Book Values

[Salvelinus fontinalis]

I am boxing up a number of fly fishing related books to donate prior to the Catskill Fly Fishing Center book sale and ran across an Anglers Art catalog dating back to 1989. It was interesting to see that the value of many of our flyfishing "classics" have likely not appreciated in value when compared to asking prices over 25 years ago. Guess we see much the same with cane rods of late as well. So much for the sporting collectible as an investment argument that many of us have been using on our spouses and significant others for years (42+ years for me).

[wiscoy]

except for a few very limited highly sought books- sporting books in general, IMHO, have too limited a market these days to expect a competitive market. I did bow out of the longrifle hobby in the past year and managed to to do ok clearing off that shelf, so a profit is possible in some cases

on the other hand- I never bought mine for an investment- I bought them to read - my kids did not pay anything for them- so when I am gone- its all profit to them

[derensfox]

Back when Barry founded the Anglers Art, sporting books were harder to find out of the major cities and a few other locales, and if you were looking for a book like T Donald Overfield's Famous Flies and their Originators, barry would have one for you , but the price could be steep. Fast forward 25+ years, those books Barry would have a single copy of for hefty sums in the day are now available easily on bookfinder, abebooks etc for very reasonable prices. Yes, exceptions exist, and there are rare books, but prices for all but the most rarefied books have come down. The modern 1st Ed fiction market really has taken a beating, as well as the mystery market. Good for buyers now, bad for investors from the 60s -80s.

As for the rarer stuff, watch the Langs, Crossroads and UK auctions for some very good bargains. Like rods and reels, the auction premiums can be worth it when you want a particular item (book or rod), and many of the dealer stocks are replenished with books from these auctions, so keep an eye out.....or pay mightily later.

[dave potts]

I bought a lot of books from Barry (Anglers Art) back in the day. He put out a nice paperback catalog each year and I still have several. The best buys were the sale brochures he would send out several times a year. He really had some great prices on those sales at times.

Dave

[Booman2]

I've owned literally a couple thousand fly fishing/bamboo books in the last 40 years. Some have been investment stars, but most have not. I think that the internet made the playing field fairly flat, and the huge number of mediocre books to hit print may also have been a factor. However, where books themselves have been a disappointment, the catalogs of the best dealers - usually free- have sometimes been a good deal. Same with the free Payne, Leonard, granger, etc. bamboo rod catalogs that I never threw out.

[Kaneman1]

I use to often visit Barry spending countless Saturday's perusing through endless shelves of books. It was those days that started me on the path book collecting. I agree the book market wasn't much of an investment except for a few. Prices have pretty much remain constant for all those years.


Kaneman1

[JohnMD1022]

I remember Barry’s shop in Georgetown of almost 50 years ago. Tom Baltz was working there at the time, and you crossed a bridge over the C&O Canal to get to the shop.

The H.L. Leonard vise I bought there in 1974 is mounted on my tying desk and ready to go.

Later, Barry moved up on Wisconsin Ave. I bought a Vom Hofe salmon reel there for a friend who went to Nova Scotia every year. The price was $65.