Valuable or just old?

I have a small poetry collection called The Quiet Hour, first published in 1915. When I tried to find out more about it, all I could find on the web were reprints, which included an introduction that talked about the value of reprinting "this rare antiquarian volume."

I can't find the original printing listed for sale anywhere. Any ideas on where I could look to find out if I have a treasure or just a nice old book?

Abebooks.com, BookFinder.com, alibris.com, unless you have already tried them.
I am sure there are many more sites, but cannot think of any other at the moment.

If you live in or near a city of any substantial size, find an antiquarian book dealer and take it in for an appraisal.

If you are in the US, to give you an idea of scarcity, try www.worldcat.org. It searches most US Univ. libraries.

Thanks for the suggestions. No dice on any of the for sale sites (I already checked), and worldcat shows that it's not common, but it's out there. I have no plans to sell, more curiosity about what I have. I just wondered if there were antiquarian book reference sites that I didn't know about. I checked the three above, plus bibliofind.

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There's also the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America. They don't list your book, but it's a good site to bookmark for future reference.

Here is the Internet Public Libraries list of resources on this subject: http://ipl.org/div/farq/usedbookFARQ.html

You could also post a question with the reference service.

You wrote:
I have a small poetry collection called The Quiet Hour, first published in 1915. When I tried to find out more about it, all I could find on the web were reprints, which included an introduction that talked about the value of reprinting "this rare antiquarian volume."
I can't find the original printing listed for sale anywhere. Any ideas on where I could look to find out if I have a treasure or just a nice old book?

Dear Aviddiva,

I believe you have a nice old book. If it is a treasure, it is a personal one and not a monetary one.

The phrase that Kissinger Publishing uses in describing the value of reprinting the book is misleading. A Google search of the phrase will result in 66,400 hits. Rather than describing the value of the book, the phrase, "This scarce antiquarian book is included in our Special Legacy Reprint Series," is a blanket phrase inserted in the description of almost all of Kissinger Publishing's print-on-demand publications.

Granted, the 1915 edition is scarce, but the book was reprinted in 1971 and 1977, copies of which can be had for as low as $4.33.

The editor of "The Quiet Hour," Fitzroy Carrington, edited several books on Poetry, only one of which is really collectible, and that is because it contains poems and paintings by Rosetti. Carrington, the editor of the book, "Prints and Their Makers," and the periodical, "Print Collector's Quarterly" is best known for his contributions to the printing and engraving field.

Although "The Quiet Hour," contain facsimiles of portraits of some of the poets presented, I don't believe the inclusion of the portraits dramatically increased the value of the book.

best,
Moi Bibliomaniac

Thanks, Moi Bibliomaniac. I will continue to enjoy it -- it IS a nice old book!