Has anyone ever had any luck finding rare/valuable/limited edition books in thrift stores? Most used bookstores around here are owned by an individual who usually seem to have a pretty good grasp on what is rare and what isn’t. I’ve had some luck at yard sales, but never at a thrift store. Thanks in advance for sharing your answers and perhaps some of your finds.
I picked up an issue of Fantastic Four #1 in such a place, so it’s certainly possible.
Mosty operators are canny, though. Once the owner of a used-book and -magazine stand at an established flea market realized that people were loooking for rare comics in his stand, he started taking out the rarer ones and charging premium prices for them.
There used to be a Cranky Old Man used-bookshop in my town, where I got two first-edition Douglas Jerrold books (Mrs. Caudle’s Curtain Lectures, 1845, and The Story of a Feather, 1867). I don’t know how valuable they are, but they are delightful books and made me a huge Douglas Jerrold fan!
I found a first edition of Stranger in a Strange Land in a thrift shop for fifty cents
I found first printings of the Grove Press editions of three Henry Miller books side-by-side on the bookshelves of a Goodwill once. Helped that I worked there at the time…
Many many years ago, I found a signed copy of George Takei’s memoir in a used bookstore once for $3-4.
All finds and stories guys, thanks! Keep them coming. I’ll share one of my better finds. I’m not a fan of Hitler ( of course ), and Mein Kampf is about the most boring book I’ve ever read, however I found a copy in a pawn star of the Mein Kampf wedding edition for $10. The guy obviously had no idea what he had as it was in great shape and I paid bottom dollar for a book over $100 in value.
The best I could do was to find the original Ace versions of Lord of the Rings, which are going from $45-$218 on eBay (though mine are not in great condition).
Wow. They go for $218 at the top end? Man, those books aren’t even old.
It makes me sick I can buy a book that is 100+ years old and considered a national treasure for less than I paid for college textbooks.
I found a copy of an old Amazing magazine that had the Kurt Vonnegut story “2BR02B”. In his fiction, that was the work of the hack writer Kilgore Trout. I met Vonnegut at a book fair and he signed it for me. The Red Sox Bill Lee was there as well and he also signed it. Lee was a big Vonnegut fan.
It’s a bit dog eared and I have no idea if it is worth anything.
ETA: “If” magazine
That is awesome. I have the complete Vonnegut collection. None of them are rare, but still cool.
Do you have a copy of “Canary in a cathouse”? I’ve a very old paperback of that one.
I lost my copy of Johnathan Winters’ Winters Tales- Stories For The Unusual. I told this to my Mom, who is great at finding things at flea markets or online. She told me that she couldn’t find a copy for less than IIRC $15.
Then, I found a hardback copy at Goodwill for 33 cents. Then, I found my copy in a box I could have sworn I already checked.
I found a signed copy of So Long and Thanks For All the Fish in a Half-Price bookstore years ago. It was signed, “To Todd, Best Wishes. Douglas Adams”
Bonus- my first name is “Todd”. 
(Years later, I took it to an Adams booksigning. I put it in front of him and explained how I’d gotten it. He signed it, “… And Again, Douglas Adams”.)
I picked up a signed paperback copy of Dying of the Light by George RR Martin at a used bookstore. It’s the first run of the paperback, 1970-something.
I grabbed a *Slaughterhouse Five *first edition at a thrift store that I used to work at. I’m not sure if that’s a big deal or not.
I also managed to find a copy of the first paperback edition of The Dying Earth by Jack Vance. That also might not be a big deal, but man, you can’t find Vance’s books anywhere.
Wedding edition??!?
I have Canary in a Cathouse, yes. It is the hardcover and cost me around $20.00. You can usually find them on amazon but the sometimes do not have them in stock. I have an old, floppy paperback of it as well.
LOL! That was my response too. I called my wife and asked her if she had ever heard of the wedding edition. She said she would look into it and found the value of it online. I’m not sure why in the hell you would ever give that as a wedding present, but lo and behold there it was.
They are asking for that, but who knows if they’ll get it.
Note, too that this was the Ace edition. Ace published the trilogy without Tolkien’s permission because they were in the public domain due to a loophole in the copyright law at the time*. To add insult, Ace didn’t pay him.
SFWA got involved and forced Ace to pay (they claimed they always meant to pay but couldn’t find Tolkien’s address). Tolkien made changes to the edition (adding the maps and glossaries, for instance) so that the book could be copyrighted. If you look at some of the earlier Ballentine paperback editions, there was a note on the back from Tolkien saying that this was the authorized edition, and that out of courtesy, people should only buy this.
The Ace edition sold well, but Ace stopped publishing it once the Ballentine edition came out. It’s value is at least partly due to the story behind it.
*Too many copies were printed in the UK and imported into the US, which put them in the public domain.
I have a Deluxe Edition of The Drawing of The Three that I picked up for $2. I found the original sales receipt inside for $99.99. I got lucky that the box had just come into the store and the owner hadn’t had a chance to sort the books yet. He just waved his hand when I asked the price “Eh, you can have any of them for 2 bucks each”. Score!