How much is a first edition of "Brave New World" worth?

Cafe Society
1

Ok, does anyone have any idea how much my first edition of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World is worth? I managed to pick up a copy very cheaply at a book shop, last week and I want to make sure that I really did get a good bargain as think I did.

Description: published by Chatto and Windus (London) in 1932, blue cover, with gold lettering in a reasonable condition, sans dust jacket.

2

Yep. I’m your boy. I collect first editions and have a 1st UK in dj of Brave New World. Congrats on your find!

As for value, I would say probably in the $100- $200ish range. The three biggest factors in valuing books are:

  1. The desire-ability of that particular novel in that particular edition - since BNW is very desirable and the 1932 Chatto and Windus UK edition is the true first (along with a signed limited) you are set there. This all assumes that your book is verifiably a first edition - the copyright page (the back of the title page) should simply say “Published in 1932” with no other statements of publication (I don’t have my copy with me, but that’s what I remember)

  2. Dust-jacket - you probably know this, but dj’s add upwards of 80% more value to a book - why? Scarcity, and they show condition problems sooner, so having a clean dj is that much rarer. Since you lack a dj, that takes the value down quite a bit. 1st UK BNW’s in dj are going for $2,000 - 4,000 these days in top condition.

  3. Condition of the book - little stuff matters. Pages browned or spotted, wear and tear, spine lean or loose binding, previous owner’s signature, a book plate (unless someone famous or a famously-designed bookplate, either of which could add value), etc. - all of these things detract from value.

Hope this helps - also try checking bookfinder.com - the link I am including should be to the search I did for Brave New World…

3

Oh - and when I recommended checking Bookfinder, that was just to get a sense of the range of prices available. You really need to know the actual dealers and their reputations before you trust their descriptions and the prices they are asking. Some of those folks are seriously deluded and/or just trying to fleece you.

4

Does it have the original dust jacket, and is the jacket, as well as the book, in good condition? If not, you’ve got yourself a doorstop.

5

Thanks Worldman, that’s just about how much I guessed it worth, it defintely is a 1932 London first edition, I payed about $40-$50 for it and I was guessing it was worth at least twice that much. I have a reasonable size book collection (mostly non-fiction, but some really interesting books such as a complete 1816 set of Gibbon’s The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and a the complete memoirs of the Captain of Nelson’s flagship at the battle of Traflagar, inscribed by the author who was engaged to one of my ancestors) but all of it was inherited so I’ve got little idea of how much they cost.

6

For Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, published in 1932, first editions by Chatto & Windus, London: How can you tell the different impressions apart? Are there any ‘versions’ which came before the first impression? Is there some historical site where I can find out more? Thanks.

7

Since you called up this 11-year-old zombie thread and also PM’d me, I thought I would share my PM response back to you so anyone else reading this would see it:

You joined the SDMB to ask a question about this? Well, I guess I better be helpful! :wink:

A few quick thoughts:

  • There are rules that most Literature publishers have to note the edition of the book on the copyright page - e.g., it says First Edition, or there is a countdown bar (10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1) with the 1 still there. I don’t recall C&W’s rules, but any good First Edition dealer would be able to tell you.
  • In addition, some Firsts have “issue points” - say, they ran out of binding cloth of one shade and switched do another color in the middle of the first edition, or found and corrected a typo in the middle of the first run. The “First Edition, First State” is more desirable. To my knowledge, Brave New World has no issue points
  • Some books have a Limited edition that accompanies the First. Brave New World DID have Limited editions of both the UK and US editions and those command a premium over their standard Firsts.
  • Go here to look at dealers who are listing online: BookFinder.com: New & Used Books, Rare Books, Textbooks

Best of luck!
WordMan

By the way, I sold my First years ago - no doubt to fund a guitar purchase :wink:

ETA: Hmm, I thought that link would take you to my search results, but it appears to just take you to their search page. Input Author and Title, check the First Edition box, and I dropped in an amount of $1000 in the low-end price range, to weed out the bazillion cheap paperback versions. You still end up with 2 long pages of Firsts to look at…