RICK: Hey, how can I help you?
I have a special volume of poetry in this book,
"Four Quartets" by T.S. Eliot.
RICK: That's cool.
Is it a first edition or something, or?
HOLLY: It's more than a first edition.
I think it's the true first edition.
RICK: OK.
He was the master poet of the first half of the 20th century.
He was the what poet?
HOLLY: A master poet.
OK, I thought you said a different word.
All right.
[laughs]
I hope not.
[pages flipping]
I bought this book in a local thrift store.
This book is special to me because T.S.
Eliot was one of the most renowned
poets of the 20th century.
I'd like to sell the book because I think
it needs to be in the hands of someone who
really appreciates it.
This is really neat.
When he was alive, he was considered the greatest
American poet, and some people consider him, like,
the greatest American poet we ever had.
I know that he had, like, a really eclectic education.
He went to Harvard.
He went to Europe.
He studied Sanskrit.
And this is really, really embarrassing.
I've never read T.S. Eliot.
HOLLY: Oh.
RICK: T.S. Eliot considered "Four Quartets" his best
work and his masterpiece.
In the 1940s, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
I mean, that's how big this guy was.
So what makes it a true first edition?
HOLLY: The true first says first American edition.
And there were only about 700 or 800 of those printed.
As I understand it, Eliot didn't like the looks of the book
or the typeset or something, and they
just stopped distributing them.
So there's only that many that were
ever issued with first American edition written.
RICK: OK.
So how much do you want for it?
HOLLY: $3,000.
RICK: OK, I have no idea if that's a good price or not.
And the condition of the dust cover really worries me.
But I do have a friend who will know everything about this--
Great.
--and who's probably read everything T.S.
Eliot has ever done five times.
[laughs]
So I'm going to give her a call, get her down here.
And she'll help us out with it.
I can't wait.
OK.
[laughs]
I'll be right back.
I figured you would absolutely love this.
You were right.
RICK: [laughs]
She says it's a first edition first state.
REBECCA ROMNEY: I recognize it immediately.
It actually has four different sections,
and they were released individually in the '30s.
And then this came out in America during the war.
Because it's a wartime publication,
there are some issues with it.
A lot of people who are specialists in different jobs,
they were out on the front.
And they had people working in jobs that they
weren't as familiar with.
So you see a lot of problems that
show a little bit of amateurism, and you see that here.
These margins, it's not right.
So there's faulty printing with this.
And in fact, because of the faulty printing,
they actually pulled the run.
However, they had to keep a certain amount
of copies out in circulation to preserve the copyright.
RICK: OK.
REBECCA ROMNEY: So they kept 788 copies.
This is one of those copies.
[sparkle]
So what's it worth?
If you were going to make this sellable,
you would probably need to restore the dust jacket.
You're looking at an investment of $300 to $600
just to restore the dust jacket.
So with that in mind, a copy of this that's restored,
I would say you're looking at $2,250 to $2,500.
Eh.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Eliot is very well-respected, and he changed poetry.
If the shop can negotiate a deal,
then I think it's a good buy.
Eliot is always going to be important,
and that's not a bad investment.
It really is a kind of one of a kind, even with its flaws.
RICK: I know that.
But you also have to realize if I buy the book off of you,
I have to spend the money to get these repaired.
The best I can give you is $1,000 for it.
Condition is very, very important.
How about $1,500?
I'll tell you what.
I'll do $1,100 because any other price makes
no economic sense to me, none.
All right, $1,100.
RICK: OK, cool. Thanks.
Thank you.
Come on over here, and we'll write this up.
HOLLY: I bought this book at a thrift store for $0.75,
and I just sold it for $1,100.
So it's a very good day for me.