I have a 24 volume set of the 1768 Encyclopedia Britannica - Copyright date 1949. What is the value for this set. I saw on the Internet that this is a "rare" set.
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Encyclopedias generally dont have value unless they are 100 years old. I would consult an antique book dealer just to make sure.
Values of any set of encyclopedias depends on several things:
Brand, edition, publication year, condition, cover material.
You have a good brand, a common edition/publication year, so those are okay factors. You did not mention the type of cover or condition of your set and you did not post a picture of your set so we have no idea of the cover type or the condition.
First: the numbers 1768 are on the covers of every Britannica book as that is the date of their first publication so it has no meaning as to value.
Your 24 volume 1949 publication date falls in the 'revised 14th edition' series along with publication dates 1933-1973. In 1933 Britannica decided to 'revise' all articles every 10 years along with the revisions/new articles as in the past. This just means that a full revision was done in 1943 and new articles added in 1949.
This just explains that there is very little difference in most of these years or not enough to make a 1949 edition more valuable that a 1943 - 1953.
Is this the set where you 'found' that your set is a rare set?
www.ebay.com/
You have to understand that sellers can place any type of description, any words that they think will draw someone's attention to their item.
You will find sets listed for all kinds of asking prices as a seller can 'ask' any amount they wish but that is all it is - an asking price until it's sold as only a sold item exactly like yours will show 'value' or the true worth of your set.
You can check out eBay's sold listings to see if a set like yours has sold over the past several months and id so, then that would be your 'current value' as it shows what someone was willing to pay for that item.
Here is a link to eBay's sold listings:
www.ebay.com/
Here is a beautiful set, different year but no difference in value, with (maybe) a reasonable price so you could place a watch on this set to see if it sells.
www.ebay.com/
I have to tell that sellers usually post books and just leave them listed for months/years so do not expect any fast sales (but they do sometimes happen). I recently came across one set; similar to yours that had been listed for almost 6 years (yes - years) and it may never sell - some of these are high volume sellers and the listing cost is pennies to them.
Here is an interesting article about the value of encyclopedias:
flipsy.com/
If you have a nice set and wish to try your luck then list it at a high price with offers considered and see how it goes. If no offers then lower the price and wait a few weeks again as these set do sell but maybe not for a fortune and maybe not quickly.
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