I HIT THE FUCKING JACKPOT!!!!!!!!!!

[charlie and algernon]

I had time to kill this afteroon and wandered into a used bookstore and found a fucking goldmine. After shelling out a mere 43 bucks, I'm now in possestion of the following treasure

John Steinbeck - Winter of Our Discontent, First edition 1961 (Mint condition)
Ernest Hemingway - For Whom the Bell Tolls, First edition 1940 (great Condition)
Margaret Mitchell, Gone With the Wind, First edition 1936 (Small hole in spine, gold leaf pages)
John Steinbeck - Grapes of Wrath, First edition, 1939 (tape on spine, otherwise great condition)
John Steinbeck - The Moon is Down, First edition, 1942 (Jacket is worn, Book in mint condition)
Robert Penn Warren - All the Kings Men, First edition, 1946 (Great Condition)
Robert Penn Warren - Band of Angels, First edition, 1955 (Mint Condition)


So now I need to find a book dealer to see how much this treasure is actually worth.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

1. Ask RetroLounge.

He runs a bookstore and knows a lot about these things.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. My dear charlie and algernon!

Congrats!

That's just a wonderful find!

First editions...wow.

Hang on to those babies!

:toast:

[realisticphish]

3. holy crap on the steinbeck stuff

although, from working in a rare books library, you'd be surprised how little stuff can go for. Don't get me wrong, you made an incredible deal, but a mint condition first edition steinbeck might only get you 50 bucks :shrug:

i don't know about these particular books, but you can try www.biblio.com . great place for researching prices, we used it all the time for acquiring books for the library

[charlie and algernon]

6. I was fantazing that all told it would be worth a few thousand, lol

but I figured they are worth at least significantly more than the average of 7 bucks each i paid.

[realisticphish]

7. oh yeah

and it all depends on the number of books in the original printing, how many remain, whether anyone wants it at all, etc

[charlie and algernon]

11. well from that website, if the hemmingway really is 1st edition, it's worth over $1,000!!

[realisticphish]

13. sweet

like i said, i had no idea, i was just trying to set the bar low :D

[Aristus]

4. Oh man, first editions...

Can you hear me salivating???

[charlie and algernon]

5. oh if only you could see that store

I could've spent a ton if I had expanded beyond first editions, Mark Twains and Charles Dickensons from the turn of the 20th Century, I was hunting for first editions and was amazed that I found all i did, and there's probably a bunch more I missed, I definitely going back.

[Jamastiene]

8. Oh, wow. I'm actually jealous.

I'd be happy to be able to find the rest of my book collection. I know some of my Steinbeck (paperbacks) are somewhere in storage. My step dad keeps saying that's all of it, but then he brings more in another month or so. We find some here and some there.

The books you are talking about belong with some collectors who can take better care of them than I ever could. Still, I can appreciate what treasures are inside of them. :D

[Lethe]

9. i love book stores like that - and also For Whom the Bell Tolls

because after you read it, you will be saying "I obscenity in the milk of thy mother!" to everyone who pisses you off. (or some variation, substitute as you will)

I went thru a phase. Yeah. :)

edit: also, probably a stupid question, but how do you know if a book is a 1st editon?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

12. I forget the terminology, but there's a page

Where it says what edition it is...

:hi:

[Initech]

10. I hit the jackpot too - I became CEO of Washington Mutual!

[Fire Walk With Me]

14. An actual, genuine bookstore?

Great find..please consider making an anonymous donation to them, of any amount, if you sell the books for big bucks...this dying breed should be reinforced if at all possible...

Sweet!

[charlie and algernon]

17. well if anything, i'll be making another trip to find more books

I didn't even think of checking for non-classics. I want to look for any first editions from golf great Bobby Jones and possibly get some of the Mark Twain books from the turn of the 20th Century.

[charlie and algernon]

15. UPDATE: probably not all true first editions

I've been searching online all day and while all from the first year, they aren't all the first edition/first prints.

Winter of our Discontent, The Moon is Down, All the Kings Men, and Band of Angels are definitely the prized first edition/first prints. I want to see an appraisor, but it looks like the rest are 2nd or third prints from the original year. I had hope that For Whom the Bell Tolls would be the 1st/1st, but it's missing the publishers mark on the copyright page, so at best it may only be a 1st/2nd.

[Whoa_Nelly]

18. have you checked the dealers selling on abebooks?

http://www.abebooks.com

Good resource to make comparative value assumptions.

[bertha katzenengel]

16. Holy shit. Congratulations!

[DeepBlueC]

19. wow, what a great day

I love used bookstores, especially those that have real vintage books, and they are rapidly disappearing. Nothing better than prowling through stacks, and making even one or two finds. Keep something. I'd love to have spent a day like that!!! :hi: