Scholars and bibliophiles of past dynasties have put forward different views on specific standards, and Zhang Zhidong's view in the late Qing Dynasty is more representative. Zhang explained the meaning of rare books from three aspects:
One said the book was full, not rolled and not cut.
Second, fine books, fine proofreading and fine notes.
Third, old books are copied from old books.
One or two of them are put forward from the perspective of book content and collation, and the third one is put forward from the perspective of edition age. On the basis of predecessors, modern typesetters put forward the "three principles" of rare books, namely, historical relics, academic materials and artistic reproduction.
It is popular to sell ancient books in the market now, but the ancient books in Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties are rare and hard to see, so most of them are books from the Qing Dynasty or the Republic of China.
According to the author's many years of practical experience, there are the following points for reference.
First of all, we should know the editions of books in Qing dynasty, which can be roughly divided into four categories: Neifu engraving, official engraving, private engraving and Fang engraving. Neifu engraving mainly refers to Wuyingtang engraving; Official engraving mainly refers to the engraving of schools and academies in various provinces, prefectures and counties; Private engraving mainly refers to private engraving; Square engraving refers to the engraving of libraries, such as Suzhou Sweep Leaf Mountain Hall, Yangzhou Civil Servant Hall, Ningbo Qunyushan Hall, Anhui Tunxi Rugu Hall, Jinling Kuibizhai, etc.
Second, we should grasp the characteristics of books in Qing Dynasty. Most of the woodcuts in the early Qing Dynasty had the legacy of the Ming Dynasty, and the fonts were slender and heavy. Such as Shunzhi's block-printed Shen Jiaji and Mei Cun Ji. After Kangxi, it was mostly hardware words and software words. Hardware words are imitation of Song Dynasty; Soft characters are writing styles, such as Banqiao Collection, Green Window Draft, Poem of Empress Dowager Yang, etc.
Third, you should know something about the paper of books in Qing Dynasty. Mostly open paper, cotton paper, yellow paper, wool paper, wool paper and so on. , dark yellow in color, soft and durable in paper.
Fourth, we should distinguish the layout of books in Qing Dynasty. Generally speaking, it is mostly bilateral, but also bilateral and unilateral. There are more white mouths and less black mouths, and the binding is mostly thread-bound.
In short, in addition to the above aspects, we should also pay attention to whether the author of the book is consistent with the year of completion, which is also an important part of identifying the authenticity of ancient books in the Qing Dynasty.
Based on the above knowledge, you can first identify the level of your book and check whether there are any auction records in the market in recent years. Check again to see if it's an orphan. Looking for a professional to identify the specific value, it is impossible to judge the exact value in one sentence.