Most Valuable American Picturebooks

[picture*books]

 The 'Most Valuable from 1950's' thread got me thinking that some BSB'ers might find the most valuable American picturebooks list of some value.

The following is an excerpt from a database of 25,000 first edition contemporary picturebooks ('contemporary' being the Newbery/Caldecott era). I've given each book in the database a Collectability and Scarcity Index using a 1-to-10 scale. Note that the values are not the market values but what my database estimates the value to be.

Title	Year	Collect ability	Scarce	Est. Value	Award winner	Illus. Last	Illus. First
Curious George	1941	9.5	10.0	$      31,400		Rey	H.A.
And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street	1937	10.0	9.0	$      24,000		Geisel	Theodore
Goodnight Moon	1947	9.0	10.0	$      22,800		Hurd	Clement
Horton Hatches The Egg	1940	9.5	9.0	$      18,000		Geisel	Theodore
Make Way For Ducklings	1941	9.0	9.5	$      18,000	CM	McCloskey	Robert
The Little House	1942	9.0	9.0	$      13,400	CM	Burton	Virginia Lee
The Very Hungry Caterpillar	1969	9.0	9.5	$      13,400		Carle	Eric
The 500 Hats Of Bartholomew Cubbins	1938	8.5	9.0	$      10,600		Geisel	Theodore
The King's Stilts	1939	8.5	9.0	$      10,600		Geisel	Theodore
Where The Wild Things Are	1963	10.0	8.0	$      10,600	CM	Sendak	Maurice
The Runaway Bunny	1942	8.0	9.0	$        7,800		Hurd	Clement
The Snowy Day	1962	7.0	10.0	$        6,600	CM	Keats	Ezra Jack
Millions Of Cats (250)	1928	9.0	7.5	$        6,400	NH	Gág	Wanda
Mike Mulligan And His Steam Shovel	1939	7.5	9.0	$        6,200		Burton	Virginia Lee
Green Eggs And Ham	1960	10.0	7.0	$        6,200		Geisel	Theodore
The Little Engine That Could	1930	8.0	8.0	$        5,000		Lenski	Lois
The Five Chinese Brothers	1938	6.0	10.0	$        5,000		Wiese	Kurt
Millions Of Cats	1928	9.0	7.0	$        4,800	NH	Gág	Wanda
Bumble Bugs And Elephants	1938	7.0	9.0	$        4,800		Hurd	Clement
The Story Of Ferdinand	1936	9.0	7.0	$        4,600		Lawson	Robert
Madeline	1939	9.0	7.0	$        4,400	CH	Bemelmans	Ludwig
Thidwick: The Big-Hearted Moose	1948	8.0	8.0	$        4,200		Geisel	Theodore
Harold And The Purple Crayon	1955	9.0	7.0	$        3,800		Johnson	Crockett
The Story Of Babar	1933	8.5	7.0	$        3,600		Brunhoff	Jean de
The Cat In The Hat	1957	10.0	6.0	$        3,600		Geisel	Theodore
A Story, A Story	1970	7.0	9.0	$        3,400	CM	Haley	Gail E.
The Carrot Seed	1945	7.5	8.0	$        3,400		Johnson	Crockett
Pumpkin Moonshine	1938	9.0	6.5	$        3,400		Tudor	Tasha
The Giving Tree	1964	9.0	7.0	$        3,400		Silverstein	Shel
White Snow, Bright Snow	1947	8.0	7.5	$        3,200	CM	Duvoisin	Roger
McElligot's Pool	1947	8.0	7.5	$        3,200	CH	Geisel	Theodore
If I Ran The Zoo	1950	8.0	7.5	$        3,200	CH	Geisel	Theodore
Cinderella, Or The Little Glass Slipper	1954	8.0	7.5	$        3,000	CM	Brown	Marcia
Horton Hears A Who	1954	8.0	7.5	$        3,000		Geisel	Theodore
The Travels Of Babar	1934	8.0	7.0	$        2,800		Brunhoff	Jean de
Babar The King	1935	8.0	7.0	$        2,800		Brunhoff	Jean de
Little Tim And The Brave Sea Captain	1936	8.0	7.0	$        2,600		Ardizzone	Edward
Abraham Lincoln	1939	8.0	7.0	$        2,600	CM	d'Aulaire	Ingri & Edgar Parin
Mei Li	1938	8.0	7.0	$        2,600	CM	Handforth	Thomas
Cecily G. And The 9 Monkeys	1942	8.0	7.0	$        2,600		Rey	H.A.
Bartholomew And The Oobleck	1949	8.0	7.0	$        2,400	CH	Geisel	Theodore
The Big Snow	1948	7.0	8.0	$        2,400	CM	Hader	Berta & Elmer
Eloise	1955	9.2	6.0	$        2,400		Knight	Hilary
Journey Cake, Ho!	1953	7.0	8.0	$        2,400	CH	McCloskey	Robert
The Egg Tree	1950	7.0	8.0	$        2,400	CM	Milhous	Katherine
Finders Keepers	1951	7.0	8.0	$        2,400	CM	Mordvinoff	Nicholas
Curious George Takes A Job	1947	8.0	7.0	$        2,400		Rey	H.A.
Curious George Rides A Bike	1952	8.0	7.0	$        2,400		Rey	H.A.
Donkey-Donkey	1933	7.5	7.0	$        2,200		Duvoisin	Roger
A Tree Is Nice	1957	7.0	8.0	$        2,200	CM	Simont	Marc
How The Grinch Stole Christmas	1957	10.0	5.0	$        2,000		Geisel	Theodore
Animals Of The Bible	1937	8.5	6.0	$        2,000	CM	Lathrop	Dorothy P.
Sylvester And The Magic Pebble	1969	8.0	7.0	$        2,000	CM	Steig	William
Zephir's Holidays	1937	7.5	7.0	$        2,000		Brunhoff	Jean de
Babar And Father Christmas	1940	7.5	7.0	$        2,000		Brunhoff	Jean de

[fantasyclassics]

Here is a copy of the First Edition of "The Runaway Bunny" from my collection. It is stated a First Edition on the copyright page, this copy is in a library binding (but not ex library). It has a two line colophon on the reverse of the last page of text, and does not have the "Song of the Runaway Bunny" which will later be on that same page. The book was bound with 2 sets of end pages, the pictorial blue and white pages were bound inside of the library end pages and the rear pictorial set has a binders stamp for "Picture Cover Bindings", the company that bound the book.

[figtree3]

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@bigkidbookswrote:

Hi Stan

I thought I would go ahead and ask if you have any documentation of a first edition of the Runaway Bunny.  Any ideas as to the dust jacket configuration and copyright information needed to identify it as a first?  I was able to confirm that the original price was $1.50, but so far that is all. 

Any help is greatly appreciated

Justin

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FYI, I notice that Stan hasn't logged in here since last April. Maybe sending a personal message would help?