posted on December 7, 2000 08:08:10 PM new
Can anyone tell me what, exactly, are the "Cookbook Bibliographies" I see on auction at ebay? The descriptions will sometimes mention that there is a photo of the books' cover. They are won at surprising prices. Why would just a list of vintage books be valuable to some people? Is this a book? Or a couple of sheets of paper? Sorry if this is a real dumb question. Thank you in advance!
posted on December 7, 2000 11:31:22 PM new
In any book collecting field, there are bibliographies that help you know what to collect - what is valuable and what is not.
A good bibliography will be exhaustive, listing ALL books in a given area or subarea. It will describe the "points" of a valuable edition or printing that differentiate that edition or printing from less valuable ones. Photographs of the cover or title page are very useful for identifying a particular edition or printing.
The reason they bring such good prices is because they are very expensive if you buy them new. It takes years to pull together the information for a good scholarly bibliography, the audience for such a thing is very narrow, and the print runs are very small. However, if someone wants such a bibliography, they REALLY WANT IT! And will pay almost anything for it.
As an example, there is a standard bibliography of science fiction that costs $80 new. I would give my eyeteeth for a copy of that book, because it will help me build my collection. Unfortunately, it is out of print, and rarely comes on the market, so I have few opportunities to buy it.
I hope this has helped explain why someone would pay a great deal for a bibliography.
Yours,
El
Librarian and science fiction collector
El
"The customer may not always be right, but she is always the customer."
[ edited by eleanordew on Dec 7, 2000 11:32 PM ]
posted on December 8, 2000 12:44:46 PM new
Thank you all so much. You people know EVERYTHING...I'm convinced of that! Now *I* want a cookbook bibliography, too! (-:
You are all so nice for even keeping my question "alive" by putting it back on top.
