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There are two situations where I'll purchase a public domain book.
When the front matter is significant. A Penguin or Oxford edition, for example. Price does matter here; I'll pay a few bucks for it, but otherwise I'll go with the free version.
When it's a case of a recent and better translation. I know this is apples and oranges to an extent, but I mention it because good translations matter. No point in struggling with an archaic translation of a challenging work when a recent translation would make it accessible.
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