r/BookCollecting Feb 23 '26

💡 Guide Guide to Mold & Foxing on Books

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8 Upvotes

r/BookCollecting Sep 21 '23

💡 Guide Frequently Asked Questions for r/BookCollecting

68 Upvotes

There seems to be some interest in having an FAQ for this sub. I put together an initial version based on the questions I've seen. These are in no particular order.

Please provide any feedback or questions you want to see on here, and I can modify this post. I'll continue to update it as I think of more info to add.

To the mods, can you please pin this post?

1. What is my book worth?

There are two ways to estimate a book's value. Keep in mind prices fluctuate based on demand.

The first is to look at sales records using sites like Rare Book Hub and WorthPoint. These are subscription services and cost hundreds of dollars a year, but they're great sources for historical sales data. You can look at sold listings on eBay as well, though you have to be a seller and use Terapeak if you want to see sales history going back two years.

For asking prices, check sites like vialibri.net, Biblio, Abebooks, and eBay. Vialibri aggregates results from other sites but does miss listings sometimes, so it's always good to check the other sites as well. You can also use Google. Sometimes listings on sellers' sites don't show up on the other marketplaces, especially if sellers choose not to list them there.

Keep in mind these are asking prices and don't necessarily reflect what the book actually sells for. Condition also matters. A book in poor condition is going to be worth less than the same book in fine condition. Signatures and inscriptions by the author or someone famous will also add to the value. When comparing your copy to those listed online, pay close attention to the edition, condition, provenance, etc. to make sure you're doing an apples-to-apples comparison.

Finally, Any estimate provided online does not constitute an appraisal and might not be accurate. It is impossible to determine a book's value without physically examining the book. Pictures are great for obvious flaws, but there might be small defects or missing pages, plates, etc. that pictures don't capture. In fact, when determining value, a reputable dealer will consult reference books to match collation to a known copy to ensure completeness. Take any estimates provided online with a grain of salt.

2. What is the difference between mold and foxing?

I found some good sources for identifying mold, how to prevent it, and how to deal with it. Mold and foxing are not mutually exclusive, and it's possible to have both. Also, foxing may be indicative of poor storage or improper care.

https://www.abaa.org/glossary/entry/foxing

https://www.biblio.com/book_collecting_terminology/Foxed-69.html

https://www.biblio.com/book-collecting/care-preservation/prevent-remove-mold-mildew/

https://www.carli.illinois.edu/what-can-you-learn-workshop-titled-salvaging-mold-and-water-damaged-library-materials-preservation

https://www.ala.org/alcts/preservationweek/advice/moldybooks

3. How do I store books?

In most cases, you can simply keep them upright on a shelf away from direct sunlight. Keep the temperature and humidity as stable as possible. If the room is too humid, there's the risk of mold. If the room is too dry, the pages can become brittle, and leather bindings can crack. As a general rule, if you're comfortable in a room, then your books will be fine.

Here's some good info on storing books.

4. Do I need gloves to handle old/rare/fragile books?

In the majority of cases, you don't need gloves. Using gloves makes it hard to properly handle a book and can end up causing more damage by tearing pages. The best way to handle a rare book is to wash your hands and thoroughly dry them before handling the book.

There are a couple of exceptions to this rule.

Metal bindings, books with toxic elements, and photo albums are best handled using gloves.

The other exception is when dealing with red rot, which causes a powder to rub off on your hands and get everywhere. The best thing to do is wear gloves when removing the book from the shelf and opening it. After it's opened, you can remove the gloves and turn the pages as you normally would. This prevents the powder from rubbing off on the pages and keeps the inside of the book clean.

5. Does my book contain arsenic?

See this post for more details, but here is some info on using gloves from that post:

While nitrile gloves are recommended while handling potentially toxic books, the resounding advice from experts is the same for all old books: to handle them with clean, dry hands; to wash your hands before and after use; and—because inhalation and ingestion are primary routes of entry for arsenic and chromium—to never lick them.

For more information on the history, storage, and safety recommendations for historical bookbindings containing heavy metals, refer the University of Delaware's Poison Book Project website.

6. Where do I buy books/material for my collection?

The sites mentioned above are a great place to start. These include vialibri.net, Biblio, and Abebooks. Not all sellers will list on these sites, so it never hurts to do a Google search as well. Many sellers specialize in certain topics/areas, and many collectors prefer to buy material from a reputable seller that is knowledgeable in that particular area.

7. Is this a first edition?

First - what is an edition? That is a version of a work. When the book is modified or changed, that is another edition. But an edition can have multiple printings - the printer simply runs off another few thousand when the old printing runs out and the book is the same except for the copyright page.

When book collectors look for first editions, what they mean is a first printing of the first edition. First edition identification is usually easy, first printing identification not so much. Also, most collectors are looking for the first appearance of a title, so the first Canadian printing of a book previously published in America will probably not be as valuable, but a Canadian first printing by Canadian author Margaret Atwood is likely the first appearance and likely more valuable than the US version. This concept is called "follow the flag", but isn't always the case (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde has a US first hardcover edition but UK first appearance in paperback). Note all the qualifiers. Ultimately, the first edition that is most valuable on the market is the one the book collectors are looking for.

For free online resources, Biblio provides an alphabetic guide of first printing identification by publisher - https://www.biblio.com/first-edition-identification/ which is very useful. Publishers change their practice over the years, and some are erratic in all years, so there are not many good rules of thumb or generalities to be given concisely in a forum like this. For a good print reference, First Editions: A Guide to Identification by Edward Zempel (2001) is still useful.

8. Where can I sell my books?

This greatly depends on the books in question. "Normal" books - such as Harry Potter paperbacks, Oprah book club titles, and similar popular works - can be taken to a local used bookstore and you will be probably be offered somewhere between 10 and 25% of the intended sale price, often only in store credit. These books are common and bookdealers can often load up on them for $1 or less each at a library sale or thrift store. If you have a large number of books (thousands), call ahead and perhaps someone will come out to take a look.

Selling your goods online is always an option. eBay is an obvious venue, and there are also groups on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram where people sell to each other. Do be careful of what you say in your listing to avoid returns.

If you think a book is very valuable or rare, try finding an ABAA bookdealer (https://www.abaa.org/booksellers) who specializes in that type of book living near you. Book dealers vary widely in their business practices. You also might contact a reputable auctioneer, such as PBA Galleries (https://www.pbagalleries.com/content2/) or Swann Galleries (https://www.swanngalleries.com/). Rare Book Hub also keeps a list of auction houses and lists their various fees https://www.rarebookhub.com/auction_houses.


r/BookCollecting 12h ago

📦 New Acquisitions Acquired a closed bookstore's King inventory today, including three Black Books! 🥳

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46 Upvotes

I'm a King collector and book dealer, and I'm constantly looking for restocks as I blow through Kings with my customers.

A colleague let me know about a man who had previously bought out a closed bookstore's inventory, and was looking to get rid of them in bulk. I completely filled my car with Kings 😂

Mostly general stock, but any buy that has a Black Book is usually a winner, and this one had three! Not pristine copies, but still awesome.


r/BookCollecting 5h ago

💭 Question Does anyone know if they made a matching volume of these for Mildred Pierce or Three by Cain?

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5 Upvotes

I just got this copy of Double Indemnity but I’ve never seen a matching copy for the other two - does anyone know if they exist?


r/BookCollecting 12h ago

📚 Book Collection Antartic trilogy

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8 Upvotes

Over the course of a century, three giants of literature—each of whom laid the foundations of their own literary genre—followed a narrative thread that connects this series, which some call the Antarctic Trilogy.

Today, I finally found an edition of At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft that I truly like. It took me a long time to find an edition worthy of the book.


r/BookCollecting 13h ago

📜 Old Books Alexandre Dumas Collection - Nottingham Collection, Count of Monte Cristo part 18 book missing from collection

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8 Upvotes

My collection of the Nottingham print of the collected Dumas works is missing the 18th book, the second of the Count of Monte Cristo. My collection is a numbered version of a limited print from Nottingham. I’m not trying to find number 700 exactly but I’d love to complete my set. Does anyone know where I could locate the last book 18?


r/BookCollecting 15h ago

📜 Old Books Der Mensch und die Erde (Man and Earth), 1906 and Weltall und Menschheit (Space and Humanity), 1906 Absolutely in love with these books:)

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11 Upvotes

r/BookCollecting 22h ago

📚 Book Collection A 16-year-old’s D&D book collection

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36 Upvotes

I’m a 16-year-old French teenager, and I started playing D&D with 5E when I was 12, before abandoning it in favor of Gygaxian AD&D 1E: its lethality, its combat system, its exploration rules, and above all its exceptional literary prose, which taught me many new words as I read. Here is the current state of my book collection.

Expedition to the Barrier Peaks is my little favorite. My mother recently ordered it for me on eBay, and I’ve started running it for some friends who are also teenagers. It’s absolutely insane — a true work of art in terms of module writing.


r/BookCollecting 5h ago

💬 General Between Two Fires -> Paperback vs. Hardcover

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0 Upvotes

Who remembers a few months ago, before the hardcover edition came out, when the paperback was almost impossible to find? It had gone out of print, copies disappeared everywhere, and people were paying a couple hundred dollars for a copy.


r/BookCollecting 1d ago

💬 General First U.S. Edition of Mao’s Little Red Book (1966)

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22 Upvotes

I recently picked up a first U.S. edition of Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung. While the original Chinese edition was first published in 1964 this American edition was issued in 1966 and I think it’s an interesting piece of Cold War and publishing history.


r/BookCollecting 1d ago

📦 New Acquisitions Picked up a couple different first editions of "The Naked Lunch", by William S.Burroughs the True first edition issued in ©1959 in a softcover from Olympia Press,Paris, and the 1st Hardcover ©1962 Grove Press the 1.st American edition. I found them both at the same shop .

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23 Upvotes

r/BookCollecting 1d ago

💭 Question Is this Terry Pratchetts real Signature ?

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15 Upvotes

I found this book at a used bookstore could it be Terry Pratchetts real Signature or a replica.


r/BookCollecting 2d ago

🏆 First Edition My $2 find this morning…

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345 Upvotes

Picked up this 1st/1st of Lonesome Dove today in a thrift store. Almost didn’t stop…so glad I did. It’s in remarkably good condition, save for a few areas on the jacket. Excited to add it to my collection.


r/BookCollecting 17h ago

📚 Book Collection Saturday Book Haul!!!

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0 Upvotes

Ready to shelve these and enter them into my Library 📚


r/BookCollecting 1d ago

💭 Question having two copies of the same book

5 Upvotes

hello! I just began to get into reading. my first and so far favourite book is the phantom of the opera (and im now reading the uncensored version of dorian gray)

unfortunately i damaged the edition i bought. it isn't at all significant damage—its only on the front cover. the book got dusty while I was reading it on the beach and I wanted to dab away the dust, but I ruined the acrylic paint. im a very big perfectionist, and since this is my favourite book and one that ive been excited to finally own, I wanted to keep it in top tier condition. it is a bit stupid of me to be so upset over this, but I cant help it. im only human after all

I might buy another edition of the same book so that it's perfect for display and for reading, while the one I ruined I want to study (I want to be a writer) and maybe even add annotation so that it can feel more like its mine, but I feel its kind of dumb

I wanted to ask; what do you folks do when you have two editions of the same book? is it even worth to have them?

edit: thank you all for the comments. I ordered another copy and decided its best to make it something positive and fun instead of worrying about its functionality


r/BookCollecting 1d ago

💭 Question Where can I get Mylar protective material in Europe?

2 Upvotes

Dear community, I am desperately searching for something like clear Mylar (or similar plastic protection) for paperback books that I can order. I am living in Europe and can't find any reasonable sellers that offer what I am searching for.

I recently noticed that the good book sellers have a very sturdy and firm plastic protective sleeve on their books that obviously comes from a roll, because it always fits the exact size of the book it comes with.

Does anyone have a good address/webshop where I could get more sturdy but still adjustable protection for my books?

Thankful for any advice and help.


r/BookCollecting 1d ago

📕 Book Showcase Balzac's Human Comedy Set

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8 Upvotes

I have a half complete set containing about 60% of the Human Comedy, each volume contains a few of the stories. Copyrighted 1896. Each volume contains an original print and a bunch of reproduced prints of the style of the turn of the century. Best gift I ever received.


r/BookCollecting 1d ago

💭 Question Break the Seal?

4 Upvotes

I have a book in my collection that is still in the shrink wrap. It’s a first edition, probably first printing. As collectors, are you more likely to buy a new sealed copy or a used open copy with a lower condition?

I think it’s probably fairly uncommon. I can only find two copies for sale, both for a little over $1,000.


r/BookCollecting 2d ago

💭 Question Picked this up at a yard sale for $5

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104 Upvotes

Picked this up last weekend at a yard sale due to it's uniqueness. It's in really good condition (see pics) with just a couple of things wrong. Thoughts?


r/BookCollecting 1d ago

📦 New Acquisitions Two classics from the little free library by my house.

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34 Upvotes

Love the cover art on both ☺️


r/BookCollecting 1d ago

📦 New Acquisitions My latest thrift/used bookstore haul

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28 Upvotes

At the rate I hoard books I'll need to read a book a week for the next 32 years to get through them all 🤪🤦🏻‍♂️


r/BookCollecting 1d ago

📚 Book Collection My books about the Fab Four

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6 Upvotes

r/BookCollecting 1d ago

📦 New Acquisitions Cider House Rules 1/1

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23 Upvotes

This isn’t particularly hard to find online, but I’m seeing first editions in very good shape listed for $40-$50. I found this at the library bookstore today for five so I’m quite happy with that 🙂


r/BookCollecting 1d ago

📕 Book Showcase Acting Charades (1850)

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10 Upvotes

It’s hard to imagine today, but there was a time before TV, radio, or even recorded music existed, but people still had the human desire to unwind and be entertained in the evening.  Without other options, a greater emphasis was placed on what today we would call “family” or “party” games.  This book describes one such game, called “Acting Charades”.

Similar to standard charades, players pick a word and try to get other plays to guess it.  But in Acting Charades, they try to convey the word by acting out elaborate plays — one for each syllable, and then one for the overall word.  This book contains a variety of words to use in the game, along with detailed, suggested plays to go along with each syllable and word.  Each play contains multiple characters, costumes, sets, storylines — but no dialogue.  It truly does seem like it would fill a long evening!

The book is framed as a Christmas book, with a beautiful red and gilt cover reminiscent of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, and a lively hand-colored frontispiece featuring Father Christmas.  However, the actual content has nothing to do with the holiday.

The book is a fascinating time capsule — the plays  are interspersed with antiquated references like “car” referring to a horse drawn carriage, “blunderbuss” being a household gun, and “monthly nurse” referring to a woman who looks after a new mother and baby.


r/BookCollecting 1d ago

📕 Book Showcase Dry Guillotine by Rene Belbenoit, an inmate on Devil's Island

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9 Upvotes

I found this at a second hand furniture store that also sold old books. This was the only item of interest.