The True Value of Collectible Books

By William Shelton • October 28, 2025

In what scale can we truly measure the value of a book? Ignoring how many pieces of silver we must exchange for them, the worth of books should be counted through their enrichment of our lives.

Escape is the name of the game when it comes to popular fiction and romance. If your soul is perishing from ennui, or if like Lucy Jordan you dream of a thousand lovers, take a page from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, or follow Frodo and Sam on a noble quest. Lady Chatterley practically invented the term "throuple;" a close runner-up would have been Anna Karenina. Colette literally wrote the book (several of them) on the subject long before TikTok popularized the domestic arrangement. If steamy text messages are more your style, check out Dangerous Liaisons to discover what heights of passion can be achieved from a simple exchange of notes.

If your vices are more cerebral than fleshly you can explore the meaning of existence through our ties to the celestial bodies in Carl Sagan’s magnum opus, Cosmos. The great philosophers, both past and present, have never been shy when offering their opinion. Plato was convinced that he had distilled the perfect form of politics in his work, The Republic. Julius Caesar proved that each of us are our own best PR agent, though Brutus and Cassius certainly disagreed. Antiquity also had its own scandal rags. Tacitus was a one-man version of The National Enquirer, and Herodotus was a proven liar. Or as the historian Will Durant said of him "Herodotus saw much that was never there."

Perhaps a good scare is more to your taste? With no slight intended to the usual cast of characters, we will focus more on works that complement the palate rather than assault it. No blood suckers, farm tool wielding madmen, nor amateur dressmakers whose favorite medium is human flesh. Instead, there is the Gothic, with swirling fog concealing unnamed terrors. Crumbling mansions forever threatening to tumble down upon the deranged heads within, are a personal favorite. The merits of H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King are hotly debated. One is as subtle as a quietly inserted stiletto. The other is a juggernaut of all our fears.

Biographies give us insight into the people, places, and customs of past cultures. What is it about exploring their lives that so charms us? How thrilling to join Frank Sinatra on stage at one of the swanky 1950s casinos of Las Vegas. Electric it would be to experience Harlem, hearing the music, both of instrument and poetry, during its renaissance. Standing on Canal Street of old New Orleans during Mardi Gras would be enough excitement to last a lifetime. As would the scandal drenched days of classic Hollywood, provided you didn’t end up dead from drink, drugs, an automobile crash, or eaten alive by the notorious 'studio system.'

What better way to ‘invite the soul' than turning the pages of a much-loved book? Surely Walt Whitman would approve of the practice, and my borrowing the quote second-hand from him. We cherish books not so much for their physical beauty, but more so for the joy, excitement, tears, or anger they inspire. Be it profound thoughts, or momentary escape, their gifts are never failing.