posted on October 4, 2001 10:31:42 AM new
I am looking at six 2 volume sets of Charles Dickens published from between 1890-1900. If they were in good condition they would be worth between $30 - $50 for each title. However, the covers are falling apart. (loose boards, spine lettering falling off, etc.)
There are about 25+ nice clean B & W illustrations throughout each volume. I sell lots of books but I have never tried to cut pages out and sell the illustrations before.
posted on October 4, 2001 11:17:29 AM new
Have you considered selling the set(s) by mentioning that they need to be rebound? I think they call books needing rebinding "unsophisticated" copies. I dunno...maybe to the right buyer they would still be an attractive item.
posted on October 4, 2001 11:59:07 AM new
runkpocker-
I certainly dislike the thought of cutting up a book.
However, the cost of rebinding them wouldn't be a cost effective alternative.
I know that magazine ads are sometimes sold separately and I have read here of someone selling pages from 17th & 18th century Bibles with success. I just wondered if it might work.
posted on October 4, 2001 12:32:50 PM new
rogerdodger,
It depends on who the illustrator is. I would do a search for prints with the illustrators name in it. See what similar prints are selling for. It is very possible that they may do well. I sell many prints & ads from vintage magazines and make a nice tidy profit off of them. The other thing to consider is your subject matter in the prints. Hope this helps!
posted on October 4, 2001 02:26:33 PM new
I broke a book a couple years ago and sold the illustrations. The book was worth around $250 - $300 but I didn't expect to get that on ebay, so I broke it, selling the prints one at a time... I got about $400 total.
Damaged books are worth very little to a collector unless they are quite rare. OTOH your b/w prints may be worth nothing... as eauction said, the illustrator is important.
But OTOH again, it's quicker to get rid of an entire book, even if damaged, that to try to sell the prints one at a time.
posted on October 4, 2001 06:06:51 PM new
20 years ago I sold a set of books for $600 that had many handcolored illus. The buyer told me that he would mount and frame the illus and resell them for $1800-$2400. These books had interest and market as rare books, but even more $$$ was in the pics. Sad.
