I’m pretty sure your copy is a fake.
Herbert did have a lot of trouble trying to place Dune, although it’s not strictly true that Chilton only did car manuals. I have other books, nonfiction anyway, published by Chilton that predate Dune. Wiki says that it was rejected by over 20 publishers and that’s the story I’ve already heard. Why? It had been published in Analog as two separate novels and the length and the awkwardness that entailed meant that Herbert had to do a lot of work before the final version was publishable. The length was crucial. In these days of fat bestsellers it’s surprising to remember that in the 50s and 60s science fiction hardcovers rarely ran more than 250 pages. Stranger in a Strange Land was fat, but even Heinlein, the most popular author in sf at the time, had to cut 60,000 words out of the manuscript. Herbert was solid but not a big name and Dune was as long or longer.
I also can’t find the cities point you mention. I have L. W. Currey’s *Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors: A Bibliography of First Printings of Their Fiction *(note the spelling of Currey: he’s particular about it), the basic reference book of the field. He has a long paragraph about the copyright pages but makes no mention of two or four cities.
The true first mentions Toronto and the variant doesn’t. Perhaps that’s what you’re remembering?
Currey and Barry Levinson probably have the best quality books in the field, but charge premium prices. They’re worth it. Once upon a time just physically owning the book meant something; today with easy availability only quality counts in pricing.
Thanks 'Xap (hope the nickname is okay)- all good. And yeah, thanks for the catch on Currey :smack:. What you describe in Dune’s history and the context for sci-fi back then is what I recall as well.
As for the first - the Toronto copyright issue is kind of a known thing - but a lot of the backing-and-forthing was because there were books that met that criteria but had other variants. I am not sure but I could swear that someone told me that Currey hadn’t updated his biblio because he was feisty and not in the mood, but that he, Levinson, Bauman, the Boston boys (Stern, Lame Duck Books, a few others) all knew this. I actually brought my copy into Bauman a couple of months ago (whole 'nother story) and their main researcher validated that mine was a true first - and the copy they had in their inventory was a 1st edition, 2nd state (i.e., yes, Toronto on the c’right page, but 2 cities on the back flap…)
Bibiomania - apt name.
Could be. Currey’s book is from 1979 and has never been updated in print as far as I know. I own variant covers that he doesn’t mention, so I know it’s incomplete.
Just for fun I checked his webpage. He has a copy of *Dune *in first edition for $10,000. No mention of points.
Basbanes’ books are very good and I also recommend Bibliomania.
And heck, with a user i.d. like Exapno Mapcase, I have to expect that people will shorten it any way possible. It’s all good.
I guess the question back to you is, are you Word to your mother? 
My mom starts with my Dad’s name, then my Sister’s, then our old long-dead cats we grew up with and eventually gets to my name. Same as it ever was ;).
RE: Currey - that’s right; I remember talking with him when I was putting together my now-sold Foundation Trilogy - I had gotten the first two books in trade for a first edition of Grisham’s first small-imprint book that I found in a used bookstore for $5 (yay me) and I needed Second Foundation. He told me all the different state details in his biblio were right, but there was some extra nuance he had picked up later and not included - I can’t remember what it was (maybe silver lettering on the spine or the shade of the blue for the binding cloth). I remember asking why he didn’t update his bibliography and he said something about it not being worth the time…this was even before my Dune search…
And yeah - Dune always lists for big bucks, but I doubt it ever really goes that high. Probably more in the $5,000 - $7,000 range (thank Og I got it years ago), although the regard in which the book is held seems to be holding quite firm or even increasing a bit…
OK, in my little world YOU guys are the whacknuts who are spending redic…prepos…stup…unreasonable amounts on books. No offense intended. 
I’m wondering if it’s worth getting some 1st editions of Discworld books to have Pterry sign, or if I should just take along some favorites from my existing collection.
I found the UK book club that has the Unseen Library editions, and I have a friend in London who is letting me use his flat for a mail drop. Now all I have to do is them them here to Colorado. I might even have a gig in London later this year, so it might all work out.
I have a first edition Flashman in good condition with dustjacket that I paid $11 {NZ, which is probably about $6 US} for a few years back: I think they had no idea what they were selling. Dunno what they’re selling for, but I imagine they’ve gone up since Fraser dropped off the twig.
My all time used bookstore triumph, however, which I’ve posted about before, is not strictly a first edition, but does have the first ever E. E. Smith “Skylark” story and the first ever Buck Rogers story, so I’m counting it: I picked up the August 1928 edition of “Amazing Stories”, with the iconic Frank R. Paul cover for a fraction of its worth.
I love checking out the Bauman ads. It’s like book porn. I’m always disappointed on the weeks when they don’t advertise.
Of course, i can always get my fix by visiting their website. They currently have a First Edition of the Lewis and Clarke Expedition for a cool quarter-million dollars.
What’s truly bizarre is seeing MY books - the very ones I sold to Bauman - listed on the back page for, like, 3 times what I sold them to Bauman for. This has happened about 4 - 5 times.
I wanna know how they find their customers and why those customers don’t pay those prices when I list the books on eBay!! (just kidding - I know how this stuff works and have been very happy with my transactions with Bauman…)
and No Cool User Name? I treated them like an investment that I happened to be passionate about, so for me it was like investing in stocks and being a financial news junkie (which I’m not - I like to read, so I went with books!). I am pleased to report that when the time came for me to liquidate, I have come out well ahead…requires a lot of discipline. And I still own many favorites which I still love…
Is it true that Bauman fixes up its books so that their condition improves after they buy them? I’m not making the accusation; it’s just a rumor I’ve heard.
’Xap, as you well know, there was a big move in the late '90’s and early '00’s for “restoring” books - something as primitive as using a Sharpie to black in the scuffs and scrapes on a First of To Kill A Mockingbird (:eek::mad:) to complex restorations which include piecing together a dust jacket with a thin backing of archival-grade, I dunno, rice paper and hand-painting the colors on the front.
I have, both intentionally and unintentionally, bought restored books. When someone doctors a dj, you can black light them and hold them up to the sun and all the “work” will be discernible. But when someone of high skill re-backs a turn-of-the-century first - say Hound of the Baskervilles - it can be really hard to tell (do I sound bitter? ;)).
Anyway, when I sell to Bauman, I am completely up front - and then their experts review my books and tell me what I missed ;). And then we negotiate based on that. They pay fair price for restored books and a premium for un-restored (“unsophisticated” is the snooty word that is used) copies in top condition. To my knowledge, they price the copies they sell fairly based on the amount of work done - meanly Bauman totally inflates the prices because, well, they’re Bauman! - but the prices are proportional to the overall top-condition price they’d mark.
A different question is: do they tell the buyers? Bauman’s stock-in-trade is either super-rich supercollectors or naive rich folk who think a first edition would be “neato” for their bookshelf or something. The supercollectors are going to know (or their collection caretakers would know - what? You don’t have a caretaker for your book collection? ;)). As for the naive impulse buyers, I would surmise that condition is one of many factors that the good folks at Bauman educate the buyer about, but I doubt they go into a lot of detail why those two copies of Casino Royale are priced differently, you know?
Hope that helps…
OK, here’s the nitty-gritty. The proverbial bottom line. Is a restored book that is, one would expect, in very good condition, worth more or less than an unretouched copy that is in crummy condition? I’ve got a copy of Lords & Ladies (which I mentioned in some other thread) that’s missing the last 3 pages–they have been ripped out. It’s also an ex-library copy with stamps* and such, and the spine is cocked. The dust cover is VG+. I’m thinking to get those last pages printed on matching paper, then have the whole thing rebound. Personally I think it’s worth zippo right now, so restoring it should give it at least SOME value.
- The stamp on the page edges is for the prison library. Personally I think that rather adds a bit of interesting history. Probably also explains the ripped out pages.
I take it Hound of the Baskervilles was not a randomly chosen example?
ah book collecting. the hobby I would most love to have and will probably never have the money to pursue.
Ex-lib’s are pretty much death to value, unless the book is such a High Spot (that’s the insider name for the Big Books) that you can even squeeze a little value out of that. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you should restore that book if you love the book and would like to see it on your shelf in better condition, but not in order to increase the resale value.
Restoration is a slippery, gray area. On one hand, the blanket statement is that an unsophisticated copy is always preferred. On the other hand, a tight book with a dj that has a big, closed tear in it that has been expertly repaired can be a very smart purchase - especially if you can get into the book for a nice discount off Fine price levels. I could never have gotten into one book I really wanted - Hemingway’s Fifth Column and the First Forty-Nine Stories (a collection of his first short story books, but including the first appearances of The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber, the best American short story ever written IMHO, The Snows of Kilimanjaro and two others) if I hadn’t found a copy with a repaired dj tear that also has a very little amount of color added where the tear feathered the paper…I still have that book and don’t see ever selling it. Here’sa photo of a copy for sale from Ahern books - the Aherns are wonderful folks who literally wrote the bookon book collecting…
You really, really, really have to know your stuff and know what bets you are making.
How valuable are preprint copies? I have a copy of a novel by a bestselling author from the 90’s, who was already famous by the time this book came out. It’s a copy that was handed out for proofreading, shaped like the hardback but with a paper cover. I also have a few signed books from that author, but they’re mostly signed to me personally. I’m not really interested in selling any of them, but it wouldn’t hurt to know if any of it is valuable.
Exactly. When you get a book for a good value, what you are often funding is your “collecting tuition” - you actually didn’t get a great value, but you learned more for next time. In that case, I got a great deal on a Hound, but when I went to sell it, it turned out it had been re-backed expertly. I still got a very good deal, but not the payday I was looking for.
There are plenty of others. **Native Son **by Richard Wright’s Book Club Edition has a different dj, but the book is clearly labeled First Edition - not to mention that the true First has a couple of variants - bottom line is that I bought a BCE first for $40 that was worth…$40. And then I had to learn about the variants, etc…
One Hundred Years of Solitude, even though the first U.S. is not the true first AND a translation, is highly sought-after, in part because Marquez said the English translation was as good as or better as his in the orignal Spanish. Anyway, the first is a mess because the publisher normally has a count-down (you know that “10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1” line on the copyright page? That thing.) on, well, the copyright page. And sure enough, for some later editions, there is a countdown on the c’right page - but on the first? Nah, they stuck it back on the very back page, where a colophon would go if it were a private press book (a colophon is the statement of limited edition and typeface choice included on many small-press books)…
**Catch-22’s **dj is the same for the first few editions, but the books are clearly labeled, so you have some intrepid book-types looking for Fine, later-edition dj’s they can marry to dj-less books…
And, lordy, don’t *even *get me started on Huck Finn, which was NOT published in editions but rather batches were printed up based on the volume of subscriptions sold door-to-door - Twain was quite the innovator, but it makes bibliographic scholarship a pain!
Those are ARC’s - Advance Reading Copies. Typically only so-so in value - simply because publishers had gotten into the habit by the late 80’s of cranking them out by the truckload and sending them gratis to reviewers. A quick trip to the local used book store close to a newspaper will turn up a bunch of re-sold copies. Going to The Strand in NYC is a hoot that way - one publisher friend of mine got totally busted when he re-sold a personally-inscribed ARC to them - and the author found it a few days later on the shelf! :eek:
There are notable exceptions - again, a true High Spot where the first edition has gone up in value so much that folks are scrabbling to find a less-expensive way to get close. Or if the ARC has material changes or something controversial about it that is different from the First. Or it is signed and the author is known for NOT signing things. Or if the book is older so the number of ARCs was much lower - please note: there is a difference between an ARC, as described, and the Galleys (loose-leaf or loosely bound pages representing and early printed version still being edited) and Review Copies (true First Editions sent to highly-regarded reviewers and/or thought-leaders and influencers; these books typically come with a letter from the publisher and other ephemera - these can be quite valuable; I have a Review Copy of The Autobiography of Malcolm X that was sent to FDR’s son, the Congressman James Roosevelt. I used to have a review copy of A Confederacy of Dunces - that’s one I wish I could’ve held onto! And I have a gorgeous Review Copy of the first U.S. of James Joyce’s Ulysses - MUCH cheaper than a true first!! - but with a cool photoof Joyce with an eyepatch…)
Start small and focused - like any hobby - do your research, be willing to buy copies you know you’ll upgrade later - and have fun with it.
My most recent win? UK first of Nine Princes in Amber by Zelazny - $20 on ebay. (not x-lib, fine condition).
Have found a good number of more recent ‘popular’ firsts at a local half price bookstore - including several of Tolkien’s HOMES - even First/First Silmarillian and Letters.
I think I have that edition of Carrie at home, I’ll have to check tonight. Not signed though.