When it's time to let go

Selling

What we are interested in

Our partners and clients are always interested in acquiring maps, old books, rare books and first editions.  They also buy collections and whole libraries.  As well as gathering information about the item(s) you wish to sell, our role is to ensure your books and maps are shown to the best specialists in that field.

Our partners offer extremely competitive prices and pay promptly.  They can pay in GBP, USD or Euros, and, for higher value items, arrange collection anywhere in the world.

Please note that buyers will not pay for books until they have examined them, and professional bookshops will require a valid form of ID and proof of address to proceed with payment.

Buyers will be looking for first editions.  With modern books this is often easily determined, but with older books the situation is much more complicated.  The best way to help us work out if it is a first edition is by sending photographs of the title pages (see Photographs section below).

What we need from you

You are welcome to send us information about books or maps that you wish to sell.  In the case of books, we are really looking for:

  • First editions that are…
  • Complete books and…
  • In good condition

In every case, we need to know:

  • The author’s name
  • The title exactly as it appears on the printed title-page (inside the book, not on the front cover)
  • Edition number if stated
  • The place of publication, name of the publisher, and date if any
  • The binding (leather, boards, cloth, dust jacket, etc.)
  • Any major defects (torn leaves, stains, broken joints, etc.)
We also require photographs of the front, the back and the spine (see Photographs section below).

Photographs of your books

Please send us photographs (not scans!) of:

  • The front cover
  • The back cover
  • The spine
  • The whole dust jacket (please remove it with care)
  • Any repairs to the dust jacket
  • The title page AND the back of the title page
  • Any pages that have major defects
  • Any pages with writing or scribbles on them

You do not need to send photographs of any of the other internal pages.

The photographs should show the whole page, including all the edges. Please do not crop the photographs.

You can send up to 5MB by email.  Otherwise please use a service such as Dropbox.

Ask us about Selling