Editorial policy

Readers should be able to trust every fact and every quote on this site. These rules apply to every page.

Facts and sources

  • Dates, prices and records come from reliable sources such as the Library of Congress, auction houses, booksellers' associations, encyclopedias and the books themselves. Each page lists its sources.
  • We never invent prices, sales records or valuations. If we cannot check a fact, we leave it out.
  • Auction prices are given as reported at the time of sale.

Summaries and quotes

  • Summaries are written in our own words. We do not copy text from other websites.
  • We only summarise and quote books that are in the public domain in the United States. Every quote is copied exactly from the Project Gutenberg text and checked word for word, with its chapter.
  • Summaries describe what happens in a book; lessons and “who should read it” notes are our own opinions.
  • Drafts may be prepared with the help of AI writing tools. Every fact and quote is checked against the sources before publishing.

Images

We use only images that are in the Public Domain or released under CC0, and list each one on the credits page. If we ever add AI illustrations, they will be clearly labelled.

Money

We do not buy, sell or appraise books, and nobody pays us to change our advice. If we add affiliate links or ads in the future, we will label them clearly.

Corrections

Spotted a mistake? Tell us on the contact page. We fix errors quickly and update the page date.

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Published 2026-10-27. Last checked 2026-10-27.