse perpetually full of at least three hundred plain taped shut matching cardboard boxes of ‘never looked at’ old books that are not rare books even if a you “thinks” a “THIS ONE”... “is”.  This is a ground rule.  And... I am not there to help you.  I have my own boxes of books to look at.  Why would I care about your boxes of old books.  This, too, is a ground rule

            Ground rules are good.  By using them one may avoid “waste of time”.  That is what happens to an old book you foist at me and, until it drops to the floor and you shut-up and go away, is what it is as a rare book; it is a ‘waste of time’.  THAT is a ground rule too.  I like ground rules.  They are a splendid trail through the trees and forest of old used books that help me to easily discern an old RARE book.

            There is not a booklet of ground rules for one to study and refer to. Ground rules are learned one by one painfully slowly caused by actual usage of discovered ground rules used to apply to the ground rule ‘waste of time’.  It will probably take you at least a few thousand boxes of old books you think and feel about before ground rules and their applications become “transparent”.  Do not worry: I will not interfere with your thoughts and feelings as you, as we old rare book dealers say “come along”.

            “OMG are we getting?”

            Yes we are and

            WHY.  Because YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW what a rare book looks like and

            THAT

            IS A GROUND RULE TOO.  You’ve never seen one, never bought one, never sold one, “don’t know”, “THINK”, don’t FEEL and “foist” all that while failing to shut-up too.

            THIS IS A GROUND RULE.

            As a summarial ground rule I, as a rare book hunter and finder ‘get rid of you’... for... you and your accumulations of old (RARE!) books are abhorrent and ‘a waste of time’.  I and rare books never have anything to do with you.  Ever.  That too is a ground rule.

            This makes for a restless sleep on your part should you wish feverishly to be a rare book hunter; a finder of rare books.  Add ‘seller’ of rare books on to this as a tale (tail) and... one is lost in the trees and forests of rare books... with no ground rule guidance booklet and, in most all cases, no actual rare book ever.  You do... do ‘foist’ old books declared rare... very well and many such persona DO percolate along doing that in the sight of someone like me for... often times... generational time frames.  That is another ground rule. And is a very much there of my every day. Having ‘an idiot’ around who ‘thinks’ they know ‘a lot’ about ‘rare books’ is a normal ground rule for me.  And I guess that if that sort is you... then you are an active part of that ground rule too.  This brings us... tied by rope to each other and flashing our fighting knives... to a need to distinguish why I am different from you.  It is about the rare book I hold...:  It IS a rare book.  The one you hold is NOT a rare book.  I will sell mine.  You will not sell yours.  This is another ground rule.

            To explore ‘rare book valuation’ and ‘how I do it’ one must know what a rare book... ahhhh.... “LOOKS LIKE”.  It is, you know, a ‘dog looks like a dog’ – a ‘cat looks like a cat’ quandary that is easy to resolve should one follow the ground rules of ‘that’ (what does a rare book looks like).  That’s right:  More ground rules... “over there”.  Your getting close.  Probably this getting close will be you being right there with a rare book before you and... you passing over it... without ever knowing it is there.  The reverse of this is that the more ground rules you know about what a rare book looks like the more rare books one sees and finds and, eventually, sells.  Yes... another ground rule in this somewhere.  Right?  Oh don’t bother yourself with all of this for it must by now be clearly hinting that the ‘doing this’ is... well.... “work”.  And of course this ‘is work’ is a ground rule too.

            Are you mired?  Up to your hubs?  Come now just sit down and stop sobbing and wipe you eyes and understand that all the books you ‘like’ up to now are not rare books and finding out that and what a rare books is (“LOOKS LIKE”); what that critter looks like AND what the rare book hunter finders looks like too... and well... there is no roadside assistance out here in rare book wilderness (trees and forest) so you gonna have to give up your know it all freedoms and subjugate your self as a lesser being... one subjugated to rare books.  This is too... a ground rule.