1947 Handbook of Designs - Collectible Value?

Hi - I have begun selling books from the estate of a relative and I was surprised to see the prices and the range for this book. It’s:
A Handbook of Designs and How to Use Them
By Gordon de Lemos

I know there are some sellers on eBay who post books for indescribably high prices - I don’t know what’s going on there - but I wanted to know if this book had any value. Apparently it’s a highly regarded book. There is no publication date in the book but other postings online indicate it’s 1947. The book is in good condition.

Thanks!

 

but I wanted to know if this book had any value.

sure it has value.........
check abc books...and Ebay sod items for prices..

 

None in eBay Completed listings and one on offer in eBay active listings for $989 (or Best Offer). That tells us seller knows it's scarce, thinks it's of value, but didn't bother doing any research and hopes interested buyer will set price for him. On abebooks.com, there's one up for offer at $44.00. Thriftbooks has one at $40.00. Etsy has one at $45.00. I'd think that establishes the top value range.

Dunno about it being highly valued but it is a text book which impacts value. Condition is also important. The term "good" doesn't communicate anything to book buyers; you'll want to find a list of collector terms to more accurately describe condition. As an example, here's one from alibris.com. (Think there's a better one out there.) What will help sell your volume is the interior pages and if you can tie it to an art movement or era.

https://www.alibris.com/glossary/condition#conditiong

Here's a review from the New York Times. Note that the book was developed for the craftsman not the fine art student. Another selling point to emphasize.

Debora

 

I like bookfinder when looking for something. None of the copies on there have crazy prices. I don't know if something makes some editions more valuable.

https://www.bookfinder.com/search/?...itle=handbook%20of%20designs%20and%20how%20to

 

You're right. That is a good resource. I only see two editions though: hardcover (1947) and paperback (1948.)

Debora

 

Thank you all! I had seen some of the internet resources regarding this book and the prices were so different I didn’t know what to make of it. Thank you for your comprehensive replies. I don’t know how the value of an item like this ends up being determined. Is it just what the buyer will spend? A note - I see that in the future I should spell out in detail what I’ve seen about the book. Sorry I didn’t do that here. Newbie.

Thanks!

 

I wana see some of the designs inside the book, I love books like this, I have a great one on Art Nouveau designs

 

Yes, I'm curious too as kinda between Art Deco and Atomic.

Debora

 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/123892...how_sold_out_detail=1&ref=nla_listing_details

 

The above link is from etsy and it sold for $20

 

And it contains examples of the interior pages. As described... "for various types of crafts" which makes one think the intended audience was female.

Debora

 

I got a book recently in a job-lot of about 20 volumes, mainly about heraldry (I collect genealogy books), costing on average about £3 each. Nearly all the heraldry books were only worth about what I paid for them (I get the impression the market is not great for them at the moment).

However, there was one book about monograms for craftspeople - something similar to your book - for which I could only find two listings online at about £400. I put it up on Ebay for about £250 and it sold quite quickly to a customer from Japan.

I'm not saying yours is worth that much, but perhaps there is a demand for older books about drawing?