5 Valuable Multi-Volume Book Sets I Bought Dirt Cheap

Over the years the #booknerd in me has scored! I’ve come across a few valuable multi-volume book sets that I bought for dirt cheap at book sales, garage sales, and even libraries. In addition to being an avid reader I also have been collecting books for over 30 years now and have on the order of over 1,600 books in my library, and yes, I’ve read ALL of them – well, about 95%. I actually don’t literally “collect” books, I just keep everything I read.

If you’re a book lover like me then you’ll appreciate the art of the find and the opportunity to own a few precious multi-volume book sets, box sets, or collections, as they transition any book shelf or library from ordinary to SEXY. Yes, in my world books can be sexy! If I had a dream job it would be the literary version of the show American Pickers where I went around finding others’ discarded books and buying them on the cheap to add to my personal library, or to find good homes for them.

5 Valuable Multi-Volume Book Sets I Bought Dirt Cheap

1. David Hume – “The History of England 6 Volume Set” (1983 edition)

I just found this 6 volume set at an annual book sale and I only paid $4.00 for it! How many pristine multi-volume book sets have you found for this cheap? As you can see it still has its original wrapping and therefore has never been read, marked, handled, or even opened. This little gem has been waiting for me since 1983. I cannot wait to peruse its pages as I have read other works by renowned author/philosopher David Hume. This was a huge score for me.

2. Carl Sandburg – “Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years & The War Years 6 Volume Set” (1926/1939 edition)

I inherited and read the abridged version of Carl Sandburg’s “Abraham Lincoln,” which you see to the far right with Lincoln’s face on it, and it has been one of my absolute favorite books ever since. Not even a year later I came across this 6 volume UNABRIDGED version of the same book and only paid $6.00 for it! I literally almost fell over with excitement when I saw it in such pristine condition – there’s minor scuffing and it does not have the original paper covers that came with it.

However, thumbing through this edition simply humbles me when I think about the research and scholarship that went into producing such a monumental work on Abraham Lincoln. This shelf is almost like a shrine to Lincoln as I have the Illustrated Version of “The Prairie Years & The War Years” right next to that off to the far right! I also have 4 other Essential Abraham Lincoln books you need to read.

3. Castle Books – “Battles and Leaders of the Civil War 4 Volume Set” (1956 edition)

Although many 4 multi-volume book sets detailing the Civil War have a slightly Northern bias, this one is stuffed full of drawings, battle plans, charts, pictures, and even fold-outs that make this a super valuable find. There have been other updated versions since this original 1956 publication (it’s been rebranded under another publisher); however, the contents are all still the same and my version has the original cloth hard covers. I only paid $4.00 for this as well. A volume like this is basically a fact-filled mini reference section on the Civil War.

4. Winston Churchill – “The History of the English Speaking Peoples 4 Volume Box Set” (1990 edition)

Winston Churchill wrote a classic back in 1958 and this box set features cloth covers and the original formatting. Since this work has been published in so many different versions and editions, finding something so close to the original makes my bookshelves look very stately. I paid $5.00 for this at a book sale.

5. Gies & Gies – “Scenes of Medieval Life Multi-Volume Book Set” (2002 Folio edition)

The fairly rare “Scenes of Medieval Life” box set series by Frances and Joseph Gies is basically the blown-up, illustrated version of the books “Life in a Medieval Castle,” “Life in a Medieval City,” and “Life in a Medieval Village.” You can see those individual titles to the left of this 3 volume set on my shelf, sitting there looking very demure I must say.

I got this box set for FREE! As well as another semi-duplicate set for FREE!

Due to an order mix up where one of the books in this trilogy was incorrect when it arrived, the seller refunded the cost and even sent me a new, correct version! So now I have 2! I have to disclaim that I actually wrote to the seller insisting that I should return the extra box set and that no refund was necessary so long as I eventually received what I had ordered. After a bit of back and forth, they wrote back that it was their seller’s platform policy and that I should just enjoy them!

This is a box set that I cherish very much. In any case, unlike my other books, this volume was just for the “collection” as I already owned and read the other 3 books in the series, which you can find as part of my complete Gies & Gies book collection. Just look at that gold lettering!

BONUS: Shelby Foote – “The Civil War: A Narrative Multi-Volume Book Set” (2011 edition)

As you can see my version of Shelby Foote’s “The Civil War: A Narrative” is unopened and that’s because I’ve read much (not all) of the 1986 version that I found at a library bookstore. As I still wanted to own the box set version of one of my favourite all-time books, I purchased the edition you see above as it is, for lack of a better term, the sexiest. I donated the older versions back to the library for them to resell as I know that I’ll come across the hard-cover versions one day.

BONUS BONUS: The other cool Civil War book that I have, although technically not a multi-volume set, is “Mary Chestnut’s Civil War” which you see dominating the skyline of my shelf to the right of Shelby Foote’s box set. Let me tell you, that is a cool read and I only paid $1.00 for it!

BONUS BONUS BONUS: Here’s one more crazy valuable multi-volume book set that I got on the cheap. This medieval box by the Folio Society set was so cool I did a photo shoot for it after I brought it home!

A History of the Crusades, 3 Volume Box Set (Folio Society)

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