i collect copies of "alice's adventures in wonderland" and "through the looking glass" by Lewis Carroll. i usually only go after ones with the original John Tenniel illustrations, but i have one or two that were given to me as gifts that have alternative illustrators.
hmm... guess i should mention that i think i have about 30 copies now.
i have a few that don't have dates in them, but the oldest one that i have with a date is from 1932. i don't know if that copy is worth much, as its spine is taped together and it's generally in not-so-great condition, but i don't have any immediate plans to sell, anyway.
i'd really love to get my hands on one that is from 1899 or before. "adventures" was published in 1865, and "looking glass" in 1872, but the first editions are, understandably, SO hard to find. i've looked. and when you do find one, it's way expensive. so i've compromised with myself that if i can get one with "18" as the first two digits in the date, i can stop looking for old.
a fair number of mine, however, are very new. paperbacks bought off of bookstore shelves not more than a couple of years ago (i really started collecting when i was 14 or so, and i'm 18 now). and let me tell you, it's funny to go to your local bookstore, find their selection of "alice"s, and be able to say, "hmm, i don't need to buy any of those editions because i own them already".
i love looking in used bookstores, tho. you find really interesting ones there.
ebay is also good. for my 16th birthday, many of my gifts were alice related, including books, and my mom found them on ebay.
also, when i was in europe a couple of weeks ago, i made it a point to find a copy of the book in german. i succeeded
so, as i said, i don't plan to sell my collection. i just like collecting it, and i enjoy the variations between editions.
yay alice!