Rare and Valuable Books

That you might find in your bookshelf, attic or at a used bookshop
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Recently, I was trying to figure out if some old books I found were worth any money. During my research I found some not-very-old books that are worth a suprizing amount of cash. Below I have listed a few that caught my eye, either because I have seen/owned/remember them from my childhood, or think it's spiffy that they are worth so much.

Now I keep an eye out at garage sales and second hand stores for such books, perhaps you should too. Hope you get lucky and own (or find) one of the following:

Book: The Catcher in the Rye
Author: JD Salinger
Description: 1st edition, 1st printing 1951. Published by Boston: Little, Brown.
Estimated Value: $2600 - $5000+

Description: Value is muchly determined by condition. One with the dust jacket in good condition will fetch a great price.

Similar Valuable Books:
Same as above but 1st edition, 2nd and 3rd printings valued between $100 - $300.

Book: The Hobbit
Author: JRR Tolkien
Description: 1937 (UK) 1st edition, first printing
Estimated Value: $3500+

Similar Valuable Books:

A Northern Venture - 1923. 1st edition. - $3000+
(Almost all 1st edtion books by Tolkien are fetching a good price in auctions).

Book: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (U.K.)
Author: JR Rowling
Description: 1st Edition, 1st Printing. Published by Bloomsbury, July 1997. ISBN: 0-7475-3269-9
Estimated Value: $3500+
Signed = $10,000+
(An unsigned copy is listed on eBay for $25,000, at the time this article is published. Yikes!)

Notes: Numbers: 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 on the copyright page. Issued without a dustwrapper. Laminated pictorial boards (not bound in cloth )- shiny-ish illustrated covers by Thomas Taylor. Only 500 of these books were published, and mostly shipped to the U.K. Library system. Very rare find.

Book: The Cat In The Hat
Author: Dr. Suess
Description: 1957, published by Random House. 1st Edition, 1st Printing (2nd and 3rd printings are valauble too).
Estimated Value: $1900 - $6000

Similar Valuable Books: Green Eggs And Ham by Dr Suess. 1960. First edition, first printing. Value: $300.
Same, but with the rare 50 Word vocabulary sticker on the front of dust jacket, and not price clipped... up to $4000.

Book: East of Eden
Author: John Steinbeck
Description: 1st. Edition, 1st Printing. Published by New York: Viking, 1952.
Estimated Value: $1500 - $2000

Similar Valuable Books: Cannery Row - John Steinbeck, 1st Edition, 1st Printing - $100-200

Book: The Hunt for Red October
Author: Tom Clancy
Description: 1st Edition, 1st Printing. 1984. Hardcover with jacket. Back cover has 6 review blurbs. No price on jacket.
Estimated Value: $300 - $1000

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