Some of your prices are very high. Are these copies really worth it?

The following photos show the dust jacket spine of an average good copy on the right compared to the better or best available on the left side. The condition difference, thus price charged, is primarily in the dust jacket spine condition on the older Heinemann titles. The newer Macmillan jackets are found as new most of the time.  The dust jacket covers are generally in nice condition, while I grade finer condition jackets primarily on how much of the original colour remains in the spine title. Serious book collecting and investing is about having a copy as close to the original new condition as possible, not simply to have one of every title. With the first Wilbur Smith book being 45 years old and number of collectors growing, it is harder and harder to find true fine condition dust jackets in the older titles thus the prices are prohibitive some new collectors. Another very important point affecting rare copies value is whether signed and then how old and unique is the signature example? A rare signature and/or inscription is collectible and valuable as the book itself.

While nobody likes tattered ends, paper loss,scuffing or creasing to jackets, my own collecting criteria priority calls for the jacket spine title to be as close to the cover title as possible with the minimum amount of paper damage. Indeed, wether they are clipped is immaterial as the overall condition matters most. There is no misidentifying first edtions jackets in any case. I grade jackets as 70% matching colour, 90% etc. Most common is 50% or even less. As a rule I find the more spine title colour the better the overall condition, thus this is the single most important question to ask when shopping.

For a more detailed and free guide to Wilbur Smith dust jacket condition and signatures, please ask.