Not just your run of the mill Bible but what to do with it?

I have been lurking on this forum for a while. The locker I picked up this weekend was a veritable treasure trove. I live in a Mission town so I took this Bible to have one of the Brothers look at it. It is very large and the original marriage listed is in 1861. I have researched and believe in it's current condition it is worth between 6 and 8 hundred dollars. The binding is broken but, if fixed it could bring 1500 to 1800 dollars. I have an appointment to have someone from the parish at the Mission that knows alot about this to look at it and give more info.

Here finally is my list of questions.
Should I have the binding fixed to make more money?
Has anyone dealt with fixing a book and how do I find someone that can do a very professional job. (I know if a bad job is done the value of the book can go down.)
Is this item worth listing with a high end auction house. (not some local mom and pop)?

Any thoughts or suggestions would be very appreciated. I can deal with all of the furniture, china, silverware, tools etc. just not sure what to do with something that has such a potential profit and am not sure ebay is the right option.

Thanks

Question #1 Depends on how fast you want a return on your money, and how much.
              #2 Ask the person you have an appointment with if he can recommend someone.
              # Not sure on that one.

Sure someone on here can give you some more answers.

Good luck.

I have been lurking on this forum for a while. The locker I picked up this weekend was a veritable treasure trove. I live in a Mission town so I took this Bible to have one of the Brothers look at it. It is very large and the original marriage listed is in 1861. I have researched and believe in it's current condition it is worth between 6 and 8 hundred dollars. The binding is broken but, if fixed it could bring 1500 to 1800 dollars. I have an appointment to have someone from the parish at the Mission that knows alot about this to look at it and give more info.

Here finally is my list of questions.
Should I have the binding fixed to make more money?
Has anyone dealt with fixing a book and how do I find someone that can do a very professional job. (I know if a bad job is done the value of the book can go down.)
Is this item worth listing with a high end auction house. (not some local mom and pop)?

Any thoughts or suggestions would be very appreciated. I can deal with all of the furniture, china, silverware, tools etc. just not sure what to do with something that has such a potential profit and am not sure ebay is the right option.

Thanks

Questions #1 & #2. It depends, I have a friend who ran a used book store and is knowledgeable in collecting books. He has told me in the past that it is not always better to try to fix the book. Most of the time I think you will be OK, but some books depending on the author and rarity should not be messed with.

Question #3 Definitely. I have a photo album I got out of a unit that has over a hundred photos from the mid to late 1800s. I had it professionally appraised by two different appraisers. They told me the photo album probably would have pulled in around $2500 in the late 1990s but today, because of the economy and depressed antique and collectible market it would probably only bring in around $600-$800. I took the advice to hold onto it for a while and see if the market comes back up (I will probably keep it for another 25 years and try to auction it for retirement money). I was also told because of the theme of the photos I would do better with it at a major auction house in the Boston area, because the photos are relevent to the Northeast US, rather then taking it to an auction house in Atlanta.

Disclaimer; This is only my opinion – Nothing Said should be taken as what should be done in this particular situation = ;o)

So, I basically give all the religious stuff away – I don’t see any reason for making a quick buck off of that stuff.

Must of had a turbulent previous life.

JK