Important information
The condition of use of this website is that you do not rely on any of the information in it without checking it to your satisfaction.
The information is provided in good faith,
but sometimes errors exist in the sources, or are introduced in transcriptions or understanding,
eg: some of the ‘book’ titles may actually be pamphlets or learned journal articles;
the dates for plays are often those for the first performance,
which may be significantly different from the formal publication date;
and for many other books there can be a small uncertainty in the publication year.
For some authors, an attempt has been made to indicate by the use of parentheses which of their full set of names were used as a byline,
but different forms occur in different places, the sources don't always make clear what was used,
and it's too time-consuming to check all of them. So don't place much importance on this parenthesising.
About this website
The aim of this site is to catalog all deceased authors, and
all authors of books published before 1964, including for each their full name(s), date & place of death,
date & place of birth, pseudonyms, gender & nationality (for those who died after 1920),
and their books published before 1964.
The purpose of this site is:
- by cataloging the dates of death of authors,
to enable the determination of the expiry of their copyright where a “life + x years” rule applies.
Where the date of death is unavailable, the date of birth or date of their first publication
can be used to set an upper limit to the duration of copyright.
- by cataloging the dates of publication of books, to enable the determination of the expiry of their copyright
where a “publication + x years” rule applies. In the US, for works published in 1923
thru 1963 the copyright status also depends on whether the initial copyright was renewed –
see the Catalog of Copyright Entries (Renewals) webpage for guidance on this.
- to identify those books already available on the Internet,
to help online readers and avoid unnecessary duplication of effort by “electronic republishers”.
Status: The catalog currently contains over 100 000 authors out of at least 500 000 deceased authors, and
over 200 000 (25 000 of them online) out of at least 2 500 000 books published before 1964.
Of these authors, about 17 500 (17%) are female.
Abbreviations, etc:
- Women's maiden (nee) and sequence of married (1:Mrs, etc) names are identified thus, where known.
- ‘c__’ means ‘circa __’ or about.
Dates: The date of first publication in book form is usually given;
for works first published in a periodical, that date is also included, in parentheses ( );
multiple dates separated by slashes (/) indicate revised editions;
a dash (-) indicates that publication was spread over that period.
How to buy or borrow an old book
This website does not deal in books, but the following information may help you find what you're looking for.
If there is no link in the margin on the left hand side of the book's title on the webpage
then there is not an electronic copy available on the Internet, to the best of my knowledge,
but I recommend you also check the On-Line Books site
as its listings are more complete than mine.
If no one has a link, you're down to looking for a paper copy...
Look it up in the US Library of Congress catalog,
for British authors also try the British Library,
for Canadian authors also try the National Library of Canada,
for Australian authors also try the National Library of Australia,
for New Zealand authors also try the National Library of New Zealand
and for French & other European authors also try the Bibliotheque Nationale de France.
Thus armed with the publishing data (full title, full author(s)/editor(s) name(s), publisher, place & date of publication) you can then try getting
a copy if it's in print from Amazon or Barnes & Noble in the US,
or Amazon or Blackwell's in the UK,
or use the price comparison service at bookfinder4u.
If it's out of print, some of them offer a search service, but it's better to use the availability & price-comparison service at
bookfinder4u,
AddALL or
BooksPrice.com
or the comprehensive book mart systems at
abebooks.com &
Alibris.
Or you can use a second-hand book search service directly, such as
Booksearch at Hay,
BookFinder.com,
Bibliofind at Amazon,
Free Book Searches,
HP Bookfinders,
Curran's Books (in N Ireland),
Powells.com &
usedbooksearch.co.uk,
or try enquiring at a second-hand or antiquarian bookdealer specialising in the subject from the extensive list
in the AcqWeb Directory.
Alternatively, try a book search service through a local second-hand or antiquarian book dealer, who you may be able to find in the Yellow Pages of big cities.
The price of second-hand books is strongly dependent on their condition, which the trade (at least in the UK) describe as:
- Mint - as new
- Fine - almost as new
- VG (Very Good) - showing only minor signs of use
- G (Good) - bookseller-speak for well used
- Poor - text complete, otherwise defective: a reading copy only
and whether it has its dust-jacket/wrapper & the condition of that, and also whether it's autographed by the author & if the dedication is to someone important.
There's also further advice on finding old books at Any Amount of Books.
Another possibility is to try borrowing it on Inter-Library Loan (or similar system) through your local public library or educational establishment's library.
How to sell or value an old book
This website does not deal in books, but the following information may help you find what you're looking for.
The value of second-hand books is strongly dependent on their condition, which the trade (at least in the UK) describe as:
- Mint - as new
- Fine - almost as new
- VG (Very Good) - showing only minor signs of use
- G (Good) - bookseller-speak for well used
- Poor - text complete, otherwise defective: a reading copy only
and whether it has its dust-jacket/wrapper & the condition of that, and also whether it's autographed by the author & if the dedication is to someone important.
Next, you need to identify the edition you have. To help do this,
look it up in the US Library of Congress catalog,
for British authors also try the British Library,
for Canadian authors also try the National Library of Canada,
for Australian authors also try the National Library of Australia,
for New Zealand authors also try the National Library of New Zealand
and for French & other European authors also try the Bibliotheque Nationale de France.
Thus armed with the publishing data (full title, full author(s)/editor(s) name(s), publisher, place & date of publication)
you can check what people are asking for other copies through the price-comparison services at
bookfinder4u,
AddALL or
BooksPrice.com
or the comprehensive book mart systems at
abebooks.com &
Alibris.
Or you can offer it for sale or ask for a valuation from a second-hand or antiquarian book dealer specialising in a relevant subject
from the extensive list in the AcqWeb Directory.
Alternatively, try a local second-hand or antiquarian book dealer, who you may be able to find in the Yellow Pages of big cities.