OPINIONS PLEASE, NO CONCERN ON VALUE!

I have my Mom's collection of older antiques resource books, at least some of them, and would like your opinion on them as to whether to hang on to them or not! I'm thinking on maybe keeping one or 2, but truthfully have RARELY looked at them!!! I've tried looking them up and have found very minimal value, and that's fine....but my main question, is are they any good as a "resource" at this point in time??? Honest answers, please and thank you so much, AS ALWAYS to ALL!!!!

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better to have them and not need them.....than to need them and not have them !!!

& having all those great photo's....... Priceless !!!!

( & it's not like they take up a lot of space !!)

 

Just don't think the prices ever had anything to do with reality.

 

Depends on how much house room you have. Or how sentimental you are. In general, out-of-date antique pricing guides don't have much usefulness. About as desirable to a thrift shop as old Encyclopedia Britannicas and Reader's Digest condensed books.

Debora

 

I disagree with you !!!

The high quality photo's in those books .....r worth having around......

prices change...............photo's ............NEVER !!

 

I have lots of pricing guides for jewelry, glass and pottery. I bought them for ID help and item history, I have never paid attention to the prices

 

Yeah but I think the issue is whether to keep the sort of generalized books we see in OP's book or to focus more on books that specialize. I do have a bunch of the MIller's book and the Koval's but I dont think I will refer to them much in the future. I prefer more specialized books.

 

I think the question is clear........

my main question, is are they any good as a "resource" at this point in time???

 

JMHO.
lovely.
prices outdated. "encyclopedias" and "guides" that are "written" newly every year ? hmm. they do that with the Encyclopædia Britannica, too ?
for me they are useful - like auction catalogues - when researching items that are not readily available online to verify the minutes and details and to see if an item was produced in different variations, which can give a hint to its rarity.

 

Prices are out of date pretty much as soon as they are published, but the photos can be useful in becoming familiar with styles and periods, and they do provide a sort of hierarchy of values. Can be good if you're looking for comparables.

 

That's a main thing to consider. I agree that these sorts of books can have value as a resource, especially if they are well organized and have good information on the pieces. They are at least as valuable as web information would be... and often more valuable to you for information. But you did say that you rarely look at them. This leads me to think that you would not find them all that useful, unless you wanted to change your patterns of research. Books, of course, can be tricky places to find things, especially if you have, say, dozens of general books without good organization. So in your case, you'll have to decide how many you think you would use. Then act accordingly!

 

Well I ABSOLUTELY appreciate ALL of your comments!!! I think you've swayed me to keep them!!! You're right.....they DON'T take up much space and the pictures inside are great, especially for dating something.....THANK YOU ONE and ALL!!

 

Yay !!!

 

The prices may be out of date or unrealistic in some cases however, It can indicate items that may be of higher value. Most of the books also have little write ups that are valuable for formation. I confess that I use them as "bathroom" books since one can just read a few articles at a time.

 

Even books can become overwhelming, as any book collector can attest. Of the ones you showed, I would consider the last two to be worth keeping and occasionally referring to. The Antique Hunters Guide is one of a set that I own; it is worthwhile especially if it is something you don't specialize in. I refer to the American Pottery and Porcelain book in the series when starting to research a new unmarked piece, for example it has good introductory info on stoneware. I ignore the prices which are in the books, but the information and pics are still valuable. The last book on Needlework would be useful to me for the same reason - outline with details of something I don't know about useful as a first reference.

I got rid of any of my books that were general antique price guides, like the first three you show; these cover too broad a range of items to give any research help, and prices are useless.

 

Yea, I agree. I weeded out a lot of my glass books, donated them to the New Bedford Museum of Glass so they could sell them in their gift shop. But I had one book in the box I pulled out at the last minute, it is a history of British Victorian pressed glass, and I'm glad I did. A few weeks later someone on Antiquers asked about a piece of glass and I found it for them in that book