Determining the Value of an Old Book
Recently I picked up an old book that the college library I go to was just giving away for free (obviously trying to get rid of books they no longer have a demand for). Lucky for me, I came across a book I think might have some value to it. The problem is, I don't have a lot of information about how to determine monetary value of a book nor does the book itself provide a lot of information.
The book is The Economic Consequences of the Peace by John Maynard Keynes. It contains what I believe to be an author's page, the preface is written by Keynes himself, and the copyright date (or rather, the only copyright date) on the copyright page says 1920. While some sources say that the book was originally published in 1919, the only date on the book itself concerning copyright is 1920 while the preface dates to November, 1919. What information I'm looking up seems confusing and conflicting with even one source saying that it was "first published" in 1919 but then, in that same set of information, says that it was published (just "published") in 1920.
Note: there is no ISBN number, no row of numbers at the bottom of the page, nothing. All the text on the page reads like this:
COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY
HARCOURT, BRACE AND HOWE, INC.
*down further in tinier text* . . .
THE QUINN & BODEN COMPANY
RAHWAY. N J.
At the bottom of the title page, we have "New York: Harcourt, Brace and Howe. 1920." in similar fashion to the copyright page text.
I checked the back, I checked the front, I checked everywhere. I don't know if there's any information that the library's organization and numbers can tell me (though the staff had no idea about this particular book itself when I asked). Can someone in the know-how explain this and help me better understand?
. . . And yes, this is the only community I'm a part of right now so you are the only people I can ask at the moment.
The book is The Economic Consequences of the Peace by John Maynard Keynes. It contains what I believe to be an author's page, the preface is written by Keynes himself, and the copyright date (or rather, the only copyright date) on the copyright page says 1920. While some sources say that the book was originally published in 1919, the only date on the book itself concerning copyright is 1920 while the preface dates to November, 1919. What information I'm looking up seems confusing and conflicting with even one source saying that it was "first published" in 1919 but then, in that same set of information, says that it was published (just "published") in 1920.
Note: there is no ISBN number, no row of numbers at the bottom of the page, nothing. All the text on the page reads like this:
COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY
HARCOURT, BRACE AND HOWE, INC.
*down further in tinier text* . . .
THE QUINN & BODEN COMPANY
RAHWAY. N J.
At the bottom of the title page, we have "New York: Harcourt, Brace and Howe. 1920." in similar fashion to the copyright page text.
I checked the back, I checked the front, I checked everywhere. I don't know if there's any information that the library's organization and numbers can tell me (though the staff had no idea about this particular book itself when I asked). Can someone in the know-how explain this and help me better understand?
. . . And yes, this is the only community I'm a part of right now so you are the only people I can ask at the moment.