Does anyone know about books with no copyright date?

[Trinique_Fire]

The family I'm staying with just received a book of Nathanial Hawthorne's works. The sleeve it's in is tissue paper thin, and there is no copyright date listed or any edition listed. Any idea what this means or if it should be appraised? The pages we think have never been touched, the book really never opened or read....

Any ideas?

 

[Just-Legal]

Get it appraised. Now.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Antiques Roadshow...get it appraised...soonest!

 

[glynndah]

I'd talk to Ogg. He knows books. Okay. He knows everything.

 

[oggbashan]

I've had a first edition of one of Hawthorne's works.

It wasn't very valuable because of its poor condition.

A couple of pictures of the cover and title page would be useful.

Any advertisements, say for other books, in the back?

Og (retired secondhand book-dealer)

 

[glynndah]

I've had a first edition of one of Hawthorne's works.

It wasn't very valuable because of its poor condition.

A couple of pictures of the cover and title page would be useful.

Any advertisements, say for other books, in the back?

Og (retired secondhand book-dealer)

See? I told you.

 

[oggbashan]

A book?

Hawthorne's works should be many volumes - 22, or 13, or 12.

If the book is only one volume of a complete set then it is worth far less than a 1/22 of the full set.

Hawthorne's early (and valuable) books weren't published with his name on them.

Og

Edited for PS: Usually, but not always, no date indicates a late edition by a publisher other than the original. Sometimes it can mean a pirated copy which was very common in the US in the 19th Century - Dickens, Kipling, Conan Doyle and Gilbert and Sullivan all suffered from American pirates.

 

[Trinique_Fire]

More Facts...

This is not a recent book. The paper feels like onion skin or rice paper, or more appropriately, bible paper.

Titled: The Works of Hawthorne

Says Nathanial Hawthorne on the cover, gold embossed.

Published by Blacks Readers Service Company

Published in the USA

It says on the title page "One Volume Edition"

There are SEVERAL books in this one edition.

Scarlet Letter, Twice Told Tales, The Great Champion, Wakefield, The Legends of Province House, The Canturbury Pilgrims, The Snow Image, among many many others are all in this book.

 

[sr71plt]

This is not a recent book. The paper feels like onion skin or rice paper, or more appropriately, bible paper.

Titled: The Works of Hawthorne

Says Nathanial Hawthorne on the cover, gold embossed.

Published by Blacks Readers Service Company

Published in the USA

It says on the title page "One Volume Edition"

There are SEVERAL books in this one edition.

Scarlet Letter, Twice Told Tales, The Great Champion, Wakefield, The Legends of Province House, The Canturbury Pilgrims, The Snow Image, among many many others are all in this book.

Google is your friend (or, not, in this case):

"HAWTHORNE, NATHANIEL The Works of Nathaniel Hawthorne (One Volume Edition)
New York, Black's Readers Service Company. Not Dated. Hard Cover, 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Publishers original red cloth with gilt lettering to front cover and gilt lettering on back panel to spine. Minor shelfwear to cloth on edges, sunned spine, some sunning marks and two small fade spots to back cover. White endpapers, no inscriptions, light offset. 635pp lightly foxed to closed pages otherwise pages clean and bright in firm binding. One volume edition. Includes The Scarlet Letter, Twice Told Tales and The House of the Seven Gables. Very Good/No Jacket.

"Offered for AUD 25.00 = appr. US$ 22.90 by: Eccleston Books & Curios - Book number: 100140"

 

[sr71plt]

Oh, don't bother to thank me. (You'd have paid more than the $22.90 on getting it appraised.)

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Black's Reader Service is a reprinter run by Walter J. Black best known for reprinting Zane Gray, Tolstoy and other classics. Look here --> http://www.zgws.org/black.html

 

[oggbashan]

Bad news...

I found these three copies. They are priced in UK pounds but actually the first one is priced at two dollars plus three dollars shipping:

The Works of Nathaniel Hawthorne One Volume Edition
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Bookseller: Surrounding Impressions
(Salt Lake City, UT, U.S.A.)
Bookseller Rating:
Price: £ 0.98
[Convert Currency]
Quantity: 1 Shipping within U.S.A.:
£ 1.53
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Book Description: Black's Readers Service, 1980. Hardcover. Book Condition: Used: Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Hardcover. Hardcover. Good Condition. Tan Boards with gold gilt. Spine has gold flower and star designs with red square. One Volume Edition. Blacks Readers Service. Ex-library identifier tags. Bookseller Inventory # AD010040403

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2. The Works of Nathaniel Hawthorne One Volume Edition
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Bookseller: e-Book Traders, Inc.
(Tampa, FL, U.S.A.)
Bookseller Rating:
Price: £ 1.06
[Convert Currency]
Quantity: 1 Shipping within U.S.A.:
£ 2.03
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Book Description: Black's Readers Service, 1980. Hardcover. Book Condition: Acceptable. Ships Within 48 Hours - Satisfaction Guaranteed! Some of the inventory may be ex-library. Allow up to 21 days for delivery within the US and up to 30 days for international deliveries. Bookseller Inventory # 110389

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3. The Works of Nathaniel Hawthorne One Volume Edition
Hawthorne,Nathaniel
Bookseller: Pro Quo Books
(Baltimore, MD, U.S.A.)
Bookseller Rating:
Price: £ 1.14
[Convert Currency]
Quantity: 1 Shipping within U.S.A.:
£ 2.04
[Rates & Speeds]

Book Description: Black's Readers Service, 1980. Book Condition: Good. Hardcover. No dust jacket. Binding is tight. Minimal cover wear. Bookseller Inventory # 1858895L471tol

[Bookseller & Payment Information


Og