Book scanner and ISBN lookup

Yes. The scanner and ISBN lookup are free and run in your phone's browser, with nothing to download. A free account adds owned and wanted flags, so you can see at a glance which books you already have.

Scan the barcode or type the ISBN. We show each edition we hold with that ISBN, whether it is a first edition and its value range by condition where we have recorded one. Value depends on the printing and the condition, so check the copyright page and grade the book and jacket before relying on a figure.

Only part of the way. An unchanged reprint keeps the same ISBN, so the first printing and the tenth printing of an edition share one number. The ISBN finds the edition; the number line, the edition statement and the points on the copyright page tell you the printing. The scanner shows the point to check for each edition we have researched.

On the back cover above the barcode, and on the copyright page, the back of the title page. The barcode number starting 978 or 979 is the ISBN-13. Books from 1970 to 2006 also print a 10-digit ISBN, which works here too.

Type it in. The 9-digit Standard Book Number was used in Britain from 1966 until the 10-digit ISBN replaced it in the early 1970s; we add the leading 0 that turns it into an ISBN and look that up.

Most books printed before about 1970 have none. Search by title and author instead, then compare your copy with the identification guide on each edition's page.

Yes. It works in Safari and Chrome on iPhone and Android: allow camera access when asked and hold the barcode inside the frame. If the camera is unavailable, type the ISBN instead. You can add MyVolumes to your home screen so the scanner opens like an app.

Usually, yes. Book club copies share the title but are cheaper reprints, often without a price on the jacket flap and sometimes with a small blind stamp on the back board. Collectors pay far less for them than for the trade first edition.