James Feinmore Cooper Book Collection, How old are these?

[bigcaddy64]

It’s been a very busy past few weeks but the scores have been coming at a steady pace. This past Saturday was no exception but these books have stumped me and I’m not sure where to get info on them. Web searches pull up too much info and books are printed off in the thousands.

I don’t normally buy books but know Cooper is a well known/prolific writer so when I saw the large collection, I figured it was worth the few bucks the people were asking. If anything, I can always read them and donate if they are junk.

I’ve searched the books and can’t find a single date mark anywhere. No print date/edition, just who printed it with not much else for info.

If I had to guess, I would think 1890-1910 is close but I’m hoping for a narrower window

 

[GibH]

According to this, you could date it to 1879-1888. The New York office was added in 1879 and spun off in 1888.

In 1875 Belford, Clarke and Company started in Chicago and later in 1879 opened a New York office. It had a varied book list and is well known for publishing the first edition of Peck's Bad Boy. In 1888 the New York branch was spun off as the Alexander Belford company and in 1892 it joined with several other publishers to form the Werner Company.

 

[bigcaddy64]

Nice! That’s not too far off. I looked up the printer this morning and there were details about them operating in the last quarter of the 1800’s but nothing really specific.

Now I just need to list them

 

[A2coins]

Great score your good at what you do. I'm working on it and learning. Well done

 

[bigcaddy64]

Great score your good at what you do. I'm working on it and learning. Well done

Thanks. All it takes is time, patience and a lot of mistakes before you figure it all out. Books are the last thing on my list when shopping but this house had tons of them and not much else.

I’d rather stick to tools, precious metals and audio gear. Margins are better and I enjoy them more.

 

[dejapooh]

I generally do VERY well with books, but NOT well with OLD books. Religious, art, sex, and other weird, off topics do well. Novels do poorly, in general. I sell them on Amazon, and they move pretty well.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Congrats on the nice book!

 

[JeffA]

I dealt books for a handful of years when self-employed. I would recommend you look up each one on eBay and Amazon individually, and as a collection to see how you can make the most profit assuming you plan to sell them. Amazon you will probably make more, but eBay you have advantage of the "best offer" option. Years back I found a Robert Louis Stevenson book for .25, and listed it on eBay for $350 with best offer option. Someone offered $300, which I immediately accepted.

 

[Force_of_Iron]

Its a common trade compilation. 1890's or thereabout. Not worth much