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This column helps advise on which kinds of authors to watch out for and which ones to avoid when it comes to reselling. I will be highlighting one author in each Bookologist newsletter that you could look out for in your travels to buy books. Please feel free to write in and disagree with me or give your opinions. Please also email me on my Web site at http://www.camelotonline.net/aboutus.html and nominate authors you think should be included. By working together, we can perhaps compile a good list of authors that would sell well in your book business.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859 -1930)
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has written many books, but none have been burned more into the reader's memory than Sherlock Holmes. Every schoolchild has a hero, whether it is Superman, Spiderman or Wonderwoman. Mine was Sherlock Holmes.
Holmes is perhaps one of literature's most memorable characters, and many versions have been made into television programs and movies. The TV adaptation starring Jeremy Brett made the Holmes books more desirable and created a new legion of fans. This intense media fascination with Sherlock Holmes also makes the books highly collectible and desirable, especially here in Germany. The Holmes novels appear alongside George Orwell on students' reading lists, and people here are fascinated in general with British history and English detective stories. Holmes offers all that and more. Plus Conan Doyle was a Scotsman, which is always a bonus!
Conan Doyle also wrote other books, such as the Professor Challenger stories, Captain of the Polestar, and plays, pamphlets and poetry. But it is Sherlock Holmes that has brought Conan Doyle the most fame and fortune.
The copyright on the books has now expired are freely available on Project Gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.net. However old-fashioned traditionalists ensure that the books will always sell well.
After checking eBay though, I am disappointed, as it doesn't do justice to Doyle and his highly collectible books. There is some scattered bidding on eBay, but knowing that some editions of Doyle's books are worth a lot more, I contacted a private antique book dealer, Angus Robertson, in Edinburgh, Scotland and asked him average selling prices for Sherlock Holmes stories. He told me first editions in excellent condition have been known to fetch thousands of pounds or dollars, but his advice was to avoid eBay for selling these books and instead sell through a venue like AbeBooks, "which has a better chance of attracting serious collectors." When asked to place a value on a First Edition, he replied that it all obviously depends on the condition, but if the book is in excellent condition, it can go for up to $10,000 and maybe a little bit more. A First Edition copy of "A Study in Scarlet," published in 1887, is valued at around $12,000.
Tips
There have been many versions of the Sherlock Holmes books, especially many mass-market versions that are not worth much, so the real value lies in the older versions and First Editions. Avoid eBay when selling books like this and either sell privately through your Web site or use a bookselling site such as AbeBooks. Also watch out for the original "Strand" magazines that serialized the Holmes stories at the beginning of the 20th century. They are also very collectible, but being paper magazines, they are bound to be in bad condition if you track one down.
Related Web Sites
http://www.sherlock-holmes.co.uk
http://www.sherlockian.net
http://www.221bakerstreet.org
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