Writing the book on childhood treasures

Among boxes in forgotten corners, next to old televisions, their gray light forever dimmed, and bowling trophies, chipped and dusty, rest hidden treasures. As spring cleaning approaches, there may be some interesting twists in the tales of the Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew.

Prices for select children’s classics have “skyrocketed,” says Marci Crossan, spokesperson for Abebooks, the world’s largest online marketplace for used, rare and out-of-print books. Single copies of rare Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew mysteries in prime condition and with original dust jackets are selling for $1,000 to $3,000, Crossan says.

When it comes to Dr. Seuss, it takes a load of gold for “The Cat in the Hat”; first editions are priced at more than $13,000.

“At Christmas we saw an interesting trend of people buying books they had read as children as gifts for their children. Then it tapered off and picked back up around Valentine’s Day,” said Crossan.

Sales of Hardy Boys books have increased 108% over the last six months at Abebooks, Crossan said. Nancy Drew sales increased 117%. During that same period, prices increased about 30%. The final book in the Tom Swift Jr. series recently was priced in the $400 to $500 range on EBay. The mystery is why.

According to Janice Del Negro, director of the Center for Children’s Books at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, it may have to do with world events.

“We are in a state of great political and social turmoil, and often in those situations there is increased interest in that which seems safe and a symbol of an easier and simpler time,” Del Negro said. “Books can become touchstones.” Chris Volk, owner of BookFever in Ione, Calif., said that after the events of Sept. 11, she started rereading books from her childhood. “I think that for me, there’s a certain amount of nostalgia going back to these books because of what was happening in the world.”

Perhaps, said Volk, 58, there is a yearning to return to an era in which bad guys lost and goodness prevailed; when there was a solution to every mystery; and adventure in sterile suburbs existed primarily in young imaginations.

It was a time, said Shirley Hackert, when there was more trust than fear. “When people come into the store and they bring a child, maybe 7 or 8 years old, I stop and look at the child, and the child will look up at the mom to see if it’s OK to talk to me,” said Hackert, co-owner of Books & Friends Old and New in Roseville.

And so readers escape, said Hackert, into shadows where spies and villains lurk, to castles and exotic venues where cryptic clues are held by wind or darkness in tales of the Happy Hollisters, Cherry Ames, Judy Bolton, Trixie Belden, Tom Quest.

The Internet has created a worldwide clientele and has given novice collectors access to databases containing information previously limited to experts, says Vic Zoschak, owner of Tavistock Books in Alameda and chairman of the Northern California chapter of the Antiquarian Booksellers Assn. of America.

Zoschak said the Internet, because of increased availability, has driven values of relatively common books down, and at the same time it has increased the value of truly rare books. Last year, 90% of Zoschak’s business was through book fairs, direct quotes and Internet sales.

No matter how much information is available through the Internet and no matter how much one knows about the buying and selling of rare books, there will always be “sleepers,” books unknowingly priced lower than market value, said Zoschak.

Those are the books found in attics and scooped up for a nickel apiece, then sold for hundreds or thousands of dollars. Joe Hix, owner of Bluff Park Rare Books in Long Beach, has climbed many stairs and dug through box after box in hope and anticipation of such finds. Every once in a while, he said, he finds a treasure. Most of the time, however, the bowling trophies are worth more.

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A fantastic four

“And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” Dr. Seuss. The Vanguard Press, 1937. First edition of Theodor “Seuss” Geisel’s first book, inscribed on the front endpaper. Price: $18,751.20.

“The Cat in the Hat,” Dr. Seuss. Random House, 1957. First edition, first issue. Price: $13,282.10.

“The Secret at Shadow Ranch” (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories), Carolyn Keene. Grosset & Dunlap, 1931. Signed by author. First edition, third printing. Price: $1,725.

“The Tower Treasure” (Hardy Boys Mystery series), Franklin W. Dixon. Grosset & Dunlap, 1927. First edition, first state hardcover: Price: $2,812.

Source: Abebooks.com