Medical books

Found these cleaning out a house hoping to id them I don’t think they will be worth much because of the condition but just want to make sure before I decide what to do with them

 

Throw them out.

 

I'm not sure how many volumes I'm seeing but nothing appears to have value. That's based on both subject and condition. Just to make sure... What's the full title of the first book?

Debora

 

Can give them to a crafter to use the pages for crafts...

 

As they're mass produced reference books, the paper quality may not be very good.

Debora

 

When making such decisions about books, some of the things to consider are:

1) How common was the publication - ie. how many copies were originally printed and, therefore, how many copies might still be in existence? For example, the Medical Dictionary mentions that 70,000 copies of the previous edition had been sold. Reference books and school books were generally printed in large numbers, and may be quite common. Books that were printed in large quantities often retain little value.

2) Is the subject matter unique and/or still of interest? General reference books (dictionaries and other broad topics) often retain little appeal. Most medical and legal texts are soon superseded. Religious publications rarely retain value.

3) Condition, condition, condition. The condition of a book can save or sink it, in terms of value, in spite of other considerations.

I am afraid your 3 books have several strikes against them - common, uninteresting subject matter, and poor condition.

You can also use a website such as abebooks.com to compare the listings of other experienced booksellers. Just be careful to match all characteristics of a book when searching - author and title (of course) but also publisher, year of publication, format (hardcover vs paperback and any other binding details), and condition.

 

I am in total agreement with 2manybooks

 

I think the first one might be some edition of this The Augsburg Drawing Book?

https://www.etsy.com/ie/listing/601986634/lot-of-11-the-augsburg-drawing-books

 

Think you got it. Fabulous Art Deco cover.

Debora

 

thank you so much @2manybooks !! this is excellent.

I never could figure out what the first book is? Oh I see Fig figured it out! Now I know what the "Fig" in Figtree3 means: figured it out!! Thanks Fig and if it is the drawing book, I'd want to see that one!! Not that it would be worth anything in that condition, I just like to look at artwork!

 

An earlier version of Augburg's is available on-line if you're curious.

https://www.slideshare.net/ssuserf1...3b-48be-8193-36562b3fd1b0&v=&b=&from_search=1

Debora

 

Wow that's a very nice website. Unfortunately, I don't have enough bandwidth or wifi to see the pictures without waiting 60 sec for each to load. If I fire up my cell phone, it can work a little faster but not a lot.

Does anyone know what causes this?

 

Gremlins? (Limit of my technological knowledge.)

Debora

 

That is curious. I am assuming the first four photos are of the same book, as you can see the thumb index. In the fourth photo, you can see on the top of the pages: "American Pocket Medical Dictionary".

 

I guess I posted the Reader's Digest version

 

Yes, that is odd. Maybe the Augsburg part is just a piece of paper wrapped around the rest? I guess we may never know. From the little I could tell, the Augsburg book was some sort of drawing text for school children or for art students.

 

Now, old Reader's Digest books you can just throw out.

 

Unless nothing else in the house can serve as a door stop.

Debora

 

I wonder whether it has something to do with the size of the slides on Slideshare? If they are as big as PowerPoint slides, that might be an issue for some.

 

18th C. and earlier medical and science books sell quite well with less fuss about condition, because they interest many modern readers with a yen for the history of science (or 'Natural Philosophy', as it was then)

Religious books are usually dead in the water after 1700, but 17th C. texts can do well notably in the USA.

There is not much 19th C. general stuff that anyone wants, excluding first editions of 'great works', etc. The 20th C., more so, this is when you need to know the notable exceptions, the strange world of 'Modern First Editions'