Antique Shakespeare Set

Hello all,

Looking for a little help here. I recently lost a complete set of
Antique Shakespear books in a seperation and I don't know if there
worth going after via the courts. I was hope to get a ball park
estimate as to their worth.

It was 13 or 14 books in total, each book roughly five inches tall,
three and one-half inches wide and one inch thick. Gold leaf on the
edges, leather bound. They pre-date the use of copy-rights as there
are none given (but of course, maybe you can't copy-right Shakespeare
- I don't know). Each chapter had a black-and-white lithiograph (I
believe a etched-plate pressing process) covered by a sheet of rice
paper bound into the book. Based upon the fact that these had been in
my family for many generations I would guess they are at least 100
years old. They are in perfect condition.

Can anyone provide a high level estimate as to what they are worth.

Thanks!

Trip

"Trip" wrote in message
ups.com...

Looking for a little help here. I recently lost a complete set of
Antique Shakespear books in a seperation and I don't know if there
worth going after via the courts. I was hope to get a ball park
estimate as to their worth.

It was 13 or 14 books in total, each book roughly five inches tall,
three and one-half inches wide and one inch thick. Gold leaf on the
edges, leather bound. They pre-date the use of copy-rights as there
are none given (but of course, maybe you can't copy-right Shakespeare
- I don't know). Each chapter had a black-and-white lithiograph (I
believe a etched-plate pressing process) covered by a sheet of rice
paper bound into the book. Based upon the fact that these had been in
my family for many generations I would guess they are at least 100
years old. They are in perfect condition.

Can anyone provide a high level estimate as to what they are worth.

No mass-produced (steam-printed) edition of
Shakespeare has antique value, even if very
nicely done.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

On Tue, 07 Aug 2007 17:42:47 -0000, Trip wrote:

I recently lost a complete set of
Antique Shakespear books in a seperation and I don't know if there
I was hope to get a ball park estimate as to their worth.

$5

$10 if you ask in rec.antiques.

Shakespeare's just too popular. Far too many in circulation for any
edition to have significant value, unless it's from some additional
value as a craft item of the engraver's, designer's or bookbinder's art.

100 year old editions are often "bowdlerised" texts and not really that
useful as a text for the play.