Is this book worth keeping?

Cafe Society
1

I have “inherited” a book called Uncle Charlie’s Poems: Mirthful and Otherwise, by Charles Noel Douglas. It has a copyright date of 1906, by J. S. Ogilvie Publishing Company.

It is signed “With the Author’s love, Chas Noel Douglas.”

So what do you think? Is this book worth keeping?

In the preface he says,

2

Get the book appraised to see if there is any value to such an old book. If not, you could probably try to sell it to a bookstore, or a pawn shop.

3

If you enjoy it, it’s worth keeping.

4

check out http://used.addall.com or http://www.bookfinder.com to look up the book - it appears to be listed for $20 - $70 bucks as a first edition, which you do not indicate…what is curious is that you list the publishing date as 1906, but all of the other listings on addall.com are for 1913 and list the publishing city as Brooklyn. You don’t indicate it, but I wonder if Olgilvie is a UK-based publisher. If so, then you may have the “true first edition” (as opposed to the first US, from Brooklyn).

I am not familiar with this title, but typically a true first carries a premium over other firsts; the size of the premium can vary based on the desireability of the book. It is a safe bet that if the book is a first UK and in great condition, it could be worth $50 - 100.

Hope that helps.

5

oh - one other thing: while collecting books is fun (I am obviously obsessed), I have to agree with Scarlett only keep the book if you love it, either for its contents or because it reminds you of a person or event that you care about. I only collect books that matter to me based on their contents - it makes it much more fun and feels a lot less “buy a limited edition beanie baby that has absolutely no intrinsic value itself”-ish.

6

SlickUSA, Scarlett, and **WordMan, **thank you all for your responses. The book is definately 1906 copyright. It was published, I’m guessing, in Brooklyn, N.Y.: 1299 Park Place.

I’m not quite sure what I will do with it…probably not sale it…maybe find someone who would enjoy it, and give it to them. I just wish I could find out more info on the author…he sounds interesting.