Do you have a first edition but it’s only in fair condition? Have a scarce title but it’s an ex-library copy? How about a nice copy that lacks a dust jacket? Got a fine press limited edition but still don’t have a first edition? Or a first American printing but not the English first edition? All collectors deal with wanting a somehow “better” copy or edition of a book in our libraries. We all have a few books on our shelves that we would like to upgrade to nicer copies.
As book collectors we generally prefer showing our favorite
and finest volumes, but for the September 2023 meeting we turned our attention
to those titles and editions we want to upgrade. Some collectors showed an assemblage of books
but focused on the particular volumes they would like to upgrade while others concentrated
on a single title.
Leatherstocking Tales
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| Leatherstocking Tales |
A collector assembled all five titles in James Fenimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales, including The Pioneers (1823), The Last of the Mohicans (1826), The Prairie (1827), The Pathfinder (1840), and The Deerslayer (1841). Each title appears in two volumes. The three latest titles—The Prairie, The Pathfinder, and The Deerslayer—are bound in the publisher’s original cloth binding with paper labels to the spine. The covers were bland, expecting the owners to rebind them to match their libraries. The two earliest titles—The Pioneers and The Last of the Mohicans—are rebound in contemporary leather bindings. While these leather bindings are nice, the collector would like to upgrade them to the original publisher’s binding to create a more uniform set.
19th Century Gift Books
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| 19th Century gift books, The Mayflower (1848) |
One collector has a number of 19th Century annual gift books which were produced mainly as Christmas and New Year’s gifts. These series include such titles as The Gift, The Opal, The Mayflower, and The Token. The collector is primarily interested in these gift books because many issues contain works by Edgar Allan Poe. The collector focused on a couple of issues he would like to upgrade. Some have condition problems and could be upgraded to nicer copies. One book, in particular, is the 1848 issue of The Mayflower, which is known to be identical to the 1846 issue in both content and design; the title page of the 1848 issue still states 1846. The collector possesses the 1848 issue but would like to acquire the true 1846 issue, also.
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| The Mayflower, 1848 (left) and 1846 (right) |
UPDATE: Motivated by showing his copy of The Mayflower to the book group, the collector went in search of the 1846 issue. Serendipitously, after years of watching for a copy, he located one within days of the September meeting. Other than the year printed on the spine and the hue of the brown leather, the blind embossed designs on the covers are identical, as is the content inside the book, including Poe’s “The Imp of the Perverse.”
Theodore Dreiser
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| Works of Theodore Dreiser |
A collector shared various Theodore Dreiser fiction and nonfiction books, including his two most recognized titles, Sister Carrie and An American Tragedy. Some copies are first editions but either lack a dust jacket or it is in only fair condition. Other copies are reprints and, again, may lack a jacket or have one with condition issues. The collector would like to upgrade any of these titles to nicer copies, ideally first editions with dust jackets, but such upgrades have not been a high priority in her overall collecting. Finding first editions with dust jackets of Dreiser’s earliest novels, such as Sister Carrie and Jennie Gerhardt are particularly difficult and, when found, are expensive.
A Canticle for Liebowitz
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| A Canticle for Liebowitz |
A collector showed a copy of Walter M. Miller’s A Canticle for Liebowitz (J. B. Lippincott Company, 1959). The dust jacket for the book is fragile and rarely seen in fine condition. This jacket is in good condition except for being price clipped and having a small piece cut out of the front flap. The book looks nice on a shelf, but when opened up it is evident that it is an ex-library copy with the usual stamps and damages. The collector would like to upgrade to a cleaner copy but notes that collectible copies range from $1,000 to as much as $12,000.
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| Ex-library damages |
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
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| Sir Gawain and the Green Knight |
A collector showed two copies of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Oxford Press, 1955 and 1963, respectively). The 1955 copy is the 6th impression of the 1930 “corrected” edition, and the jacketed 1963 copy is the 8th impression of the 1930 “corrected” edition.” This annotated edition of the 14th-century long poem was first published by Clarendon Press in 1925, edited by J. R. R. Tolkien and E. V. Gordon. The collector would like to upgrade to earlier editions, particularly the original 1925 edition and the 1930 “corrected” edition.
Graham Greene
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| Spine and ex-library damages |
A collector of the British writer Graham Greene showed two titles he would like to upgrade. First, he showed a copy of the English edition of The Name of Action (Heinemann, 1930). The copy is an ex-library copy with all the usual ex-library damages, and the spine’s cover is mostly detached. The collector would like to upgrade to a copy in better condition.
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| The Name of Action with letter from Greene's secretary |
Once upgraded, though, he will keep this copy because of its history. It is accompanied by a letter from Greene’s secretary to its owner. Apparently, the owner of the book wrote to Greene in 1967, offering to sell him this copy, knowing that the book was suppressed, never reprinted, and therefore scarce. Greene’s secretary responds, politely declining the offer and informing him that Mr. Greene already possesses a copy.
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| The Basement Room |
Second, the collector shared a copy of The Basement Room (Cresset Press Ltd., 1935). This copy is a second issue of the first edition, identified by the red cloth binding. The first issue is bound in green cloth. Copies of the first issue are scarce but findable; upgrading this title hasn’t been a high priority for the collector. The dust jacket for the first edition was the same for both issues, but it is very brittle and few remain. In 2020, a first issue with a very good dust jacket sold at auction for $11,250. The collector is pretty sure he won’t make that big of an upgrade any time soon.
The Saturday Book
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| The Saturday Book: Sixth Year, with damage |
One collector showed a copy of The Saturday Book: Sixth Year (Hutchinson, 1946). This copy bears an inscription on the title page by one of its contributors. It would otherwise be a nice copy except one of the color plates was brutally removed from the book. In the process it damaged three other leaves of color plates, leaving an open hole through the gathering. The collector wants to upgrade to an intact copy.
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| Dust jacket for The Saturday Book: Year Ten |
UPDATE: While showing the book, the collector admitted to being baffled as to why the dust jacked on the Year Six edition stated, “Tenth Anniversary Issue.” Another collector subsequently combed through his set of The Saturday Book and verified that the book simply bore the wrong dust jacket. The collector who showed the book now has two reasons to upgrade his copy!
