THE VALUE OF PENGUIN BOOKS


Buying and Selling

What is my Penguin book worth?
We are often asked about the value of the Penguin Books listed on our web-site. The truth is that it is difficult to put a price on a book. In the end it is what a buyer is prepared to pay. Clearly, collectors make up a big share of the market for early Penguin Books and sometimes if the book is one that is missing from their collection, or a run of books, they might part with more cash.
We have given a few examples of the prices achievable for a good quality book. Whether it makes that price is up to market conditions.

£56,250 Sotheby's Auction 2018 £400 for Proof Copy of Lady Chaterley £925 for PP114 Noah's Ark £375-£400 for Biggles £415 for Artifex £250-£400 for Full House £200-£350 for Fall over Cliff £60 for no.1 Ariel £100 for no.6A £60 for no.2,553 Siné's Massacre £75 for no.367 Crossword Book

Prices can vary depending on scarcity, the condition of the book, whether it has a dust jacket, whether there is foxing (those little brown marks), browning of the paper, wear at the spine ends, small tears, marks on the cover or on the pages, and so on. These all play a part in determining the price offered. Usually, the books are first edition or first impression Penguins, but the reprints of some harder to find books can also command better prices. Some books are signed by the author or have notes or comments by particular individuals that make the book special. The record price paid for a Penguin paperback was for no. 1,484 Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence. This was the copy of the book used by the judge who presided over the celebrated obscenity trial in 1960. It sold for £56,250 at Sotheby's in 2018. The lot included a special hand-stitched damask bag created by the wife of Mr Justice Byrne, the judge in the 1960 trial, to carry the salacious novel to and from the Old Bailey. It also included notes Lady Byrne had compiled on Central Criminal Court notepaper. A handful of proof copies exist, printed by Hazell, Watson and Viney Ltd, who decided not to print the full run of the unexpurgated volume. 12 copies were handed over by Penguin Books to the police ahead of the decision to prosecute. The price is around £400. Generally, the earlier Penguin Books and the ones that are harder to get hold of command the better prices. But there are other factors. For example: some books were supplied to prisoners of war - and very few of these remain - many were burnt in stoves or used as toilet paper after they had been read. Books printed during the war were on thinner paper due to rationing and had flimsy covers - and they were well read - being passed around during air raids when people stayed indoors and had nothing else to do. They were pocket size - so they fitted into pockets and bags, therefore had greater 'wear and tear' and so fewer good copies remain. Noah's Ark. The highest price paid for an ordinary Penguin Book was for The Puffin Noah's Ark. This Penguin Picture Puffin Book by John Miles was published in 1958. Like some of the other Picture Puffins this was a cut-out book and children would have enjoyed assembling the card Noah's Ark and animals. Hence few intact copies remain. A bidding war between two collectors resulted in £925 being paid. Penguin Books are numbered and in a variety of series. Some collectors go for a run of books - say the first 1,000 main series. Others collect a particular author, or a genre such as detective 'mystery and crime' books - the green covered books, or the 'travel and adventure' - the cerise coloured covers. And where a book transcends two areas of interest - the author and subject matter - then they are even more in demand - such as Biggles Flies Again by Capt. W. E Jones. This book was an adventure book and also read by schoolboys, and published during the war, and books by W.E. Jones are also collectable - and so it goes on. Quite a number of the earlier crime books (green coloured covers) are considered very collectable. Particularly those from the early war years around 1941-43. These books were produced on thinner paper, kept in pockets and bags, passed around and read by many people. As a consequence not so many have survived, or are in good condition. Artifex and Fall Over Cliff are two of the harder books to find. Biggles was a very popular read and Full House remains difficult to find. The better the condition, the better the price achieved, which can be in the £200-£400 range. There is also a difference between what a book will sell for and what a dealer is prepared to offer. You have to bear in mind that a dealer carries a large stock. Every book bought that sits on a shelf is money tied up. Then there are the costs of storage or running a shop and paying rent or rates, managing and maintaining the books, keeping lists, communicating with potential customers, and finally of making a profit and paying their wage. So, if you decide to sell a box of Penguin Books that you found in your parents' attic, don't expect that you will necessarily get top prices: for two reasons. First, the values you sometimes see given are the top prices paid for books in very good condition, and second because the dealer has to cover costs and make a living - so will probably at best only give half of what he or she expects it to sell for. Also, the price you think you are getting may not be the amount you receive. Auctioneers take fees, even eBay and PayPal both take percentages when you trade on the internet. The first 10 books are also sought after - with the first impressions going for the most. A fist printing of no. 1 Ariel in reasonable condition might fetch up to around £60 with the others perhaps half that. The green crime are sought after with numbers 5, 6 and 6A in demand and possibly commanding up to around £100. Most Penguin Books may only go for a couple of pounds, say £2.50. The ones less in demand might only fetch £1 - if it sells. Penguin books regularly go unsold on eBay even for 99p, or they sell for that amount. A smaller number, rarer and in better condition, will go for more. There is no knowing what a book might sell for at auction, especially if it is rarer and two or three collectors are chasing it. A bookseller who sells for a fixed price will be aware of the market and pitch accordingly. Most Penguin booksellers that I know are reasonable, even moderate, in what they ask. And, if you are buying a number of books from them, then often there is a little room for negotiation. Other harder to find books include those published abroad, books for the forces during the war such as Forces Book Club, Prisoners of War and Services Editions which all command good prices. The small series of books published in Egypt and for Palestine by Eady in 1942-3 are also very collectable and might fetch up to £100. Whereas most Penguin books will go for a couple of pounds or so, and some for perhaps between £30 and £70, a few will reach the dizzy heights of over £100. Paperback Penguin Books are unlikely to command the really high prices that first edition hardback, leather-bound or antique books can fetch. However, some collectors are prepared to pay over £250 and towards £400 for the rarest of this wonderful book. Some books have slightly quirky histories, such as Siné's Massacre. In 1966, following a disagreement with his Board over the publication of Massacre, Allen Lane 'raided' his own warehouse at midnight, and loaded all remaining copies of the book on to a farm wagon and took them to his farm where they were destroyed. Hence book no. 2,553 is quite scarce and can fetch up to about £60. Condition is important. Some books - such as Crossword Puzzle books were sold to be used by the reader. So most were filled in - with answers written in ink or pencil and then eventually the book was binned. Some were started and then either put back on a shelf or thrown away. So only a few 'pristine' unused copies remain. These, therefore, are more scarce and some of the earlier editions, such as no. 367, fetch up to about £75. Good luck in your hunting! This subject is also dealt with on the Penguin Collector's Society website under 'Are my old Penguins valuable?' - you can see their FAQs by clicking here

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