The surest way to find out the value and probable value of an old book is to contact a second-hand book dealer who can share his knowledge for free or for the most nominal fee. True, some conclusions can be drawn independently, knowing several general and most correct rules that allow us to evaluate the significance of the book in the eyes of collectors and bibliophiles.
Instruction manual
1
Examine the book and tell yourself first, without exaggeration and without exaggerating, what is the state of this book, how well it has been preserved after going through many decades. The condition of the old book is almost of primary importance - there are very few such rarities that would remain a welcome find for second-hand book readers in the absence of a dozen pages. If the "native" cover of the book is well preserved, all pages (illustrations, pastes, etc.) are available, the book block does not fall apart, then the probability that the book is of any value is already quite high.
2
Find out if your book is an independent publication or is part of a multi-volume collection, having two, three, or maybe a couple of dozen brothers under other numbers. Connoisseurs of antique books prefer to purchase complete series, as finding the missing volumes for a book printed over a hundred years ago can be extremely difficult. Hence the conclusion - disparate volumes of multivolume publications are valued and much less in demand than individual books.
3
Determine the subject of the book and the nationality of its author - this will help to some extent draw conclusions about the value of the publication or, in any case, the demand for it in the second-hand market. The first editions of the works of Russian authors are much more interesting than the numerous translations of foreign writers and scholarly works. In turn, among Russian-language books, fiction is more valued, it does not have a term of practical “suitability, ” while many natural-science works are long outdated and not interesting even for a narrow circle of specialists.
4
Finally, try to find out, using all available sources of information, whether the book of interest to you has been published recently. If so, then interest in it remains almost exclusively aesthetic - few people want to read what they can read in their usual form in pre-revolutionary spelling. Among several editions of the same book, issued a very long time ago (before the war or even before the revolution), the first or at least lifetime edition is valued more than others - carried out before the physical death of the author of this book.
