First editions in your collection.

[JunkMonkey]

I found I had a first edition copy of Bank's Consider Phlebas sometime last year. It was under a pile of other books I'd forgotten about. Then I found out how much they were going for on eBay - so I flogged it. It wasn't in the best condition ever but I still got 70 quid and the buyer seemed happy. Not as much as I would have got for the first UK edition of PKD's Ubik which I gave to a friend because I was having a clearout and preferred my battered old paperback copy...


drat!


And I recently found a book on the shelves of the village's drop a donation in the tin charity bookshelf which looked interesting - but turned out to be pretty awful. First only English language edition of a very obscure book by an author pretty much no one outside of France has heard of. A quick check on eBay.... and there was one copy for sale and were asking £75...!

There are now TWO copies for sale and one is less than £75....


But I do have a some First Editions I'm going to keep. Most treasured I guess are:
Gaiman's Coraline
The Exploits of Engelbrecht by Maurice Richardson.
The Kingdom of Elfin by Sylvia Townsend Warner.
All of Susanna Clarke's book (all 3 of them).
Most of Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines/Fever Crumb series - though where the hell my copy of A Web of Air has gone is a mystery.
The UK 1st of Catch 22 and Simak's Way Station (because they were my dad's as well as mighty fine books).

I'm sure there are many old paperbacks first editions on the shelves too. More than a few ACE Philip K Dicks for instance, and many books so bloody dreadful they only HAD one edition.

 

[Extollager]

I thought that i'd start this thread after Bick's posts regarding collecting the Dune first editions. I can't say that i'm not jealous. I couldn't find any other threads and thought i'd start one.

I have a few first editions in my library and i'll post them in time, but unless it specifically states it, i'm never sure how you know you have a first edition.

This is a fun topic for discussion. At the same time, I have to say that, for myself, I decided long ago I didn't want to get caught up in the mystique of first editions, limited editions, signed editions, etc. -- with very few exceptions. Generally I just want to be able to read the book. Having said which, I admit I have bought a couple of signed copies of Ruth Pitter's books. Here's a portrait of RP drawn by Mervyn Peake:

Several of my Pitter books are first editions, as well as some other poets' books.

 

[AE35Unit]

I was watching something yesterday about a book collector. He had a first of Casino Royale by Ian Fleming. It sold for 5 figures.

 

[JunkMonkey]

I was watching something yesterday about a book collector. He had a first of Casino Royale by Ian Fleming. It sold for 5 figures.

Why? It's a dreadful book. I didn't get beyond the first chapter. There is a point where books (like art pieces) become commodities 'worth' more because they are 'worth' more rather than any real value they may have. Investments. The ultimate expression of this I suppose is that bloody dreadful 'Salvator Mundi' by Leonardo Da Vinci which objectively is a rotten bit of chocolate box painting. Leonardo may well have been a great designer and thinker and he certainly could draw. I love his drawings. but he he was a Sunday afternoon hobbiest painter.

I don't see why reading the same words in the same order on a first edition is any different to reading them in any decent reprint.

 

[AE35Unit]

Why? It's a dreadful book. I didn't get beyond the first chapter. There is a point where books (like art pieces) become commodities 'worth' more because they are 'worth' more rather than any real value they may have. Investments. The ultimate expression of this I suppose is that bloody dreadful 'Salvator Mundi' by Leonardo Da Vinci which objectively is a rotten bit of chocolate box painting. Leonardo may well have been a great designer and thinker and he certainly could draw. I love his drawings. but he he was a Sunday afternoon hobbiest painter.

I don't see why reading the same words in the same order on a first edition is any different to reading them in any decent reprint.

I agree its not a great book but the subjective quality of a book is separate from its worth to collectors.

 

[Elckerlyc]

Everything being the first of someone or something is considered to be special. It has little to do with logic or quality. Quality is irrelevant, scorn is futile. It's what the collector is willing to pay for it that counts (ping).

BTW I put my first tooth on Ebay. If anyone is interested...

 

[AE35Unit]

Its more than just being the first. A lot more