15. What is their value as pulp?

Recently dug up this question from Yahoo! Answers:

Eddie: I have a full set of 1884 Encyclopedia Britannica, does anyone know the value of them?

Best Answer:

Dave: I would say that considering the advent of the Internet since 1984 and the fact that much of the information is outdated or incomplete, they would be difficult to give away. Not trying to be mean, just rational.

Eddie: Yes i think your right.

I guess the 'incomplete' information is a reference to the fact that history still hadn't ended by publication ("Dude, this so-called encyclopedia totally has nothing in it about Korn or even Green Day. Lame!"). Well, Dave is not trying to be mean (although he still totally blows), and he is in fact entirely correct that an EB9 would be difficult to give away, but gentlemen, please, in spite of everything the internet has achieved since 1984, you are referring to the GREATEST, MOST SCHOLARLY WORK OF REFERENCE YET COMPILED. One day, thanks to the work of stalwarts such as the philanthropists at 1902encyclopedia.com, the knowledge in the 9th Edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica will finally all be digitalised and available to fingers that have never left their grubby marks on the pages of an actual book, but that glorious day is, as of the time of writing, still some time off. Until then there will be ACTUAL INFORMATION contained within those dusty pages that CANNOT YET BE FOUND in interwebshire. Some might go so far as to say that even when that day does finally come, there might still be some value, even beyond the merely monetary, in having one of those weighty volumes resting open in your lap.