First edition The Hobbit, for a cool 9k.
Anyone have rare 1st editions that are the centerpiece of their library?
I also have a copy of a book I contributed to (not fiction but an essay on Gaiman's Sandman)the reviews ofthe book universally trashed my essay, probably because I was trained as an art analyst not a literature analyst, so I'm not too proud of it.
Those are much more special (to me at least) than something I could resell for $9K.
I do have my mom's 1960s boxed edition of LOTR, not a first but the first legit edition available in the US I beleive. I have a first of The Silmarillion, but that is not so unusual as the printing was huge. I do love the real fold out maps though. Nice to hold-in-your-hand reading books those are.
With you on the LOTR...I would treasure anything that was from a parents collection.
[This message has been edited by Dark Warrior (edited November 02, 2009).]
Bones of the Hills by Conn Iggulden
The Gunslinger by Stephen King
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by (our own) Jamie Ford
Dreamer of Dune by Brian Herbert
Azincourt by Bernard Cornwell (note the spelling is not the US version "Agincourt").
Tides of War by Steven Pressfield
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
Memnon by Scott Oden
A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin
A Feast for Crows George R. R. Martin
Winter's Heart by Robert Jordan
Crossroads of Twilight Robert Jordan
Queen of Bedlam by Robert R. McCammon
Blood Rock by James Jackson
Blood Brothers by Brian Lumley
The Last Aerie by Brian Lumley
Bloodwars by Brian Lumley
Ai! Pedrito! by L. Ron Hubbard and Kevin J. Anderson
White Raven by Robert Low
Imperium by Robert Harris
Dune: The Battle of Corrin by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson
Horizon Storms by Kevin J. Anderson
Paul of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson (Signed by KJA)
The Last Days of Krypton by Kevin J. Anderson (signed)
Enemies and Allies by Kevin J. Anderson (signed)
Terra Incognita: Edge of the World by Kevin J. Anderson (Advanced reader's copy, signed.)
The Tommyknockers by Stephen King
The Aquitaine Progression by Robert Ludlum
Floating Dragon by Peter Straub
Chindi by Jack McDevitt
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling (the last gift my mother got me before she died.)
and The Saint Wanted for Murder by Leslie Charteris (1931)
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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling (the last gift my mother got me before she died.)
Very nice!
[This message has been edited by Dark Warrior (edited November 03, 2009).]
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My only autographed is a paperback Marine Sniper, with a personal autograph to me by G/Sgt Carlos Hathcock...any marines out there will know who that is.
I'm not a marine--though I'm polishing a historical fiction about one of the original marines--but I know who he is. Actually, the History Channel told the story of him shooting an enemy sniper through the scope--which in turn meant the enemy had him in his sights, too!
PS - I'm not a fan of Rowling's; it's in my collection because of the sentimental attachment. I haven't even cracked it open.
Now, I expect Robert will blow my list of first editions away.
[This message has been edited by InarticulateBabbler (edited November 03, 2009).]
Of course, I've collected, on and off, stamps, coins, and baseball cards, mostly for the joy of having them, not as investments. (I've got a rookie card of Mike Schmidt and Ron Cey and some other guy who didn't make it; its value has varied on the lists I've seen from two hundred to two thousand dollars. In my heart of hearts, I can't believe it's worth anything.)
As for books...well, I bought any number of things as soon as I saw them, so probably there are some first editions among them. I think the edition I bought of The Silmarillion is a first edition, but I can't be sure.
Autographed editions, well...I've never sought out anybody to get an autograph, but a few have wandered into my collections, mostly unique editions that I wanted to read that came with an autograph plate or somesuch. (Awhile back, sifting through my collection, I found a book autographed by Newt Gingrich. Can't remember where I bought it...don't know why it's autographed.)
I liked that edition to your collection because of where it came from...my mother died when I was 15 so that sort of stood out to me.
Robert, you surprise me. Lol. I thought you'd regale us with a Christmas wish-list. But, I know the feeling about having read books to tatters. I have had many copies of Boy's Life by Robert McCammon, Ender's Game, the entire Necroscope series (the original series, not the extended one), Tarzan of the Apes, Eye of the World, The Man Who Never Missed, Assassin's Apprentice, and numerous Conan pastiches.
I don't much like to read hardbacks; I'm much more comfortable with paperbacks. I guess it's a holdover from my comic-collecting days to buy a collector's copy and a reader copy. I don't do that with all of the books I have, in fact I have over 500 paperbacks, maybe about thirty-or-so Hardbacks.
I was a paperback reader and devotee of used bookstores (I used to work in one, actually), until prosperity hit me in the late 1980s and I gradually switched over to brand-new hardcovers.
Keeping my eye on a 1st DRAGONFLIGHT, its a bit pricey for me right now though.
Still looking for a 1st SPELL FOR CHAMELEON and and wishlisting an ENDERS GAME 1st.
Harry Potter and the Philosphers Stone --1st Edition, 23 print--so not worth much, but it has the young wizard's image on the back and all the editing mistakes, which they cleared up in later printings.
HP and prisoner of Azkaban (X2)--1st Edition, 1st Print.
A couple of Ian M. Banks - (Algebraist in hardcover, can't remember the other one)
A few Carlos Castenada first editions of later books.
You have to make sure they are first edition, first print or they pretty much are worth nil.
Inside the cover you will see a list of numbers like:
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 10 9 8 7
Whatever number it stops on is the print number.
So it can be a first edition, 2nd print and be worth nothing.
The exception is very famous books where later prints of first editions are worth something as time ticks by--that's why I'm keeping JKR's Philosopher's Stone later printing.
[This message has been edited by skadder (edited November 07, 2009).]
quote:
Whatever number it stops on is the print number.So it can be a first edition, 2nd print and be worth nothing.
The exception is very famous books where later prints of first editions are worth something as time ticks by--that's why I'm keeping JKR's Philosopher's Stone later printing.
yeah, I was looking at a STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND 1st but its 8th impression. Still collectible but I will pass for a 1st/1st
Mind you, I've pretty much read this copy to death---according to my notes on a slip in the book, that might've once been the original receipt---I've read it forty-five times from cover to cover, and the cover and spine look it. The dust jacket isn't there---I've got it somewhere---and that, too would lower the value.
If it has any value, that is...first you have to persuade somebody that it's worth something and then you have to sell it to them.
But if I did, I wouldn't have it anymore, would I, now?
quote:
Who wants a book you're scared to open for fear of devaluing it?
A Collector.
We usually buy two copies: one to read and the other to keep for value. I usually buy a hardback only if it's a first addition, other than that, I'll buy the paperback (which I'm more comfortable reading anyway).
[This message has been edited by Zero (edited November 17, 2009).]
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admit I don't understand the mentality of collectors...
Clearly.
As evinced by:
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seems like a waste of perfectly good resources, artifically inflating demand so nice shiny things can just sit around not benefitting anyone.
Zero, by now I thought you'd have learned the importance of perception. If the demand is there, it's not artificial--no matter what the reason is for that demand. I have seen very few books that can be competently called "shiny things" (and I don't have any of those). As to the benefit, well, that is also a matter of opinion. Each time I escape into a story, it makes my life better, richer. In twenty years, my paperbacks may be "read to tatters" or "out of print", but I'll still have those hardbacks.
Not all collectors are fanatics, and there's as many reasons for collecting as what you can collect. It's presumptious to devalue something like that so offhandedly.
Then I wonder, what is the purpose of your Spruce Goose? Do you actually play with it?
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Zero, by now I thought you'd have learned the importance of perception. If the demand is there, it's not artificial--no matter what the reason is for that demand.
Any purchase of something, for any reason, is going to increase demand. In my opinion buying a book for the sole purpose of letting it sit around unread and/or unreadable is a waste of a perfectly good resource. True your demand is not artificial, presumably you're getting some kind of utility out of it, or think you are, somehow. But what you're also doing is making it so more books have to be printed to satisfy the appetite of people who actually want to read the thing.
And that's good for writers and publishers. And there probably isn't enough collecting going on to really make much of a difference on the price tag. But, technically, you are increasing the demand just so you can keep a trophy.
My opinion, that's silly. Your opinion, that's not silly. Let's not make this any sillier by trying to argue something that's obviously just a difference of opinion.
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It's presumptious to devalue something like that so offhandedly.
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Then I wonder, what is the purpose of your Spruce Goose? Do you actually play with it?
PS No offense intended. I'm just a prickly person.
My copy of the self-published 1st Eragon arrived yesterday. I need a nice display case or something to show it off in.
Comparing collecting books to gas gouging makes about as much sense (to me) as comparing the born-on-date on a bottle of Budweiser to the expiration date of a twinky. What does me buying both a hardback and paperback have to do with price gouging? Yes, it is an opinion, but valid, none-the-less. (As to the cause for fluctuation in gasoline prices, I suspect it has a lot more to do with politics and profit margins than driving habits or "speculative bubbles"; same goes for houses.) Wheeeeee.
As for "wasting resources", how about ceasing to use gold for jewelry? Silver? Diamonds? The millions of dollars that go into testing the consistency of catsup/ketchup? CERN? Colleges--after all, there's a declining job market? Having more than one computer? Buying any car that gets less than 25-30mpg?
(And yes, I was being facetious.)
You don't collect anything? You throw out books when you're done? You have no DVDs, CDs or a single antique? You live a spartan existence?
And, just so you know, I feel there is a huge difference between "packratting" (also known as hoarding) and "collecting". If there is any part of this that I take personal, it's that. A hoarder collects things out of habit and a need to have (like a kleptomaniac cannot resist the urge to take), but once it's there, said item can be forgotten, destroyed, go bad, etc... A collector wishes to preserve something they appreciate in the best possible condition, so that it is there for future generations to appreciate--and generally keeps those collections in meticulous order and good repair.
I'm a little cantakerous today.
And, congratulations, Dark Warrior.
[This message has been edited by InarticulateBabbler (edited November 17, 2009).]
I then admitted that point was not relevant to your collecting things. And came to the realization that, indeed, your collecting probably does not influence the price much.
If I wasn't clear before. I should be clear now. Read it again if you don't believe me.
And I don't think you want to debate the economics of the housing market with me, seeing as how I went to college for this very field.
I think there is a failure on your part to understand what a speculative bubble is. It's basically when people start demanding a service or product without actually wanting to benefit form its intrinsic value, rather they want to buy it and sell it for a profit because they expect the demand to keep rising. And the price to keep going up.
And, because of these artifical demanders, it does. But not indefinitely. And eventually the bubble pops. Google: speculative bubble, tulips for a pretty interesting case-study.
What happened with houses was similar but not quite so simple. A lot of people entered the market who shouldn't have and the market forced them back out. But it was a painful process. And made worse because there was a lot of speculation going on. I personally know several people who invested in houses only to sell them months later, and they made a bundle.
---
That said. You make a pretty good argument with jewelry. And yes, I don't really have a leg to stand on for criticizing collectors for collecting. Obviously the pride of having a collection, and being able to show it off, is its own reward. There is utility there. I can't really deny it. You're right.
But since that utility doesn't appeal to me, I'm going to subjectively call it a waste. Even though it really isn't. You're absolutely right.
I concede that point.
I hope there's no bad blood between us.
PS: Yes, I prefer the Spartan existence. It's quick and simple and efficient.
[This message has been edited by Zero (edited November 17, 2009).]
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I don't think you want to debate the economics of the housing market with me, seeing as how I went to college for this very field.
Maybe that why I not smrt. Why won't fork get soup to mouth again?
(Sorry, lol, I just couldn't resist.)
Anybody get Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson's The Gathering Storm. I'll bet it goes into 2nd printing quickly. If it hasn't already...
[This message has been edited by InarticulateBabbler (edited November 17, 2009).]
quote:
Anybody get Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson's The Gathering Storm. I'll bet it goes into 2nd printing quickly. If it hasn't already...
No, I havent gotten it yet. I thought about getting a copy in the airport but didnt want to lug it around. I did order autographed copies of Hidden Empire for each of my nephews though.
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I think there is a failure on your part to understand what a speculative bubble is
I once wrote a creative writing story in college about a speculative bubble. It was an airpocket at the bottom of the ocean that I would visit to write my SF/F stories.
The price of gas at the pump goes up or down based on what the guy who buys the gas for the station has to pay for the next load of gas. That's why it goes up pretty fast when oil rises but takes a while to sweat off the extra dollars-and-cents. I wouldn't compare it to book collecting. ("Vintage" gas...hmm...)
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I didn't think there were thirty books in the Xanth series...I lost track of it long ago, and it never appealed to me that much...
The 33rd in the series Jumper Cable came out last month. I got lost in the 20's. Fun reading when I was a teen, but as an adult, and after so many books the puns are more draining than they are humorous for me. I actually like his Apprentice Adept and Bio of a Space Tyrant series better at this stage of my life.
I admit I don't understand the mentality of video game players, so my opinion isn't worth much. But to me it just seems like a waste of perfectly good resources, artifically inducing stress situations so people who could be benefiting society can just sit around playing video games and not benefitting anyone.
But then, I get my artificially induced stress situations from sitting around reading books and not benefitting anyone.
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I once wrote a creative writing story in college about a speculative bubble. It was an airpocket at the bottom of the ocean that I would visit to write my SF/F stories.
I should have seen this coming.
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The price of gas at the pump goes up or down based on what the guy who buys the gas for the station has to pay for the next load of gas. That's why it goes up pretty fast when oil rises but takes a while to sweat off the extra dollars-and-cents. I wouldn't compare it to book collecting. ("Vintage" gas...hmm...)
Corky,
That's an interesting point. And as one who did not grow up with video-games, I sympathize with you. But in another sense, I'm not sure I agree.
Now, I'm not sure what kinds of video game syou're talking about. So, sticking to story-themed ones where a player goes through a world with a single main-character, sometimes with a team. I could see a lot of parallels drawn between that and reading a book.
Obviously I think the book is much better. Broadens vocabularly, requires more creativity on the part of the reader (they have to imagine the world, etc), and it's better on your eys---I think. But by reading a books with a lot of suspense or conflict, which we usually like quite a bit, we are artifically creating situations of stress for ourselves. We get nervous and afraid for our characters. We mourn when some of them die. Etc. But through all of that artificial concern we somehow lessen or delay our real life concerns, which is part of the appeal of the books (and games).
Isn't that interesting?
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but I somehow feel a sense of history
nice!
I have one of the few paperbacks of Star Wars that came out before the movie was released with the original cover... not the movie cover.
I also have both graphic editions of ANOTHER FINE MYTH. Starblaze graphics put it out in two volumns. The 1st volumn (MYTH ADVENTURES one) had a good run, but MYTH ADVENTURES two had a very short run. I had to order it special from the book store, and when I stopped by to see if it was in, they told me that the printing was canceled. That's when I looked at the stack of books that had come in, and there it was. I don't know how many made it into print, but it couldn't have been very many. And I have both volumns.
I believe my husband and I saw it over 15 times at the theatre. In its day, STAR WARS was absolutely incredible... the first movie to hit the screens using computer special effects. It paved the way for everything else that followed.
And also, somewhere in the first couple of pages of the book, they talked of a planet as part of a double sun system, with the planet being mistaken for a third sun...if I had read that nonsense before going to see the movie, I might not have gone at all. (There was no trace of that sort of nonsense in the movie itself---just a double-sunned planet.)
A first edition/first impression of Return of the King should arrive and the next couple days, and I keep worrying I will open it and see BCE or First Canadian Printing inside.
I did recieve a mint 1st/1st autographed copy of Nimisha's Ship right from Anne McCaffrey's personal collection (Author's Copy)
Aha! I found one more little Jim Dandy;
Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel - story and pictures by, Virginia Lee Burton, 1939.
ADD; I have RA Salvatore - Sea of Swords / signed by the man!
Salvatore - The Highwayman
Also the last six of the Terry Goodkind - Sword of Truth series
(How'd I miss these?)
[This message has been edited by dougsguitar (edited January 03, 2010).]
[This message has been edited by Dark Warrior (edited January 03, 2010).]
Science Fiction-Fantasy: Fantastic
January 1966
Three Wishes by Poul Anderson
and other short stories
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
December 1960
Rogue Moon by Algis Budrys
and other short stories
Imagination -Stories of Science and Fantasy
May 1952
The Stranger by Gordon R. Dickson
and other short stories
Astounding Science Fiction
September 1943
Doodad by Ray Bradbury
and other short stories
Aboriginal Science Fiction
Fall 1992
Spin by K.D. Wentworth
and other short stories
All for under $5 a piece
I do have a first edition of TO RENEW AMERICA, signed by Newt Gingrich.
Then there is a signed copy of a collection of poems SHOWDOWN AND OTHER POEMS by MacPhelan Reese, which I bought from the author, who had self-published the book and was selling copies at a card table in the Sam T. Rayburn Library, Bonham, Texas when my wife and I toured there in 2000. The author of the works was 94 years old at the time, and was the library's writer-in-residence. I still remember the conversation about writing that he and I shared. There is a quote from the author of the book's forward that has stayed close to me.
"Mac [MacPhelan Reese] has been writing all his life, not necessarily with publication in mind. His writing has always been a compulsion, just as his reading has been. It refreshes him." -- John Rainey
I went ahead and put myself on the list 'cause I never thought I'd get it. Guess who was the first person on that waiting list to be contacted? And guess who bought an embarassingly expensive book that he couldn't afford?
Yes. I am an idiot.
no you are certainly not an idiot. More power to ya! We only live once and we can't take the money with us. ;-)
We need whatever happiness we can get in this world, even if we have to buy it.
I'm selective about the limited edition books I buy, and the few that I've got that are worth something will be passed down to my kids.
Appropos of this, I remember the story a stamp collector told...he bought one of the "inverted Jennys" (if you know stamps, you know what that is), and owned it for about twenty-five years...for the first few years, he hardly ever saw it, and for about a fifteen-year period until he sold it, he didn't see it at all.
It's like successful writing without being published...the joy of ownership and possession is strictly a psychological one.
I literally put myself on the waiting list purely as a lark, and I'm reaping the paranoia that comes with that impetuous decision.
Merry reading...as I recall through misty memories, that was a pretty good year for stories in Analog...
Other signed first editions I've gathered include early portfolio editions by Clark Ashton Smith such as The Double Shadow and Others (including some hand corrections by Smith of print errors!). I'm also a collector of Ray Bradbury, Fritz Leiber, H.P. Lovecraft and his fellow Weird Tale authors. I've an Asimov signed edition or two, a number of signed Brian Lumley, Stephen King, a whole set of Michael Moorcock, Andre Norton, Gene Wolfe, Tanith Lee, Neil Gaimen, Harlan Ellison, Phillip Jose Farmer, L. Sprague De Camp, Roger Zelazny, and (of course) Orson Scott Card, etc.
In recent years, my acquisition rate has declined severely--a combination of running out of room as well as items to collect that interest me. While I'll read new authors, they don't have the same wonder and awe, no holy patina, that the authors above did for me in my youth.
A sad thing is I realiize I will likely not live long enough to read them all again. Worse, my attention span is growing shorter--but I believe this is a societal problem and not something to blame on my aging. I planned to read more as I started giving up my Administrative duties for my Group, my hospital clients, and the state and national medical societies that have occupied me the last three decades.
I selected stacks of books and placed them on the marble end table by my leather chair, the one a few feet from the living room hearth. Putting on my slippers, I poured myself a glass of port and settled myself comfortably. But instead of picking up Tales of Three Hemispheres, I placed my netbook on my lap, lifted the screen, and began to type.
Respectfully,
Dr. Bob
Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence -- first public edition. (There was a previous private edition.) Paid $3 for it.
A complete works of Byron from about 1845 (including his collected correspondence; the man's pen never stopped moving!) -- in leather binding and microscopic print. It bears an owner's mark dated "Boston 1847". Paid $5 for it. When I googled the owner's name I found he was a well-known person in his day and there were still descendants around; might be fun someday to get in touch. "Hey, I've got your great-great granddad's book!"
Oh, and I almost forgot <g> ... an advance reading copy of Lost Boys, apparently signed by OSC (if his signature is kinda round-looking). Picked that one up off a freebie table!!
[This message has been edited by Reziac (edited December 24, 2010).]
That reminds me, I've got a fair number of Card's first editions, but mostly more recent (2000s) books. My big prize, though, is my autographed Israeli edition of EG.
[This message has been edited by EP Kaplan (edited December 24, 2010).]
Odd book. I read the whole thing in a single sitting.Anyone else here ever work out what a character's sig looks like? My MC apparently got into a fight with a box of Pik-Up-Stix. 