Your Most Valuable Book

My sister bought me a leather-bound copy of '1984' with creamy smooth pages for my 18th birthday. I'm sure it's not worth much, but it means a lot to me

I went through a massive book dump before I left the US, and eBayed any that might have been worth something. What went for the most was an 1870s family bible, which surprised me because they are usually not worth very much because so many were printed, especially by this publisher (whoever it was). But all the bidders had low feedback counts, which makes me think they were individuals and not collectors who would know not to pay that much for it.

Sentimentally, the most valuable book I own (and will NEVER part with) is a 1950s schoolbook called On We Go. I was massively behind in school when I was little, and couldn't read until I was about 8. My parents got the book at a garage sale and forced me to get through it over summer vacation. The spark caught fire, and within a year I had worked through The Boxcar Children series and The Three Investigators series, and was tackling Agatha Christie. I haven't stopped reading since.

I have a 3rd edition (read: still published in 1939 [o ris it 1938?]) copy of The Grapes of Wrath.

It isn't in any kind of good, salable condition, but I love that book. My dad got it for me at a used bookstore called Escargot books; the cover is suffering, there's no dustjacket (and I dislike the physical presence of dustjackets anyway).

My original copies of The Chronicles of Narnia from back when I was a wee kiddie.

The glue has dried out and flaked to dust, so they aren't worth anything, and I don't dare even open them for fear of them sifting to the floor in a pile of loose pages.

However, they have the original artwork, which I loved, and all the sentimental value derived from the fact that the stories were very dear to me as a child. (Possibly because the religious allegory stuff went ZOOM over my wee head. To me, they were just wonderful adventure stories with talking animals.)

I got a first edition of Stephen King's Misery. It's not signed, but it's still cool.

Probably not worth a lot monetarily, but these I will never part with:

My almost 50-year old Little Golden Books from my childhood, complete with my crayon embellishments on the pages.

A 70+ year old hardcover family Bible. It has beautiful illustrations, is about 4 inches thick and measures about 12 inches x 16 inches and has gold page edges. My senior year in high school I was in the Sound of Music and we used that Bible on the alter during the wedding scene.

And last but not least, a first edition copy of Skywalking, signed by George Lucas. I'd had an unsigned copy that was lost in a move. My husband presented me with the signed copy as a replacement on one of our anniversaries.

My personally signed hardbound copy of Setting Free the Bears, signed in my presence by John Irving, my thesis advisor at the University of Iowa Writer's Workshop in 1973.

I don't give two ounces of komodo dragon drool what it's worth monetarily to Rick Harrison. He ain't gettin' it.

caw

The Ernie & Bert Book, 1977. One of my absolute favorites as a kid, it amazingly survived both me and my brother, and I was able to pass it down to my daughter, who hopefully will bestow it upon her children one day.

First edition of Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, NDJ, very nice condition.
First edition of Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man, ex libris, NDJ, terrible condition.
First edition of The Black Camel by Earl Derr Biggers, a Charlie Chan mystery, 1929, with rough dust jacket, book in very nice shape.
Second edition Seduction of the Innocent, rough shape.
Edgar Rice Burroughs' Beyond Thirty & the Man Eater, with dust jacket by Gil Kane, very nice condition. Only edition - the two stories have been reprinted separately but never together again. And 10,000 other books of varying value.

Used to have a signed and numbered Second Stage Lensman by E.E. 'Doc' Smith, with rough dust jacket. Also had a copy of the September, 1939 issue of Astounding Science fiction with Ted Sturgeons' first story that Ted signed for me in 1979. And a lot of other neat stuff that's slipped through my fingers over the past fifty years.

Of the top of my head, and a quick glance around the room...

A hardcover copy of Peter Dickinson's The Flight of Dragons, mistakenly underpriced at Half Price Books. I doubt there's any real collector value here, but it's one I'd been hunting for for quite some time, and finding it capped a pretty good day overall, so it has good memories associated with it.

A hardcover copy of The Art of Michael Whelan, picked up for a song from a clearance section at a now-defunct bookstore. It has since been joined by a hardcover version of Michael Whelan's Works of Wonder.

Personalized signed copies of the first four Temeraire books, from a local con. (The first and likely only time I've ever had a personalized book. I didn't even ask for personalization, but she copied it off my nametag anyway. Which I thought was cool... and goes to show what a depressingly low standard for "cool" I have.)

An old, beat-up hardcover The Great Alphabet Race, one of those neat books that hid lots of alphabet-related things in each image, including the international flag symbols (like for sailing ships and whatnot.) Strictly nostalgia.

An old, beat-up copy of Sir Toby Jingle's Beastly Journey. Likewise. (My sister and I could be rough on books; not many survived childhood, but we very much enjoyed reading them.)

A very worn paperback of Tailchaser's Song, sitting alongside worn paperback copies of Tad Williams's Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy. I have better copies of them all, but these are the ones I reread from time to time, so the newer ones last longer. (I have finally gotten my hands on hardcovers of Books 1 and 3 of MSaT, so I suppose I can technically get rid of those. Still haven't found Book 2, nor have I found TC.)

Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time. Also nostalgia, though not so old; something about the sense of wonder James Gurney's images provoke is very inspirational.

Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher, by Bruce Coville. This was the one that got me back into YA titles; being a dragon lover and an amateur artist, it really struck a chord.

The complete run of K. A. Applegate's Animorphs books, including Megamorphs, Alternamorphs, and the various Chronicles. (I also have the complete run of Applegate's Everworld.)

An old dictionary from the 1930's, that my father used in college. It doesn't even have the word "laser" in it...

I also found a personalized signed copy of Magic Kingdom For Sale - SOLD! for a buck in the Half Price Books clearance rack. I've never been able to make out the writing, but it must have meant a lot to somebody at the time. I've always wondered if they meant to sell it off, or if it was someone else clearing out belongings who dumped it. (The book's not bad, but I mostly keep it because of that signature... I keep thinking there's a sad story hiding in that thing, but I haven't found it yet, and I mean to hang onto it until I do.)

A copy of my beloved Grandmother's memoirs.

I was aware she had written them when I was a teenager, but I had assumed they had been lost at some stage.

Years after my Nana's death, my mother had them printed and hard-cover bound and I was given a copy for a special birthday. Such an amazing surprise. I shed a tear or two, both upon receipt of such a precious gift, and also during reading it. Especially my Nana's descriptions of how she met my grandfather, and the story of his death. A real life romance with a tragic end.

I will treasure it always.

The most valuable book in this house is the one we hide money in.

Krelian said:

So, what book is most valuable to you that you own? Now it doesn't have to necessarily be a large monetary value; it could very well be personal value. Which book would you love to own as well? For me, the book I would LOVE to get my hands on (but probably never will) is a signed first edition first printing of Stephen King's Carrie, his debut novel.

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I've "had my hands on" that. I was at an antiquarian book sale, I think late 90s, and one dealer had a table with several signed Stephen King novels. I saw Carrie and had to look (it looked just like the Book Club edition I bought at the thrift store). I opened the cover and indeed it was signed, and it was priced at $1,000. I'm not sure, but that may have been the most expensive book I've ever touched.

Offhand I can think of three books I own that are in the $100 range:

First edition "Atlas Shrugged" without DJ. Its value has about doubled since I got it maybe eight years ago.

"Father of Radio," autobiography of Lee de Forest, inventor of the triode, the first vacuum tube that amplifies - autographed. Trivia: DeForest Kelly, who played Dr. McCoy on the original Star Trek series, was named after him, and they once met.

"How To Write Best Selling Fiction," Dean Koontz, and yes, it was published by Writers Digest.

A book that has a lot of personal value (why is kinda complicated, I'll have to write my memoir...) is:

"The Adventures of A Parapsychologist" currently published as "In Search of The Light" by Susan Blackmore. She did scientific studies and wrote her master's thesis on ESP and other paranormal things, and was surprised to consistently not find anything paranormal.

I think I'd like an autographed set of the latest editions of "The Art of Computer Programming" by Donald Knuth. I first read earlier editions in the college library in the late 1970s, and he' been working on this (still-incomplete) series all this time. Those things sell for college-textbook prices even without being autographed. WHat might be even more valuable is the check for $2.56 he sends to anyone who finds a previously-unknown error in his books.

I have two books that I value more than all the others put together.

My late mother decided to give me a huge party for my fortieth birthday. Lots of friends and relations came and to my delight and surprise I was give lots of book tokens as gifts. I used the bulk of them to get a facsimile First Folio of Shakespeare's works. The book is a delight to me and when ever I open it I remember the party and the relations and friends who gave it to me.

The second book - Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd by Janet Arnold. I had coveted this book for a very long time. Out of the blue I was given a very nice tax rebate - and used some of it to get the book. Janet Arnold was, and still is, an inspiration to me.

Brightdreamer said:

A hardcover copy of Peter Dickinson's The Flight of Dragons, mistakenly underpriced at Half Price Books. I doubt there's any real collector value here, but it's one I'd been hunting for for quite some time, and finding it capped a pretty good day overall, so it has good memories associated with it.

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I have that book! I must have found it about 10 years ago at a book fayre. Its a gorgeous book.

Every. Single. One. Of. Them.

Seriously, they'd have to knock me unconscious and drag me away to be able to take any of my books off me.

However, if you had to twist my arm and list the most valuable ones...

Signed copies of:

American Gods (US hardcover edition)
Various Pratchetts including Good Omens which is a first ed hardcover
David Gemmel Drenai Tales (collection including Legend and Waylander)
Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melnibone in a very old hardback edition with a lovely cover. I actually have many of my Moorcock books signed from the same signing (when I was 16, many years ago) but this one was special and he noted the edition and was pleasantly surprised by it and made sure to personalise that one instead of just scribbling his name.
The graphic novels written by a friend of mine in which I appear as a character
Signed copies of various books written by friends
And, of course, the copies of my own books that I own

I used to own copies of Rob Grant and Doug Naylor's Red Dwarf novels that were signed. Unfortunately, at some point in the last few years, these books vanished somewhere and I have no idea where they went... I still look for them in the darker reaches of the house and really miss them.

LaBelette said:

I got a first edition of Stephen King's Misery. It's not signed, but it's still cool.

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I can think of a rather ironic way to get it signed.

areteus said:

Signed copies of:

Various Pratchetts including Good Omens which is a first ed hardcover

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Um. Can I come over?

My most prized books include various signed copies of Pratchett's books as well...although my all-time favorite, the one book I go back to again and again, would have to be The Art of Discworld by Paul Kidby. Every character looks exactly the way I imagined, down to the last wrinkle. It's not worth much, but I've lost count of the number of times I've fallen asleep with that book in my hands.

ETA: Can't believe I forgot to add this...I actually thought of it and forgot to write it down, but books that were given to me by other people, with handwritten notes inside addressed to me with love...yea, they would be a few of the things I'd grab from a burning building. After my Blackberry.

I have a leather-bound special edition of THE CAINE MUTINY signed by Herman Wouk. It was a Christmas gift from a friend; I practically cried when I opened it.


Oh, and we have a copy of GOOD OMENS signed by Pratchett and Gaiman.

It actually saddens me I can't claim to own any books that might be considered valuable. Maybe some of my ARCs someday. But alas, in the present, no.

I think the book I value most is probably my battered childhood copy of Rosemary Sutcliff's The Eagle of the Ninth. The book I paid most money for is the first Dozois-edited Best New SF from Bluebell Books, pricey only because there aren't that many of them. Altho a friend of mine seriously envies me my signed Norton Book of SF (signed by Le Guin).

I have signed copies of The Light Fantastic and Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett and Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser.

And a battered copy of The Good Earth with this written inside:

Phoebe Perera
X'Mas 1949

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That was my grandmother.

In terms of $$$, I've got a copy of Dean Koontz's How to Write Best Selling Fiction, plus a Wayne Barlowe book that's out of print now, and a lot of mint-condition Fighting Fantasy gamebooks which I collected back in the day. Some of those are going for $50 - $80 on Amazon.

But if the house were burning down and I could only take one book, it would be the leather-bound notebook where I write down names, bits of dialogue, interesting foods, etc. for use in manuscripts.