Selling Secondhand Books
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Selling Secondhand Books

If you have items that you wish to sell, please email us with full details of the items for sale and the price. Please record all faults to avoid misunderstandings. Check our book descriptions page for guidance. Please also say where you are located so we can see if it is possible to collect the books (if there are a lot of them) or if they will need to be posted.

We buy both single items and large collections. Although we prefer to deal by post where practical, if you have a lot of items for sale, we may be able to come and look at them.

You can phone us too on (01329) 517724. Email is better if possible as it is easier to avoid mistakes and we are likely to be able to make a more considered (and generally higher) offer.

We will respond to all requests with either an offer, or a polite refusal if we are not interested.

We buy non-fiction (the more unusual the better) and first edition fiction. We are also about the largest seller of secondhand books by the Folio Society in the UK. As a rule of thumb, we generally offer around £3 a volume for bulk purchases of Folio Society books in nice condition (pro rata for boxed sets) and around £8 each for Easton Press volumes.

We do not want items in poor condition, and we also rarely buy items without dustwrappers (the paper cover) if they were issued with one for anything after about 1930. We also rarely buy paperback fiction books, unless they are paperback originals, i.e. first editions. Paperback non-fiction is of interest though, particularly quality material of a serious or academic nature, rather than layman books. Particular items generally not required are Reader's Digest editions, encyclopedias, book club editions, most fiction reprints, most fiction post-1970, most fiction without dustjackets and most fiction uniform sets (unless leather bound or high quality items). We pay a premium for items in fine condition, particularly children's books, with bright covers, without cover damage and inscriptions.

See our book collecting articles for more information about buying books for resale, and information about particular authors and subjects.

As an example, we are always interested in the following:

Folio Society

All titles. As a very rough price guide, £2-3 for pre-1980 books; £3-4 for later books, and pro rata for sets.

We are always interested in Limited Editions especially the following:

The Surinam Album
The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer
Night Thoughts by Edward Young
Lord of the Rings leather bound limited edition
The Life of St. Edmund, King and Martyr
The Queen Mary Atlas
Morte Darthur
The Luttrell Psalter
The Holkham Bible
Tractatus de herbis. British Library Egerton MS 747
The History and Adventures of the Renowned Don Quixote
The Benedictional of Saint Aethelwold
Ulysses
War and Peace
The Letterpress Shakespeare

Easton Press and Franklin Library

All titles.

Modern First Editions

AMIS, Kingsley pre-1960
AMIS, Martin pre-1980
AUDEN, W.H.
BALLARD, J.G.
BECKETT, Samuel pre-1960
BELLOW, Saul
BETJEMAN, John pre-1960
BOWEN, Elizabeth pre-1940
BURGESS, Anthony - pre 1960
BURROUGHS, William
CHANDLER, Raymond - All titles
CHRISTIE, Agatha pre-1960
DOYLE, Arthur Conan - particularly Sherlock Holmes of course.
FITZGERALD, F. Scott
FLEMING, Ian
FORSTER, E.M.
GREENE, Graham
HEMINGWAY, Ernest
HUXLEY, Aldous
ISHERWOOD, Christopher
JAMES, P.D.
JOYCE, James
KING, Stephen
LARKIN, Philip
LAWRENCE, D.H.
NABOKOV, Vladimir
ORWELL, George
POWELL, Anthony - All titles EXCEPT 'The Fisher King' and 'Oh how the wheel becomes it'. Also any literary criticism about Powell, particularly 'The Dance to the Music of Time' series.
SAYERS, Dorothy
TOLKIEN, J.R.
WAUGH, Evelyn
WELLS, H.G.
WODEHOUSE, P.G.
WOOLF, Virginia

Very Good or Fine copies of most pre-1970 first editions by most popular writers are always considered. Also early reprints in dustwrappers may be of interest.

Non-Fiction

Fine copies in dustwrappers on most subjects, the more obscure the better. For examples, see our non-fiction catalogue below.


Topics sought include the following, but the more unusual the better so if you have books on taxidermy or puppetry please give us a call:

Architecture
Aviation
Ballet
Biography
Books
Erotica
First World War
History
Humour
Literature
Military
Music
Natural History
New Age
Poetry
Politics
Royalty
Second World War
Theatre
Theology
Trains
Travel

Children's

BLYTON, Enid - Secret Seven, Famous Five, Five Find-Outers, 'Adventure' series, 'Mystery' series.
BRENT-DYER, Elinor - All titles, particularly the Chalet School series.
BUCKERIDGE, Anthony - All titles, particularly pre-1960 Jennings.
CROMPTON, Richmal - All William titles.
JOHNS, W.E. - All titles, especially Biggles of course.
RICHARDS, Frank - All titles.
ROWLING, J.K. - first editions in dustwrapper.
SAVILLE, Malcolm - All fiction titles, particularly the Lone Pine series.

GILES Cartoon Annuals

GILES Cartoons (Numbered 1-10, i.e. 1946 to 1956).
GILES 'SPECIAL' - NUJ.

TV and Film

THE AVENGERS - Meet the Avengers Star Special. Will pay £25.
THE AVENGERS ANNUAL - 1967 (Emma Peel cover). Will pay £30.
THE AVENGERS versus The Mohocks (1960s one off UK magazine published by Thorpe and Porter). Will pay £25.
THE AVENGERS NUMBER 1 (1960s one off US magazine published by Goldkey). Will pay £15.
THE AVENGERS TV TIMES SPECIAL 1976 Will Pay £10.

Comics

TV21 - any copies
LADY PENELOPE - any copies
COUNTDOWN - any copies
TV ACTION - any copies
TV TORNADO - any copies
We are always interested in bulk purchases of the above.

Ephemera

THE AVENGERS bookmark silhouette of John Steed and Emma Peel on a playing card from 1960's. Given away free with contemporary paperbacks. Will pay £15.

'It takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature' - Henry James

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selling secondhand books