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Does anyone on BirdForum collect this series of books published by Collins?

I recently acquired a few of the less sought after titles and I'm now considering building up a collection of fine 1st editions.

Any advice?
 
tom mckinney said:
Does anyone on BirdForum collect this series of books published by Collins?

I recently acquired a few of the less sought after titles and I'm now considering building up a collection of fine 1st editions.

Any advice?
Click to expand...

Then you better phone the bank manager, Tom...or sell your house! Their are lots of available 1 first ed's out there but they cost a fortune. Just take a look at the going price of Pipits and Wagtails.

Just wish I had bought half a dozen copies!

Good luck
JB
 
I actually thought Larks, Pipits and Wagtails was quite cheap compared to titles like Orkney and The Hebrides!

I was told that a good full set would be about £11,000. Obviously I don't have that much money to shell out in one go and I'm not expecting to get them all overnight, but what I'd like to know is the titles that are currently going cheap but soon expected to jump up in price...

Tom
 
tom mckinney said:
I actually thought Larks, Pipits and Wagtails was quite cheap compared to titles like Orkney and The Hebrides!

I was told that a good full set would be about £11,000. Obviously I don't have that much money to shell out in one go and I'm not expecting to get them all overnight, but what I'd like to know is the titles that are currently going cheap but soon expected to jump up in price...

Tom
Click to expand...

Larks, Pipits and Wagtails fetches about £300 for a first edition. A mint copy of the first impression of the first edition of British Warblers is fabulously expensive. Watch out for the second pressing of this book. It is a hardback, first edition, but is not as valuable as the first impression. Its is still expensive, e.g. £350 but the binding is slightly different.
 
trealawboy said:
Larks, Pipits and Wagtails fetches about £300 for a first edition. A mint copy of the first impression of the first edition of British Warblers is fabulously expensive. Watch out for the second pressing of this book. It is a hardback, first edition, but is not as valuable as the first impression. Its is still expensive, e.g. £350 but the binding is slightly different.
Click to expand...

If you can get me a 1st edition of L P and W for £350.00, I'll have two. The last first edition I saw last week was well over £1,200.

JB.
 
tom mckinney said:
I actually thought Larks, Pipits and Wagtails was quite cheap compared to titles like Orkney and The Hebrides!

I was told that a good full set would be about £11,000. Obviously I don't have that much money to shell out in one go and I'm not expecting to get them all overnight, but what I'd like to know is the titles that are currently going cheap but soon expected to jump up in price...

Tom
Click to expand...
Tom all 1st edition books need to be in mint condition, with dust cover, if they are going cheap think twice, always worth checking out but be carefull! you could lose a lot of money. The odd car boot-second hand shops never to be passed, there are still some bargains out there, good luck.
 
john barclay said:
If you can get me a 1st edition of L P and W for £350.00, I'll have two. The last first edition I saw last week was well over £1,200.

JB.
Click to expand...

Or perhaps I am thinking of Warblers. I know The Natural History of Orkney is a ridiculous price!...Birdnet have it at £1,750.00.

JB.
 
Perhaps this is where I tell you thatI bought a mint copy of the first HBK print of Warblers in a booksale for :-















75p!!!!!

(I also had 2 copies of Larks Pipits & Wagtails, but I made a killing selling one of those)

Darrell
 
Oh, cheers Darrell. Kick a man when he's down, eh?

:)

I've got a very nice copy of British Thrushes, but I was recently told by a hardened collector that it was "dross"!!!
 
Must admit i never see the point of mint first editions. Give me a battered covers-falling-off tobacco and coffee-stained wreck any day. At least it's been read, and I won't feel bad about stuffing it in my bag for the bus to work. And it's cheaper that way.
 
Darrell Clegg said:
Perhaps this is where I tell you thatI bought a mint copy of the first HBK print of Warblers in a booksale for :-















75p!!!!!

(I also had 2 copies of Larks Pipits & Wagtails, but I made a killing selling one of those)

Darrell
Click to expand...

That's made us all feel a lot better.


Cheers Darrell.
 
tom mckinney said:
Does anyone on BirdForum collect this series of books published by Collins?

I recently acquired a few of the less sought after titles and I'm now considering building up a collection of fine 1st editions.

Any advice?
Click to expand...

I have to say that I have a copy of the monograph of the Yellow Wagtail in new condition and unread.

It's not worth a fortune but it's just nice to own. I also have Bannermans, Birds of Tropical West Africa, in new condition (1953 ) I think; just nice to own and dip in to.

JB.
 
tom mckinney said:
Does anyone on BirdForum collect this series of books published by Collins?

I recently acquired a few of the less sought after titles and I'm now considering building up a collection of fine 1st editions.

Any advice?
Click to expand...

Seriously Tom - apart from the odd 75p bargain, my advice would be to collect the latest ones as they come out. Even very recent ones such as "Moths" or "The Broads" have appreciated and they are only a couple of years old.

The really expensive ones are the ones from the early 80's- 90's I believe the print runs were only 1,500 so they are highly sought after - hence the prices.

Conversely some of the very early ones - i.e no.1 Butterflies, is fairly common so you can often pick it up at a reasonable price

Keep away from the natural history book shops - they know what the books are worth. Instead try any and every general second hand and charity shop - much more likely to find a goodie - sometimes for as little as 75p!!!!!

Ebay is another source, but again collectors determine the price and they often sell for little less than in a specialist bookshop.


Hope this helps

Darrell
 
Tom,

About the £11,000... I can lend you the three zeros, ask J. B. if he can lend you the two ones!!!!!!!!

S. G.
 
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