Statistical Atlas of United States Ninth Census 1870

Hi, I picked this book up at a estate sale this weekend. It is a 1870 Statistical Atlas of United States By Francis A. Walker. It measures 22 x 17. It is in fairly good condition for its age. A lot of maps. Looks like nothing missing. In my research I'm really not finding one exactly like this one. Any opinions?

 

I think it's fascinating!

 

I think so too! I know we don't like to talk about value but..... Any ideas?

 

When you say you are not finding one exactly like this, do you mean for sale?

The library where I work has one of these, and looks like there are quite a few listed in WorldCat, too. And it was reprinted later, as recently as 2003.

 

http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl&st=sl&ref=bf_s2_a1_t2_2&qi=SLa2Z.v153Z.X6mXUlKGWFeQyjE_1442871427_1:506:1472&bq=author=francis%20a%20walker&title=statistical%20atlas%20of%20the%20united%20states

Above are asking prices, of course. These say they were published by J. Bien.

 

What a cool book! Here are current asking prices across book sites, not including eBay...

link

Asking prices can be deceptive, but it wouldn't surprise me if this book could turn out to be a hot property.

 

Fig beat me to it, though we used different search engines so the results may be somewhat different.

 

Here are more... some say they were published by the Department of the Interior, and some say [New York].
http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?a...ed%20states%20based%20on%20the%20results%20of

 

No problem, the more the merrier! There may be overlap and some differences.

 

There were two 19th century statistical atlas' listed on eBay recently, and both sold...

link

 

I just noticed that all four entries in the link above are being sold by the same dealer. But they are different prices. So not sure if they have more than one copy or are listing different prices on different sites. And my second link is a similar situation.

 

Thanks guys!! Fig how would I know what year it was printed? And is your reprint in the library this big? I seen one the same on Christies that sold for 2800.00 back in I think 2010. The reprints seem like regular size books. This book is huge. That's why I'm here because I don't know.

 

Yeah but they don't show the pictures. I think the reprints are smaller than mine aren't they ?

 

You included a photo of the title page that says 1874. I assume that is the year yours was printed.

Our online catalog says the one we have is 56 cm., which is 22 inches plus some decimals.

ours in in the Special Collections department which has limited hours and is not open right now.

 

I've often noticed sellers having different prices on the same copy on different sites. I think it's because some sites change more fees or cater to different types of buyers, or (most likely) the seller didn't do a good job of keeping their prices consistent across sites.

 

As Fig said, usually the title page is the true printing date and I'd also assume this book was published in 1874.

My understanding, though, is that sometimes when a book was reprinted in a later year, the publisher didn't update the title page.

 

You can tell it's very old because it shows its age. How should I care for this book how do I store it?

 

Books like moderate temperature and humidity and shouldn't be kept in direct sunlight. Also, it's recommended that larger books like this be kept lying on their side.

 

Your book does look genuinely old, but if it were reprinted, say, 10 or 20 years after the date printed on the title page, it would still be old and could look more or less the same.

I have books that were published in the middle of the 19th century that I assumed were first editions but ended up being reprints. There's no hard and fast rule since the publication info included in books isn't standardized. Different publishers handled it differently (and still do), and even the same publisher can change their practice over time.

 

Who could tell me if its a first edition or reprint?