So what are spellbooks worth?

[LordBlade]

You kill a wizard and pick up his spellbook. I'm guessing if you're a caster, you could try to scribe some of the spells he's got into your own book, right?

If you're not... what do you do with the book?
How much would a spellbook be worth?
Can an Artificer break them down for XP for crafting?

[Zombulian]

You kill a wizard and pick up his spellbook. I'm guessing if you're a caster, you could try to scribe some of the spells he's got into your own book, right?

If you're not... what do you do with the book?
How much would a spellbook be worth?
Can an Artificer break them down for XP for crafting?

You could probably sell the book for a value equivalent to having a scroll of each of the spells contained. It would possibly be worth more because the spells wouldn't disappear after scribing right?
On the second question... why would it work like that at all?

Edit: From the SRD

In most cases, wizards charge a fee for the privilege of copying spells from their spellbooks. This fee is usually equal to the spell’s level × 50 gp

[LordBlade]

I know an Artificer can break down magical stuff to build up their XP pool for crafting. So I was wondering if spellbooks counted in that.
I suppose it does make sense that a spellbook would be a "permanent" scroll. Unless scribing from the spellbook somehow "used up" that spell from the book... it's not really something I've thought about before.

[Zombulian]

I know an Artificer can break down magical stuff to build up their XP pool for crafting. So I was wondering if spellbooks counted in that.
I suppose it does make sense that a spellbook would be a "permanent" scroll. Unless scribing from the spellbook somehow "used up" that spell from the book... it's not really something I've thought about before.

I think the SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicOverview/arcaneSpells.htm#writingaNewSpellintoaSpellbook) has all the answers you're looking for. A spell recorded from a spellbook does not disappear.

[Falontani]

You kill a wizard and pick up his spellbook. I'm guessing if you're a caster, you could try to scribe some of the spells he's got into your own book, right?

If you're not... what do you do with the book?
How much would a spellbook be worth?
Can an Artificer break them down for XP for crafting?

A Wizard's spellbook comes loaded with every wizard cantrip (as long as they aren't prohibited) It comes loaded with 4+Int Mod first level spells, +2 spells per level afterwards. Each page written if taking a fresh book and writing it all down (say a wizard copying his spellbook) costs 50 gold. Each spell level is a full page worth. So a 6th level spell consists of 6 pages each worth 50 gold.

Spellbook, Wizard’s (Blank): This large, leatherbound book serves as a wizard’s reference. A spellbook has 100 pages of parchment, and each spell takes up one page per spell level (one page each for 0-level spells). See Space in the Spellbook, page 179.

Spells Copied from Another’s Spellbook or a Scroll: A wizard can also add a spell to her book whenever she encounters one on a magic scroll or in another wizard’s spellbook. No matter what the spell’s source, the wizard must first decipher the magical writing (see Arcane Magical Writings, above). Next, she must spend a day studying the spell. At the end of the day, she must make a Spellcraft check (DC 15 + spell’s level). A wizard who has specialized in a school of spells gains a +2 bonus on the Spellcraft check if the new spell is from her specialty school. She cannot, however, learn any spells from her prohibited schools. If the check succeeds, the wizard understands the spell and can copy it into her spellbook (see Writing a New Spell into a Spellbook, below). The process leaves a spellbook that was copied from unharmed, but a spell successfully copied from a magic scroll disappears from the parchment. If the check fails, the wizard cannot understand or copy the spell. She cannot attempt to learn or copy that spell again until she gains another rank in Spellcraft. A spell that was being copied from a scroll does not vanish from the scroll. In most cases, wizards charge a fee for the privilege of copying spells from their spellbooks. This fee is usually equal to the spell’s level × 50 gp, though many wizards jealously guard their higher-level spells and may charge much more, or even deny access to them altogether. Wizards friendly to one another often trade access to equal-level spells from each other’s spellbooks at no cost.
Independent Research: A wizard also can research a spell independently, duplicating an existing spell or creating an entirely new one. The Dungeon Master’s Guide has information on this topic under Creating New Spells in Chapter 2.

Once a wizard understands a new spell, she can record it into her spellbook.
Time: The process takes 24 hours, regardless of the spell’s level.
Space in the Spellbook: A spell takes up one page of the spellbook per spell level, so a 2nd-level spell takes two pages, a 5th-level spell takes five pages, and so forth. Even a 0 level spell (cantrip) takes one page. A spellbook has one hundred pages.
Materials and Costs: Materials for writing the spell (special quills, inks, and other supplies) cost 100 gp per page.



Table 5-1 Spellbooks


Cover
Weight
Hardness
Hit Points
Cost


Leather
1 lb
2
+0
5 gp


Wood, Thin
1 lb
3
+1
20 gp


Metal, Soft
5 lbs
5
+4
100 gp


Metal, Hard
5 lbs
7
+5
200 gp


Dragonhide
2 lbs
4
+2
200 gp


Slipcase
+1 lb
+1
+1
+20 gp





Pages(100)
Weight
Hardness
Hit Points
Cost


Parchment
2 lbs
0
1
10 gp


Paper, Linen
2 lbs
0
2
20 gp


Vellum
2 lbs
0
3
50 gp


Bone/Ivory
4 lbs
0
4
100 gp


Metal Foil
20 lbs
+1
8
500 gp




The base cost of 15 gp buys a well-bound leather volume of 100 parchment pages, a style also typically used for other high-quality books such as the genealogies of noble families or the master copies of sages’ published writings. Exotic materials increase the cost and weight of a spellbook accordingly, and these materials are usually reserved for grimoires, not arcanabula.

So assuming an 18 starting intelligence a wizard starts the game off with up to 37 cantrips, and 7 first level spells. That is 44/100 pages taken at level 1. Each level you gain 2 spells, usually taken from the highest level spell level you can acquire. Meaning:
Level 2: 46/100 pages
Level 3: 50/100 pages
Level 4: 54/100 pages
Level 5: 60/100 pages
Level 6: 66/100 pages
Level 7: 74/100 pages
Level 8: 82/100 pages
Level 9: 92/100 pages
Level 10: 102/200 pages (we had to purchase more space at this level)
Level 11: 114/200 pages
Level 12: 126/200 pages
Level 13: 150/200 pages
Level 14: 164/200 pages
Level 15: 180/200 pages
Level 16: 196/200 pages
Level 17: 214/300 pages (we had to purchase more space at this level)
Level 18: 232/300 pages
Level 19: 250/300 pages
Level 20: 268/300 pages

Each page is worth 50 gold

All of the above is done with a base wizard, not with any scrolls scribed into his book. Not with any research done to learn new spells, not with sharing notes with colleagues.

[Malimar]

Because every wizard starts with every cantrip known, nobody ever needs to copy a cantrip (except in the case of losing a spellbook, I suppose? and I guess Chameleons? Either way, not often), so I'd generally leave cantrips out of the price calculation, or count them for at most half.

[Doctor Awkward]

Depends on how much of them is filled with spells. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicOverview/arcaneSpells.htm#sellingaSpellbook)


Selling a Spellbook
Captured spellbooks can be sold for a gp amount equal to one-half the cost of purchasing and inscribing the spells within (that is, one-half of 100 gp per page of spells). A spellbook entirely filled with spells (that is, with one hundred pages of spells inscribed in it) is worth 5,000 gp.