Why Encyclopedias Are Almost Worthless Now
This is one of the most common and disappointing questions in the rare book world: “I have a complete set of encyclopedias from [1920/1960/1985]. Are they worth anything?” The answer, with extremely rare exceptions, is no. Most encyclopedia sets are worth less than the cost of shipping them, and many are genuinely unsaleable.
Why They Have No Value
The formula that determines a book’s value requires both scarcity and demand. Encyclopedias fail on both counts.
No Scarcity
Encyclopedias were mass-produced in enormous quantities. Encyclopaedia Britannica, the World Book, Funk & Wagnalls, Compton’s, Collier’s, and dozens of other publishers produced millions of sets over the twentieth century. Door-to-door salesmen sold them aggressively for decades, meaning they entered nearly every middle-class American household. When those households downsize or their owners die, the sets flow into the secondary market — far more sets are available than anyone wants to buy.
The print runs were massive because the business model depended on high-volume sales to amortise the enormous editorial costs. A single edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica might have been produced in hundreds of thousands of sets. These were not rare books when they were new, and they are not rare books now.
No Demand
The internet made printed encyclopedias obsolete as reference tools. Wikipedia, Google, and specialised databases provide faster, more current, and more comprehensive information than any printed encyclopedia could. The practical utility that once justified a $1,000 purchase has evaporated entirely.
There is no nostalgia market of sufficient size to absorb the available supply. Some people enjoy the aesthetic of leather-bound sets on a bookshelf, but the supply so vastly exceeds this decorative demand that prices remain at or near zero.
Libraries, which once maintained encyclopedia collections, have almost universally deaccessioned them. Schools have moved to digital resources. The institutional market has disappeared.
Condition Problems
Even if demand existed, the condition of most surviving sets is poor. Encyclopedias were reference tools, meaning they were used heavily — pages are thumbed, bindings are worn, spines are cracked. Sets stored in garages, attics, and basements have suffered from humidity, temperature fluctuations, and insects. And sets are rarely complete — missing a single volume breaks the set and further diminishes value.
The Exceptions
A tiny number of encyclopedias have genuine value:
First edition Encyclopaedia Britannica (1768–1771). The original three-volume set published in Edinburgh is a legitimate antiquarian collectible, valued at $5,000–$30,000 depending on condition. This is a historically significant publication, not a household reference set.
Early editions of Britannica (second through sixth editions, 1777–1824). These have modest antiquarian value, typically $500–$3,000 per set, depending on edition, completeness, and condition.
Diderot’s Encyclopédie (1751–1772). The great French Enlightenment encyclopedia is a major work of intellectual history. Complete sets are rare and valuable, typically $20,000–$100,000+.
Medieval and Renaissance encyclopedias. Pre-1700 encyclopedic works (Pliny’s Natural History in early printed editions, Vincent of Beauvais, Isidore of Seville) are collected as antiquarian books.
Specific illustrations. Some nineteenth-century encyclopedias contain fine steel engravings or chromolithographic plates that have value as individual prints, even though the set as a whole does not.
What to Do with an Unwanted Set
If you have inherited or acquired a set of encyclopedias, your realistic options are:
Donate. Some charitable organisations accept book donations for resale, though many thrift stores now refuse encyclopedias because they cannot sell them.
Recycle. This feels wrong but is often the most practical option. Encyclopedia paper can be recycled.
Repurpose. Crafters use encyclopedia pages for art projects, decoupage, and other creative applications. Old encyclopedias with decorative bindings can serve as display objects.
Keep for decorative purposes. If the set is attractive and you have the shelf space, leather-bound encyclopedia sets have genuine aesthetic value even if they have no market value.
Do not pay for storage. Under no circumstances should you pay to store an encyclopedia set in the hope that it will appreciate. It will not.
Other Books People Think Are Valuable But Aren’t
Encyclopedias are part of a broader category of books that people assume have value based on age, appearance, or original purchase price, but which the market prices near zero:
| Category | Typical Value | Why No Value |
|---|---|---|
| Encyclopedias (post-1900) | $0–$20 per set | Mass-produced, obsolete, abundant supply |
| Reader’s Digest Condensed Books | $0–$5 per volume | Not original texts, enormous print runs |
| National Geographic magazines | $0–$2 per issue (some exceptions) | Millions of copies per issue, rarely discarded |
| Book club editions (general) | $5–$20 | Lower quality, huge print runs, no collectible identity |
| Old Bibles (post-1800, common editions) | $5–$50 | Produced in millions, no scarcity |
| Old dictionaries | $0–$10 | Utility destroyed by digital tools |
| Old textbooks | $0–$5 | Outdated content, no demand |
The common thread is mass production combined with obsolete utility. Age alone does not create value — a book from 1920 is not automatically valuable. Scarcity and demand determine value, and most categories of mass-produced reference works satisfy neither requirement.
The Emotional Reality
Many people are disappointed — even offended — when they learn their family’s encyclopedia set is worthless. The set may have cost $500–$1,500 when purchased, may have been a significant household investment, and may carry sentimental associations with childhood homework and parental aspiration. None of these factors translate into market value. The rare book market is not sentimental. It prices objects based on scarcity and demand, and encyclopedias satisfy neither criterion.
Frequently Asked Questions
My encyclopedias are leather-bound. Doesn’t that make them more valuable? Unfortunately, no. Leather-bound encyclopedias were the standard premium binding offered by publishers to justify the high purchase price. They were produced in large quantities, and the leather quality is generally mediocre — machine-embossed rather than hand-tooled. A leather-bound set from the 1960s is functionally identical in market terms to a cloth-bound set from the same period.
My set is over 100 years old. Isn’t age valuable? Not inherently. A 1910 Britannica is simply an outdated encyclopedia from 1910. Its age makes it historically interesting as an artifact of early twentieth-century knowledge, but there is no market willing to pay meaningful sums for that interest. Genuinely old encyclopedias (pre-1800) are different — they are rare by survival and have antiquarian value.
Can I sell the plates or illustrations separately? In some cases, yes. Nineteenth-century encyclopedias with fine steel engravings or hand-colored plates can be broken for their illustrations, which sell individually to decorators and print collectors for $5–$50 per plate. This is a common practice, though book purists object to it. The resulting profit rarely exceeds $50–$200 for an entire set — less than the time spent extracting and listing them.