By Dave McClure and Lynn Getz
If we could provide you with a perfect recipe for book collecting, we would not be writing this article, as we would be luxuriating in the spoils of our ill-gotten gains in some Caribbean hideaway.
Had we the magic crystal ball, we would have bought as many of the following books at the time of publication, and kept them stashed in our attic:
Scuderia Ferrari $99.00, English language version, published 1981, currently $900.00 in very good condition.
OSCA $94.95, only available in Italian, published 1989, currently $300.00 in very good condition.
Ferrari 250LM $29.95, published 1983, English language, currently $300.00 in very good condition.
Lancia Racing $39.95, published 1987, English language, currently $150 in very good condition.
Maserati A Complete History $59.95, published 1980, English language, currently $200.00 in very good condition.
Book collecting, as well as being pleasurable in its own right, obviously can be very profitable, and unlike cars, books need no restoration, maintenance, insurance, or garage. And while we don’t claim to have that crystal ball, we can lay out some very simple and usually effective guidelines which can help you decide if a book may become a collectible money maker.
It should have a title that clearly defines the subject.
Books with titles such as "Great Italian Cars", "Italian Collector
Cars", "Cars of Italy" are unlikely to become future collectibles.
That does
not mean that you should not read or own them, but the subject matter is not
very well defined by the title and there is no indication that the contents
pertain to a particular model or marque. Even specific titles may not
qualify for that elusive desirable or collectible status. For example,
"Great Alfa Romeos" or "Collectible Alfas" would fall into the status of
"readers" but not necessarily "keepers".
Contrast this with what is perhaps one of the best and now most expensive books on Alfa Romeo, Fusi's "Alfa Romeo, All Cars from 1910." (currently valued at about $300). It is much more specific and focused, and in fact it would be difficult to add much to "Alfa Romeo All Cars From 1910" without bordering on redundancy.
It should be focused on a particular model or marque
A good title does not automatically qualify the book as being
desirable but it helps, the next consideration is the subject. For example,
a book having the Alfa Romeo Giulietta as its subject may ultimately be more
desirable than a book dealing with the Alfa Romeo Disco Volante. Why,
because many thousands of Alfa owners have owned a Giulietta but very few
have owned a Disco Volante! Once again, this is not to say that any Alfa
enthusiast would not be interested in the Disco Volante book but they are
more likely to be a purchaser of the Giulietta title.
It should be useful and written by an expert
How "useful" is the book: If the book is one that you constantly refer to,
chances are it is just as useful to a fellow enthusiast. If is accurate, and complete, it was probably written by someone who is recognized as being extremely
knowledgeable on the subject matter. Again, Fusi's"All Cars from 1910" applies here. On the other hand, often the secondary market price of the book has no bearing on its usefulness. We often find ourselves referring to the "Alfa Romeo Buyers Guide" (average used price $10) and "Alfa Romeo All Cars From 1910" and "Alfa Romeo Catalogue Raisione" (average used price $550) in conjunction with each other, as the information in any one of them
compliments the information in the others.
It should be printed in a quantity that is appropriate for its market
audience.
The Law of Supply and Demand still applies. Even though all of the other factors are correct if an author sets out to write a book on the Disco Volante and decides to print 10,000 copies there is every probability that the book will never become a
collectible! At some point the primary market will become saturated and the
author or publisher will start to sell off the balance of the copies in
order to recoup their printing cost. Many of these copies are sold, by
weight, to wholesalers that specialize in "remainders" and the value of the
book plummets to pennies on the dollar as both the primary and the secondary
market become saturated. Collectability and resale value evaporates, as
there are just too many books available for too few buyers.
It should have little or no chance of ever being re-published.
Reprinting of any desirable or collectible book is
always a possibility. Books to be cautious of are those that are "owned" by
the publisher. This ownership can take the form of outright ownership or it
may be that the author sold the "rights" to the publisher. Most authors are
fairly accessible people and you always contact them and ask that question.
However, there are no guarantees, as the author can always change his or her
mind at some later date! If you are fortunate enough to get the publisher to
answer the question it often includes an explanation. For example, we
recently asked Stefano Nada of Giorgio Nada Editore if there was any
possibility of "Osca La Rivincita Dei Maserati" being reprinted and his
response was that the fee for the rights to republish the images was too
high for them to ever justify re-publication. So there you have it, a
focused, usable book, by respected and knowledgeable co-authors, that has little to
no chance of being republished, an instant collectible!
Binding
Surprisingly, the type of binding has little or no bearing on the
books future status.
There are many softbound books that qualify as
desirable or collectibles. A good example here is your editor's book entitled "The Illustrated Abarth Buyer's Guide", which originally sold for $17.95. Today, an original MBI print in excellent condition is worth about $60.00.
Condition & Dust Jacket
Well, we don't have to say much about this
topic! The book that is in "as new, unread" condition in an "as new" dust
jacket will always be more desirable and worth more than a copy of the same
title in "poor" condition, regardless of the content or collectability.
In conclusion there is no secret sauce, no magic potion, just the answer to
a simple question "Would another fellow enthusiast find this book as
desirable as I do?" If the answer is "yes" then you have a book that is
potentially collectible or at very least easily re-sold when you need to
finance that "barn find" that you cannot possibly live without!
