The two-source rule
A point of issue, a print run, a publication date or a value is published only when two independent sources agree. One source alone, however good, stays off the public page until a second confirms it. Every identification page lists the sources it rests on under "Where these facts come from", and the date the facts were last checked.
Sources we accept: descriptive bibliographies; publishers' own archives and imprint pages; auction house catalogues and results; descriptions by dealers who are members of the ABA, PBFA, ABAA or ILAB; the catalogues of national and research libraries (the British Library, the Library of Congress, WorldCat); periodicals contemporary with the book; and scans or photographs of the copy itself. Sources we do not rely on alone: marketplace listings, forum posts, machine-generated summaries, and encyclopaedia articles that give no citation of their own.
What "first edition" means here
We use the collector's meaning. The first edition is the first setting of a book's text; the first printing (in Britain, the first impression) is the first run of copies from it, and that is the copy collectors want. Where a book appeared in two countries we say which came first and treat the other as a first UK or first American edition. Our guide to first edition versus first printing explains the terms.
Where values come from
Values attach to a printing and a condition, never to a title in general. They are built from recorded sales of the same printing in a similar condition: auction results, dealer sales and verified marketplace sales, with outliers removed and the date range and number of sales shown beside every figure. Where we have estimates rather than recorded sales we say so. Until a printing has enough recorded sales, its page shows no value at all rather than a guess. Values are guides to the market, not formal valuations for insurance, probate or sale; for those, ask a specialist dealer or auction house.
Values are stored in pounds sterling and can be shown in US dollars or euros using daily European Central Bank rates; the conversion is approximate.
Condition
We grade book and dust jacket separately on the trade scale: Fine, Near Fine, Very Good, Good, Fair and Poor. The condition grading guide gives the definitions we use.
Identification text and pictures
Identification notes are written in our own words, never copied from a dealer's or auction house's description. Title-page and copyright-page scans are credited to the library or collection that holds the copy, with the licence stated. Members' photographs of their own copies are shown with their permission and credited to them.
Who writes and checks
Pages carry the byline of Harriet Ellis, the house name of the MyVolumes editorial desk. It is a pen name, and the profile page says so. Contributors who send us verified issue points are credited on the page once a second source agrees.
Affiliate links
"Buy a copy" links to booksellers are affiliate links: if you buy through them we may earn a small commission, which does not affect the price you pay or the values we show. They are marked on every page where they appear.
Corrections
If something on a page is wrong, tell us which page and what the right answer is, with a source if you have one. We acknowledge corrections within seven days, change the page when the facts are confirmed, and update its "last reviewed" date so the change is visible.
Last updated 17 October 2026.