Yes, the original price of To Kill a Mockingbird and Tolkien’s Fellowship were just $3.95 and $5. But those are nominal values. When we factor inflation, the picture changes dramatically. In today’s dollars—and you can run this exercise yourself—those cover prices would look more like $43 and $54.
But, of course, they’re nowhere near so high. I’ve got a hardcover of To Kill a Mockingbird right here by my elbow printed in 2023. Cover price? $27.99. So, while the nominal cost of books has gone up, factoring inflation, it’s nowhere near as high as we should expect. In fact, while not immune, books have been remarkably resistant to inflation.
Along with countless other goods and services, the Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks the cost of “recreational books” year over year as part of the Consumer Price Index. And guess what? $20 worth of books in 1997 would cost you a skosh less today: $19.49. “Recreational books experienced an average inflation rate of -0.09% per year,” reports the CPI Inflation Counter website.