Author Topic: Two Books from 16th  (Read 2924 times)

st3fan

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Two Books from 16th
« on: June 23, 2010, 12:47:44 pm »
Hello,
So a while ago in my Grandmothers house i found some books from 1600. And Im wondering what is the worth of them?. Both of them got skin cover.

Book nr one is from 1693
http://img717.imageshack.us/i/21062010026.jpg/
http://img705.imageshack.us/i/21062010027.jpg/
http://img526.imageshack.us/i/21062010028.jpg/

Book nr two is from 1686
http://img413.imageshack.us/i/21062010029.jpg/
http://img203.imageshack.us/i/21062010030.jpg/
http://img684.imageshack.us/i/21062010031.jpg/

Sorry for my English
Stefan.

hosman321

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Re: Two Books from 16th
« Reply #1 on: June 23, 2010, 01:07:11 pm »
Wow, those are amazing books! I am not an expert but we do have a book guy on the forum that should know more. They look like they are in great condition for their age. They are probably worth a good amount of money. For one singlesheet newspaper from the 1600's I usually pay about $50. Hopefully someone here can give you a better idea. I know that with books, the subject of the book makes a very big difference. Not just the age of the book. Good luck!
By the way, your English is great!

sapphire

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Re: Two Books from 16th
« Reply #2 on: June 23, 2010, 01:10:47 pm »
Have to agree.....amazing! both the age and condition.  Also not one familiar with books, but would advise that the less you handle them the better.  Oil, dust and debris from hands can be very damaging.......but these have certainly survived the years in beautiful shape.

You'll have more knowledgeable responses in time.   ;)

talesofthesevenseas

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Re: Two Books from 16th
« Reply #3 on: June 23, 2010, 01:24:37 pm »
Double wow!! The condition is amazing! I do not know much about old manuscripts like this, other than that the parchment that I believe was most common in England at that time would mean that your books are probably printed on calf skin vellum. Here's some info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parchment

I always think it is neat to see the old English like this where the second "s" in a word is written like an "f". SO old and so VERY cool!! Looking forward to Skinny's comments on this!
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luxetveritas

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Re: Two Books from 16th
« Reply #4 on: June 23, 2010, 01:26:29 pm »
Nice books, good condition. Both volumes are worth a few hundred dollars a piece, and I believe both bindings are the originals. They are similar to 17th century books I have.

st3fan

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Re: Two Books from 16th
« Reply #5 on: June 23, 2010, 01:27:04 pm »
Thank you for all replays so far,
Both of them got like 300 pages i think

Skinny

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Re: Two Books from 16th
« Reply #6 on: June 23, 2010, 07:47:10 pm »
Fantastic books in great condition! The first one lists for around sixteen hundred dollars on ABE, couldn't find the second one. A quick sale on Ebay (for example) may or may not gross you that much money, but easily sold for several hundred dollars apiece at the least, as Lux said. The binding is leather, with some blindstamping on the covers, which is always nice. You've got to love the quality with which these old books were made. Nice strong joints reinforced with cords that have kept the covers attached all these years, and good old rag paper that looks just as white as it did three hundred years ago.

regularjoe2

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Re: Two Books from 16th
« Reply #7 on: June 23, 2010, 10:01:56 pm »
Nice couple of books , st3fan .

I'm guessing that your grandma was a book/antique collector ?

Perhaps other family members might know how these books came to be in your grannys' house .

Since you're concerned about the value of your items , sometimes knowing the history of an item will increase its' value (provenance) .

Thanks for posting them & welcome to the forum !

talesofthesevenseas

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Re: Two Books from 16th
« Reply #8 on: June 23, 2010, 11:39:57 pm »
Thanks for correcting me on the paper Skinny!  ;D
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KC

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Re: Two Books from 16th
« Reply #9 on: June 24, 2010, 11:06:14 am »
Unusually great condition!  Nice find!
I'm from the South - but please don't mistake my Southern Manners/Accent/Charm as a weakness!

luxetveritas

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Re: Two Books from 16th
« Reply #10 on: June 24, 2010, 11:45:51 am »
St3fan, you might find this site interesting: www.liveauctioneers .com

Usually I get values for books from there, as it actually shows the prices (after signing up for free) that things have sold for recently. Unfortunately, I didn't find either of your books, but since they're law books I guessed a few hundred a piece of ebay. Skinny's estimate is probably much more accurate, but a lot of sellers on abe have really inflated prices.

Good luck with whatever else you might find!

st3fan

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Re: Two Books from 16th
« Reply #11 on: June 24, 2010, 12:35:59 pm »
Thank you for all your Replays and Help, i found it realy usefull.
Im base in U.K, and my grandma house was in fire and i found only this two books in goos condition.
If anyone could spend 15 min for me and comy my post and post it on other U.K forum that would be great. (I'm asking you because in 5 min i have to got to airport, and will be back online in apox 3 days :().

Sorry for my English
And many Thanks!
Stefan