_____SOme really old books on pool/billiards_____

Kot_Bigemot

Kot_Bigemot

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hi guys.
Need some help here. Recently a good friend received few really old books on pool/billiards. Below are pictures of some books. We have a lot more than on pictures :-)
We are trying to get an idea on the value of those books.
Please feel free to post if you know anything about those.
Thanks for your help.
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The following are roughly average selling prices seen on ebay and other auction sites. You might get more or less depending on how patient you are.

$300 Dawson, Practical Billiards, 1904
$170 Stoddard, The Science of Billiards, 1913
$270 Phelan, The Game of Billiards 1858
$350 Phelan, A Manual of The Game of Billiards -- depending on year
-- Byrne, misc, modern ~$5-$10 each
$100-$200 BBCCo, Modern Billiards
$550 White, A Practical Treatise on the Game of Billiards, 1818
$200 Hoppe, Thirty Years of Billiards

If you want to sell some of these I might be interested.
 
Bob Jewett said:
The following are roughly average selling prices seen on ebay and other auction sites. You might get more or less depending on how patient you are.

$300 Dawson, Practical Billiards, 1904
$170 Stoddard, The Science of Billiards, 1913
$270 Phelan, The Game of Billiards 1858
$350 Phelan, A Manual of The Game of Billiards -- depending on year
-- Byrne, misc, modern ~$5-$10 each
$100-$200 BBCCo, Modern Billiards
$550 White, A Practical Treatise on the Game of Billiards, 1818
$200 Hoppe, Thirty Years of Billiards

If you want to sell some of these I might be interested.
Click to expand...
Oh, you mean like this one:
http://m.ebay.com/itm/231211494664?_mwBanner=1
 
Kot_Bigemot said:
Oh, you mean like this one:
http://m.ebay.com/itm/231211494664?_mwBanner=1
Click to expand...
Lots of people put stuff on Ebay at very, very high prices. I only keep track of the prices things sold for. If anyone would like to buy a copy of the book you linked to that has a buy-it-now price of $1333, I'd be glad to let mine go for $600. Or even $500. I'll pay shipping.

The actual sale prices I've seen for "A Manual of the Game of Billiards" are:
$339 January '04
$560 August '05
$344 June '06
$295 August '06
$460 July '08 (VG condition)
$259 August '08
 
greyghost said:
thats top dollar for that book, the one you showed is not in good enough condition to fetch that, binding is busted....and yours the cover is jacked up. I've seen that book go for 1500 but it was pretty darn perfect.

just sayin.

really nice set of books by the way
Click to expand...
Actually my book is in much better condition than the on on eBay.
Thanks, it is a great collection. Best pieces are yet to be posted tomorrow night.
 
Bob Jewett said:
Lots of people put stuff on Ebay at very, very high prices. I only keep track of the prices things sold for. If anyone would like to buy a copy of the book you linked to that has a buy-it-now price of $1333, I'd be glad to let mine go for $600. Or even $500. I'll pay shipping.

The actual sale prices I've seen for "A Manual of the Game of Billiards" are:
$339 January '04
$560 August '05
$344 June '06
$295 August '06
$460 July '08 (VG condition)
$259 August '08
Click to expand...
Interesting. Thanks for the info. I will PM you tomorrow. I did not have time to do any research yet.
 
These books belonged to a pretty serious collector.
The E. White and Phelans have not been cheap for the last 30 years.
Meaning someone had to pay a hefty price for them at one time.
I agree with Bob about the Phelans , they are very collectible but in my 35 years of collecting, I have never seen one sell for any where near 1500 . {most were 300 or 400 range in near condition}
I have seen Phelans "Billiards Without a Master" 1850 sell for 1500 and more , but these are not the same book.
I would be surprised if this isn't what one of the other poster was talking about.
I did not get the other pics but I am looking forward to seeing the rest of the collection.
You may already know this but , do not throw anything away , papers with writing or cards or torn covers etc , it all has value.
Even as ratty as the Hoppe dust jacket is , it is better than no jacket at all!.
If you don't need the money, I would put the collection up until pool takes another resurgence.
The only books selling high that I can think of are the Eddie Robbin books.
 
book collector said:
These books belonged to a pretty serious collector.
The E. White and Phelans have not been cheap for the last 30 years.
Meaning someone had to pay a hefty price for them at one time.
I agree with Bob about the Phelans , they are very collectible but in my 35 years of collecting, I have never seen one sell for any where near 1500 . {most were 300 or 400 range in near condition}
I have seen Phelans "Billiards Without a Master" 1850 sell for 1500 and more , but these are not the same book.
I would be surprised if this isn't what one of the other poster was talking about.
I did not get the other pics but I am looking forward to seeing the rest of the collection.
You may already know this but , do not throw anything away , papers with writing or cards or torn covers etc , it all has value.
Even as ratty as the Hoppe dust jacket is , it is better than no jacket at all!.
If you don't need the money, I would put the collection up until pool takes another resurgence.
The only books selling high that I can think of are the Eddie Robbin books.
Click to expand...

Book Collector, sorry do not know your name.
I was able to take pictures of everything just late last night. I need to edit photos and I will forward them to you tonight or tomorrow morning. I did receive your email address. Thanks.
And yes, these books used to belong to a book collector and a great player. I can not reveal the name here but, will provide all the info in email.
I also did some research and asked some people. So, I think Bob Jewitt is a bit off on price range here :wink: Even though many say that Bob J. and his friend Mike are one of the top guys for books, I think those books are worth a bit more.
And no, I do not need to sell fast or anything like that. I own those books now and I am in no rush to sell. So, if takes me a long time to figure out real value and sell - so be it.
 
Kot_Bigemot said:
... I also did some research and asked some people. So, I think Bob Jewett is a bit off on price range here :wink: Even though many say that Bob J. and his friend Mike are one of the top guys for books, I think those books are worth a bit more. ...
Click to expand...

If you want to test the waters, try putting up some on Ebay with what you feel is a reasonable reserve price. The main problem I see on Ebay is that you need to get lucky with who sees the auction especially for short auctions.

Another route is to contact antiquarian booksellers and send them a list of what you have and ask for offers. They have to make a profit when selling, but they have connections to collectors.

As for outlandish prices, I see a plain copy of "Winning One Pocket" on Ebay with an asking price of $750. That's roughly a factor of 3 from reality. On the other hand a friend of mine got a special collector's edition of Stein and Rubino's "Billiard Encyclopedia" for $25 from someone who didn't know what they had.
 
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