UKH

Hi All

A friend has asked me about selling two books, both first edition signed copies of books by Gaston Rebuffatt. Is there a shop that specialises in selling collectible mountaineering books? Or somewhere else where rough prices can be found?

Cheers

Will

Abebooks:

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/

http://mountainbooks.co.uk/

https://www.glacierbooks.com/

Yes, Jarvis Books/mountainbooks are to be recommended.

I second that, heard a lot of good things about them.

If they are in French consider https://www.librairiedesalpes.com/

The UK's two most established book dealers for mountaineering related books have probably already been listed. I've bought from Grant Jarvis (Mountain Books) numerous times over many years and have also bought from Chris at Glacier Books.

Might also be worth a quick message to David Price who trades as Cockerel Books. Not sure if it's exactly his thing but he's always pretty helpful and honest about valuations -  https://www.cockerelbooks.com/

ABE books is a good source to see what sort of prices are being asked for a particular book; you can filter by signed copies, first edition etc. Currently there are about 30 signed Rebuffat's ranging from £30 to £350 although the majority are French editions. 

I use ABE to value my collection for insurance replacement purposes.

If you book appears to be being offered for say an average of £100, no dealer will offer you anything like this, so prepare to be offered say £40. 

Once you have some idea of value you may well realise more money by advertising on UKC or eBay. At least you will know if a dealer is taking the piss with any offer they make. 

Condition is very important, Jarvis is quite a stickler and may well want to examine them in the flesh before making an offer (quite reasonably) 

Surely for a book with potentially global appeal the best price is likely to come from an Ebay sale?  People looking for it for their collections will have 'saved searches' running permanently to find any copy that comes up.

I've used both Jarvis and Glacier books and been very happy with their service. Also, worth noting that the quality of book condition descriptions are also very good from both.