Really popular literature in the nineteenth century

 Recently, I've been cataloguing the books used to 'dress' Lakeview, ie nineteenth century books bought as job lots at auctions and from garage sales that are used as props to help give the impression of what the house would be like when people actually lived there in the late nineteenth century.

The books fall into roughly two categories - boring didactic books of overtly Christian stories, often given as prizes for 'general advancement and conduct' at Sunday school, and books by popular authors of the time such as Charles Dickens and Louisa M. Alcott.

Well, while it's hardly a scientific study, one thing that is noticeable is the the more popular books have damaged spines, are more likely to have been given as presents for birthdays, and quite worn, suggesting that they have been read and reread, possibly by several generations

while the goody two shoes overtly Christian books seem to have been little read with bindings that are still tight and have undamaged covers.

There's obviously a curatorial risk here - if you select the books in good condition to make a nicer display, do you risk suggesting that people were more overtly religious than they actually were?