by Ken Lopez

As a bookseller, I get calls almost every day asking me about the value of some "old books" that the caller has, usually in Grandma's house or a trunk in the caller's attic. The presumption is that "old" equals "valuable" and books that date back into the 19th century are "old." This presumption is almost always incorrect but what many people don't realize is that there is a category of books that are not very old but can be worth a lot of money because, despite being relatively recent, they are quite rare and considered to be important cultural milestones.

"Modern first editions" is a term that is generally applied to books published in the 20th century that are rare enough and/or important enough (preferably both) to be collectible. [keep reading]