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Robynmarie
Regular Poster
Username: Robynmarie
Post Number: 376
Registered: 04-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2007 - 02:45 pm: | 
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I have been salivating over a first edition, first printing copy of "Native Son" at a bookstore in my home town. It is in perfect condition. The owners want $200. Seems kind of pricey.
I don't know a lot about book collecting, but I love Richard Wright and Native Son is one of my favorite books. |
Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 4069
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2007 - 02:50 pm: |
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If it's worth it to you then get it. I would ask if it's the only first printing/first edition copy in existence. Is $200 the "book value" of the book or is that the price that the owner thinks it's worth? Did the owner witness you "salivating?" Do you think if you wait it out the price will go down? Have you checked eBay? Alibris?
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Urban_scribe
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Urban_scribe
Post Number: 380
Registered: 05-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2007 - 03:22 pm: |
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Native Son is a true classic, and should be required reading. If it is a hardcover first edition, first printing in excellent condition then it's a steal at $200. Treat yourself, girl, then have the book appraised and insured.
It may very well appraise at much more than $200. And if you insure it and maintain the premium payments, should anything ever happen to your "baby" through no negligence of your own, your insurer will have to cut you a check for what the book appraised for, not what you paid for it. Enjoy! |
Robynmarie
Regular Poster
Username: Robynmarie
Post Number: 377
Registered: 04-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2007 - 03:42 pm: |
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Mzuri and Urbanscribe
Yikes! I checked Ebay and a 1st Edition N.S. is selling for $800!! The edition at the bookstore does not look like the one on Ebay, however. The Ebay selection appears to be leather-bound.
I will speak to the owner, who I have not met, about the "book value," etc. Is there any way other than the first few pages of the book that I can tell whether or not it is "authentic"?
Someone told me once that sometimes white folks don't appreciate the value of our art. Could be the case here since it's priced so low.
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Urban_scribe
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Urban_scribe
Post Number: 381
Registered: 05-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2007 - 03:56 pm: |
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Find out the ISBN of the edition you're considering and research that number. Also, if the Ebay auctioneer has listed the ISBN research that one also. They can tell you ANYTHING, but a book's ISBN will speak volumes, pardon the pun. |
Steve_s
Regular Poster
Username: Steve_s
Post Number: 231
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2007 - 04:00 pm: |
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Robynmarie,
Bookfinder lists over 300 copies of "first editions" of Native Son (New York Harpers 1940), varying in condition and priced between 3 dollars and 6,000 dollars.
The prices don't get into the 200 dollar range until page 6. Looking at the most expensive copies, I notice that there are differences among "first edition," for example the most valuable first editions apparently have a dark blue cloth cover while second binding first editions have a gray cloth cover. There are also different dust jackets. Also, because this was a Book of the Month Club selection, some "first editions" have BOMC stamped somewhere on the title page or copyright page.
I don't collect books so I don't have any knowledge of the grading system.
http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl&st=sl&qi=sYbS1hlKKadRvz6ahErJmoaioi0_849 7338159_1:5:21 |
Robynmarie
Regular Poster
Username: Robynmarie
Post Number: 378
Registered: 04-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2007 - 04:12 pm: |
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How do I research an ISBN? Wouldn't all editions have the same ISBN? |
Doberman23
Veteran Poster
Username: Doberman23
Post Number: 893
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2007 - 04:13 pm: |
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soft covers and hardcovers have 2 different isbns |
Robynmarie
Regular Poster
Username: Robynmarie
Post Number: 379
Registered: 04-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2007 - 04:18 pm: |
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^^^thanks. |
Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 4070
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2007 - 04:26 pm: |
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http://www.isbn.org |
Steve_s
Regular Poster
Username: Steve_s
Post Number: 232
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2007 - 04:31 pm: |
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http://www.bookfinder.com/ |
Steve_s
Regular Poster
Username: Steve_s
Post Number: 233
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2007 - 04:37 pm: |
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Native Son (1940) predates ISBN system, created in 1966
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Number
Thanks, good luck |
Robynmarie
Regular Poster
Username: Robynmarie
Post Number: 380
Registered: 04-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2007 - 04:42 pm: |
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Great info, all. Buying this book is more complicated than I thought. I am on my way to the bookseller now. Stay tuned. |
Serenasailor
Veteran Poster
Username: Serenasailor
Post Number: 1432
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2007 - 10:41 pm: |
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Native son is one of the best Black pieces of literature of all time.
Richard Wright was one of the best Black authors of all time!!! |
Robynmarie
Regular Poster
Username: Robynmarie
Post Number: 382
Registered: 04-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 02:03 pm: |
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I bought Native Son. After grilling the bookseller and doing some in-store research to make sure the markings on the book identifying it as a first edition were authentic, I asked the bookseller if she could make a deal.
She paused then, took her pencil and knocked $50 off saying, "I believe this book will go to a good home. I don't think you are just speculating."
I am elated with my investment and learned two lessons: a)the bookseller had no idea about Richard Wright or the significance of Native Son. For her it was just another old book she had among hundreds of thousands
b)Never hurts to ask for a deal
c) I think I have found a new hobby. Just last weekend I picked up a first edition, signed copy of Paradise by Toni Morrison. Cost me $1.
Thanks all for your help. |
Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 4073
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 02:47 pm: |
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Great. I'm glad you're happy and that it worked out for you. 
Could be a new hobby and it could be a very lucrative side business. A friend of mine goes to garage/estate sales, thrift stores, library sales and picks up old books to sell at eBay. He told me of one book that he bought for a couple of bucks that he sold on eBay for $600. I'd pursue bookselling myself except I have so many other things going on.
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Robynmarie
Regular Poster
Username: Robynmarie
Post Number: 383
Registered: 04-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 03:26 pm: |
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^^^
Yep. I will be at the thrift stores and estate sales from now on. |
Jackie
Veteran Poster
Username: Jackie
Post Number: 519
Registered: 04-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 04:04 pm: |
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Robyn, was this book store in Long Beach ? |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 7885
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 06:57 pm: |
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Flea markets and yard sales can be veritable gold mines for somebody who knows what to look out for. Time and time again you hear about people finding objects that turn out to be valuable at these rummage venues. Way back when I, myself, found some early editions of books by Edgar Rice Burroughs (1929) whose most famous work was "Tarzan of the Apes." Where did I find them? In the attic of my parents home after they had died and me and my siblings were disposing of their things in preparation for selling the house. I kept those books for years thinking they would appreciate in value and somehow they got lost or - stolen in the process of moving. |
Robynmarie
Regular Poster
Username: Robynmarie
Post Number: 384
Registered: 04-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 07:55 pm: |
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Jackie-Acres of Books is where I found Native Son. I found the signed Toni Morrison at an estate sale near my home.
Cynique-I always wished I would find some of those hidden treasures. Books are something I understand and enjoy. All that "Antique Roadshow" stuff that turns out to be worth millions, I would mostly likely ignore. LOL. |
Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 4077
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 08:30 pm: |
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Robyn - If you're diligent, you can find old collectible books online at eBay, Half, and some of the other bookseller websites, buy them low and turn right around and sell them back online with better descriptions and more detailed information (at a higher price of course). It may be time-consuming but would be well worth the effort if you know your stuff.
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Robynmarie
Regular Poster
Username: Robynmarie
Post Number: 385
Registered: 04-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 09:22 pm: |
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^^^^ sounds like a great idea to me.
I went looking today...came across a couple of John Grisham first editions. I am not a big JG fan, but when I looked on Ebay, his first book "The Firm" first edition was selling for over $300-unsigned. The Goodwill is selling it for $6. Couldn't believe it. |
Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 4078
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 09:50 pm: |
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I used to do this, but not with books. There is a certain item that the average person isn't familiar with, therefore they tend to misdescribe and miscategorize the things. I used to search for them online, purchase for $10-$20, clean them up, take nice digital pix, describe them accurately and sell them for hundreds of dollars. That was a long time ago before I started pimping furniture 
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Schakspir
Veteran Poster
Username: Schakspir
Post Number: 920
Registered: 12-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 10:23 pm: |
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I do the same with 78s. About a year ago I purchased a New Orleans jazz record from 1921. The record normally brings about $500 to $600 and up, but I got it for $176. I'm glad I did because I have never seen another copy of it. (It is one of the very first records cut by a black New Orleans jazz band, Kid Ory's Sunshine Orchestra.) |
Robynmarie
Regular Poster
Username: Robynmarie
Post Number: 386
Registered: 04-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 19, 2007 - 10:06 am: |
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Mzuri-
can you share your secret as to what items you accurately described that made $$?
78's? I saw a gang of them at the Goodwill. Anyone in particular? |
Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 4080
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 19, 2007 - 10:12 am: |
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Not on this message board, it's a trade secret. I'll see if I can find your e-mail address and I'll send you a note later on today |
Yvettep
Veteran Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 1774
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 19, 2007 - 11:24 am: |
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This is a fascinating conversation. I love to look in the bookstores when I go "antique-ing" but I have always felt too intimidated to actually buy anything for myself. (I have bought books for others as gifts--but based on whether I thought they'd like it and not on any sense of collecting or worth, etc.)
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Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 7888
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 19, 2007 - 12:11 pm: |
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You often hear guys complaining about how their mothers threw away all of their comic books or baseball cards which had they been saved would be valuable now. Well once again in the rec room in the basement of my parents' old house were stacks and stacks of 78 records by such jazz artists as Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Count Basie and Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday et al. My brother took those and he may still have them around somewhere. The problem is that with old 78s I would imagine that they'd have to be in good condition, and because the old ones were made of vinyl instead of plastic, they cracked and scratched very easily. Don't get me started on this subject because so much of what was around me when I was young would be very valuable today but. My mother worked for a movie theater and she would often bring home the cardboard "coming attraction" posters for movies and these items are very sought after today if in good condition. Now the only antique left over from my past is me. And so it goes. |
Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 4081
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 19, 2007 - 12:25 pm: |
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Well, Ms. Cynique, unless you're a car you have to be 100 years old in order to be classified as an antique. So you're not one just yet - you're still vintage |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 7891
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 19, 2007 - 12:52 pm: |
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Yes, Mzuri, I keep telling myself I'm not getting older, I'm getting better. snort. |
Urban_scribe
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Urban_scribe
Post Number: 382
Registered: 05-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 19, 2007 - 01:37 pm: |
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Don't skip the book section at the Salvation Army or Goodwill - they usually don't know the value of the books there, and sell them for next to nothing. Could lead to some great (and profitable) finds. |
Schakspir
Veteran Poster
Username: Schakspir
Post Number: 921
Registered: 12-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 19, 2007 - 03:51 pm: |
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Cynique: You often hear guys complaining about how their mothers threw away all of their comic books or baseball cards which had they been saved would be valuable now. Well once again in the rec room in the basement of my parents' old house were stacks and stacks of 78 records by such jazz artists as Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Count Basie and Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday et al. My brother took those and he may still have them around somewhere. The problem is that with old 78s I would imagine that they'd have to be in good condition, and because the old ones were made of vinyl instead of plastic, they cracked and scratched very easily. Don't get me started on this subject because so much of what was around me when I was young would be very valuable today but. My mother worked for a movie theater and she would often bring home the cardboard "coming attraction" posters for movies and these items are very sought after today if in good condition. Now the only antique left over from my past is me. And so it goes.
Schakspir: My great-grandfather once had all of Bessie Smith's records, and most Ma Raineys. My mother also had stacks of old Wonder Woman comics(in the 40s). All of this stuff was either thrown out or destroyed by my cousins when they were kids in the late fifties/early sixties. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 7900
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 19, 2007 - 04:01 pm: |
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If we knew then, what we know now! |
Robynmarie
Regular Poster
Username: Robynmarie
Post Number: 387
Registered: 04-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 20, 2007 - 09:13 am: |
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True dat^^^
I wish I had held on to my Barbie dolls!! That ••••• is worth hundreds of dollars now!! LOL.
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