The latter book I picked up at an Antiquarian Book Fair at a fairly exorbitant price, thinking it was a first edition of a book I dearly love. Well, I still love it, but alas, I was chagrined to find that it is, in fact, NOT a true first edition after applying some of the tests demonstrated in the video-clip, below. Both of these books are stamped with the original publication date inside [1960 and 1956] but they are not first editions, as I had thought they were. Goll darn it!
How about you, dear reader/collector/book-omnivore? Are you also harboring interlopers on your bookshelf? A little pot-light illuminating the spine of a "first-edition" that is all the while a third-printing? Not that I have any desire to knock the wind out of your sails, but take a few minutes to watch this video-clip and then have a second look at your own treasures to see if they measure up.
3 comments:
My husband thought he had a first edition of The Sun Also Rises, but alas ... he does not. We were sad about that, believe me! It's so tricky to tell true first editions apart, which seems strange to me.
That was very illuminating. I might have a few first editions on my shelf- am going to look now and see if they are true or not.
Woah there Cippy! There is NO WAY To Kill A Mockingbird can ever be refered to as an "interloper"! No matter which edition you have, it is a worthy addition to any collection.
C.
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