Hello All,

I was trying to replace a book I'd thought I'd lost and went to several sellers to find it, only to find it was out of print. When I tried to find the book used I came across some pretty outrageous prices, at least I think they were. Needless to say I found my copy safe in storage so it led me to wonder, how mush is this book actually worth? Would anybody know how much the value of this book is? It's the hard cover addition translated by Jeffrey Forgeng. It says under that Greenhill books, London and under that Palgrave Macmillan, New York. Thanks in advance for any help you all can give.

Like you, I see four listed at Amazon, starting at $1,000 and going up to $31,000. That doesn't mean anybody would pay those prices which are, frankly, WAY beyond outrageous and deep into delusional. But, the book is worth whatever it can fetch on the market at a given moment. If you don't really need to sell the book, why not ask $10m and see if Barnum was right?

Some of the most important arms and armour titles tend to be short-run editions from European presses. That makes them expensive to begin with, and when they're gone, they're gone. Many of us here have our personal white whales--The Knight and the Blast Furnace and The Medieval Armour from Rhodes come to mind. Rhodes published around $50, IIRC, and by the time I chanced upon a copy for $80, those were listing as high as $500 from the same sort listing your book on Amazon.com. I can't find it anywhere in the world right now so I have no idea of its current market value. It's unwise to speculate, though, because all someone has to do to wipe out one's investment is post a PDF or offer a reprint edition.

I don't feel too bad about paying $50-$100 for a new book I really want because I know that if I change my mind after it's out of print I'll pay a huge premium for my cheapness.

I had a feeling it was just fishing but it never hurts to ask. Can't fault them for asking and selling if someone's willing to pay those prices. Thanks Sean.

Ye gods! Makes me happy I bought one when it was hot off the press. I'm generally happy to pay an "obscurity premium" for books that cater to my admittedly eclectic tastes, and I recently paid a fair sum to replace my copy of Imre Vass' Epee Fencing, but we're still under $200 in most cases like this. Maybe the guy asking $30K thought he had his hands on an original manuscript? ;)

Wow ... and it was available new everywhere a year or so ago ... anyway, here's one for $160 on AbeBooks.com, in case that's of use to anyone: http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL...%26sts%3Dt

One small note, this book is currently being considered for reprinting, according to the publisher. I've been looking for a reasonably priced copy or two. I have one, but two of my students want their own.

Good grief! I felt like I was overcharging when I sold my copy for $110 through Amazon back in June 2010. I guess I should have held onto it longer. It's an excellent book that I recommend highly. I'm just in no position to own a library at the moment.

The Higgins Armory Museum Store is still listing copies of Meyer for $65: http://www.higgins.org/store-books.php ... Don't know if they have it in stock, though.