If Any Of These 20 Books Are On Your Shelf They Are Worth A LOT Of Money

Darragh Berry

This is the exact news we needed to hear in the run up to Christmas.

If you were trying to find ways of making an extra bit of cash this Christmas in order to fund all the pressies, your answer could be sitting idly on your bedroom shelf.

Matthew Haley, the director and head of books and manuscripts at auction house Bonhams, has shared his list of the twenty most valuable books that could be in households all over the w.orld

Top on the list – worth a staggering €50,000 – is a first edition Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone book and in second place, a first edition of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien could earn you around 10k less at €40,000.

There are of course terms and conditions that the books have to fall under – as stated below – so it’s no harm to have a quick look around your gaff (and your friend’s and parent’s house too) and see if there is any expensive gems hanging around.

Haley also shared some tips about making your books more valuable explaining that a book’s condition is pretty important as “any damage such as missing title pages or a damaged spine could dramatically lower a book’s value.”

The top 20 list:

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997), J.K. Rowling: €50,000. Must be a hardback copy with the numbers 10 to 1 printed down the back of the title page.
The Hobbit (1937), J.R.R. Tolkien: €40,000. The first version of the dust-jacket has a typo corrected by hand on the back. It’ll need to be in perfect condition.
The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1901), Beatrix Potter: €35,000
A Christmas Carol (1843), Charles Dickens: €15,000
The four Winnie-the-Pooh books (1924-1928), A.A. Milne: Between €4,000 and €10,000
Eleven Poems (1965), Seamus Heaney: €3,500
Foundation trilogy (1951-1953), Isaac Asimov: €3,000+. Collectors will pay £3,000 or more for a set of the three volumes in good condition.
Illustrated edition of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (1906), Arthur Rackham: €2,500
The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1921), Agatha Christie: €2,000
Verve, 1950s art magazine: €1,500. Certain volumes of this 1950s art magazine can be worth €1,500 or more as they have original lithographs by Matisse and others.
Television: Seeing by Wire or Wireless (1926), Alfred Dinsdale: €1,000
The Cat in the Hat (1957) Dr. Seuss: £1,000. It’ll need to have no mention of ‘Beginner Books’ on the dust jacket
High Street (1938), Eric Ravilious and J.M. Richards: €1,000
A Clockwork Orange (1962), Anthony Burgess: €900
Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack (1916): €600-€800
The Ladies’ Flower-Garden (1840’s), Jane W. Loudon: €500-€800
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902), Arthur Conan Doyle: €500+
The Bible (1600 – 1630): €300. Must be in English.
The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book (1894-1895) Rudyard Kipling: €200-€4,000
A History of British Birds, (various editions), F.O. Morris – €150