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T he most beautifully bound or aesthetically pleasing book isn’t always the most valuable one. Often when people collect books it’s because they want to feel closer to the historical moment or author, says Dr. Kalika Sands, Head of Sotheby’s Books and Manuscripts Department.
There are many beautifully bound copies of A Christmas Carol around, even early editions of Charles Dickens’ classic story. Some are bound in fine, red morocco leather, embossed with gold and seemingly in excellent condition. “People see those and think they look expensive and rare,” Sands says. And while they are in fact beautiful books, what many collectors want is the original copy still in its publisher’s binding, which may seem tattered or worn. “That faded copy is what Dickens was handing out to his friends,” Sands says.
A book that’s been beautifully rebound looks good on a shelf, but it may be missing a part of its history. That makes it less rare and, therefore, less valuable. When book collectors say “contemporary binding” they’re referring to the cover that was contemporary to the book – not something that was added decades or centuries after the fact. And a book with a contemporary binding is always going to be harder to find in good condition.
When Emily Brontë’s book Wuthering Heights was published in the 19th century, it came in a three-volume set along with Anne Brontë’s Agnes Grey (then writing under the pseudonyms Ellis and Acton Bell, respectively). “Some of the sets didn’t match, and it’s hard to piece these together,” Sands says. “Finding a complete set in the original publisher’s binding is very difficult to do.”
One mismatched set sold at Sotheby’s New York in 2024 for $102,000, while matching first-edition sets sold at Sotheby’s London in 2011 for prices ranging from £157,000 to £241,000 ($203,000-311,000) – and that’s before accounting for inflation. The huge swings in value, Sands says, are partially attributable to the fact that a rebound or reassembled set detracts from the historical moment as well as the original state of the object as first published.
“That faded copy is what Dickens was handing out to his friends.”
What might be considered a devastating flaw in a more modern book – which collectors would expect to see in pristine condition – can be easier to forgive in an older or notably fragile copy.. Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass has a notoriously fragile first edition. “It was produced in such a way that durability wasn’t the first concern.” When Sands was considering a copy with a detached cover, she asked another expert whether it should be repaired. After careful consideration, he said to leave it as is. “It’s like the Venus de Milo of books,” she recalled him telling her.
From time to time, Sotheby’s specialists get phone calls from consignors who’ve found a valuable book that’s in rough shape. One of their first questions is often whether they should have it rebound. “I can’t think of an instance when I’ve said yes,” Sands says.
