I am a second-hand bookseller specialising in folk books.

Differences in book prices can sometimes be explained and sometimes not.

Explanation why they are different sometimes is due to condition. This is rarely important to folkies - what they tend to want is words and tunes to songs and the fact that the book is in perfect condition versus what is known in the trade as a "reading copy" i.e. falling apart at the seams is rarely important. To a book dealer this is not understood so they might have two identical books and price them accordingly.

What normally differentiates a book on price are things like condition, edition and provenance (like the author's or sometimes the owner's signature). These can sometimes be marginal. Remember to a normal book seller - i.e. not me who understands these things!! - a first edition hardback against a worn paperback can be vastly different - to a folkie there might not be that much difference because they are identical in content.

There are vast differences in editions. Try sorting out the various editions of "Folk Songs from the Appalachians". Look at the databases and you will see some dealers mistake the "80 Folk Songs from the Appalachians" a little thin paperback, (ought to be £10.00) with the 1960 edition of the same book "FSFTA" which is the two volume set of 1932 (off the top of my head) at £250.00 for two volumes, put into one volume at £150.00. That's apart from describing the 1932 edition as a second edition when it is a totally different book. So the First edition 1917 is less valuable than the second edition (which isn't a second edition anyway). Follow all that?

Some books in a series were printed in lesser numbers than others - Bronson being a notorious example of this where Volume 4 was not produced in the same numbers as Volume 1. Which is why Bronson 4 is hard to find and fetches higher prices than 1, 2, and 3.

Some booksellers may not have updated prices since they added them to a database. A good example of this is the 5 volume set of Dover Child of 1965 (or thereabouts). It used to be around £250.00 - £350.00 depending on condition. But then Loomis House started producing a much better edition and the price of the Dover dropped like a stone. I sold a set at £50.00. Then people desperate for a copy of Child realised the Loomis House edition would not be completed in five minutes. So the price is going up again. Currently £100.00.

Blatant self advert I have all the books mentioned. Not the Bronson.

Hope this helps and ask away - I will try and help.

Dave Eyre