First Editions and Signed Copies

[Riesa]

I was thinking about what to get Idril for her birthday and decided the perfect gift would be a first American edition of Halldor Laxness’ Independent People. The book means a lot to both of us for a couple of reasons, but mostly because it’s the first book we both loved equally. (she usually hates everything I recommend, and I yawn over the stuff she thinks is fabulous.)

I found quite a few, ranging from a few dollars to over $2K. (Sadly, she’ll get one of the less pristine copies)

I own a few signed copies of books, but no dream first editions.

I was wondering if any of you lit-netters have first editions, are they something you have or would spend significant amounts of money on, and if so, what are the first editions you have or dream of having?

[Riesa]

I'd start my collection with one like this, minus the "dear mother so and so" the signature would suffice.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/RiesaRiesa/021201.jpg

[andave_ya]

I have a first edition Jack London -- I'm waiting till it's a hundred years old though, so I can sell it and pay off my college bills :D.

And I just found out that my Shel Silverstein book is signed...not The Giving Tree, the other one...

[NickAdams]

I have a small Hemingway collection of first editions: For Whom the Bell Tolls, A Moveable Feast, Islands in the Stream and Under Kilimanjaro. I wouldn't dig too deep into my pockets to obtain the rest, but I would consider a pricey first, and only, printing of Three Stories and Ten Poems.

[Riesa]

I have a first edition Jack London -- I'm waiting till it's a hundred years old though, so I can sell it and pay off my college bills :D.

And I just found out that my Shel Silverstein book is signed...not The Giving Tree, the other one...

the Jack apparently has no sentimental value then? :p

Do you mean Where the Sidewalk Ends?"

I can tell you've really made it a mission to love your books. ;-) They should get a fair price on Ebay. ;-)

[Riesa]

I have a small Hemingway collection of first editions: For Whom the Bell Tolls, A Moveable Feast, Islands in the Stream and Under Kilimanjaro. I wouldn't dig too deep into my pockets to obtain the rest, but I would consider a pricey first, and only, printing of Three Stories and Ten Poems.



Wow! are they something you prize? and how do you keep them? Are they on display? anything signed?

[JBI]

I have a first edition Timothy Findley - worth less than a new copy. Though the library where I study has a First Folio, and Homer fragments from the Hellenist period, amongst other rare works like first edition Lyrical Ballads, and other such rarities.

Personally, I buy the cheapest readable copy I can get, or better yet, grab them from the library if I can, and don't have particular need to own it.

[Riesa]

I have a first edition Timothy Findley - worth less than a new copy. Though the library where I study has a First Folio, and Homer fragments from the Hellenist period, amongst other rare works like first edition Lyrical Ballads, and other such rarities.

Personally, I buy the cheapest readable copy I can get, or better yet, grab them from the library if I can, and don't have particular need to own it.

ah. you wouldn't want even one little book, one little book that your favorite author had put his/her hands on. not one little book.

hmhm. who needs a first edition of Timothy Findlay?

[Virgil]

I think I have one or two worthless first editions. That might be a very good birthday present gven the significance. Or perhaps something music related. There must be some new weird group that you both lve, some group with a name like Garbage Truck Girls, and they must cover some song that fits the two of you like "Groovy Kind of Love." :p

[Riesa]

I think I have one or two worthless first editions. That might be a very good birthday present gven the significance. Or perhaps something music related. There must be some new weird group that you both lve, some group with a name like Garbage Truck Girls, and they must cover some song that fits the two of you like "Groovy Kind of Love." :p


ah, yes. indeed. well done, virg! thanks.

:rolleyes:

[NickAdams]

Wow! are they something you prize? and how do you keep them? Are they on display? anything signed?

My affection has waned since I purchased them. I have grown more interested in the contents of books and less in antiquities. They are kept on top of my bookshelf with my other rarities (Faulkner's out of print poetry and an a fascimile of Carroll's Alice written longhand). I dust them regularly and occasionally admire them. None are signed; that would have been something though. I wouldn't sell them though.

[andave_ya]

the Jack apparently has no sentimental value then? :p

Do you mean Where the Sidewalk Ends?"

I can tell you've really made it a mission to love your books. ;-) They should get a fair price on Ebay. ;-)

None whatsoever :D. It's the Barleycorn one -- I read most of it when I was much younger and couldn't muster up any appreciation for it. White Fang was very interesting, as was Call of the Wild, but Jack's animals were much more, ahem, personable than I remember his characters being.

And yes, Where the Sidewalk Ends is the right one. I LOVE that book; Ebay can find its own copy :p. I was actually looking for a poem by a little girl who was sick with everything -- until she realized it was Saturday :D. Then as I was closing the book I saw out of the corner of my eye some writing. It was his signature...

[Riesa]

I have grown more interested in the contents of books and less in antiquities.

how beautiful, even if you fail to dust your top shelf, at least they are there.

[Riesa]

None whatsoever :D. It's the Barleycorn one -- I read most of it when I was much younger and couldn't muster up any appreciation for it. White Fang was very interesting, as was Call of the Wild, but Jack's animals were much more, ahem, personable than I remember his characters being.

And yes, Where the Sidewalk Ends is the right one. I LOVE that book; Ebay can find its own copy :p. I was actually looking for a poem by a little girl who was sick with everything -- until she realized it was Saturday :D. Then as I was closing the book I saw out of the corner of my eye some writing. It was his signature...

a first edition of White Fang or Call of the Wild would be appreciated, I imagine.
I wonder if your little girl who was sick with everything was part of the Edward Gorey Alphabet book?

[Chava]

I have Kiplings collected works, bound in green leather with gold pages, from byeond the first world war.

I just inherited a ton of old old books. My great grandfather was a baker, but also the first real person to love books in the village, so he collected a major library, being the geek that I am, I got to inherit all of them. :)

[*Classic*Charm*]

I have a first edition Timothy Findley - worth less than a new copy.

True, but I'm still jealous!:D

[TheFifthElement]

I was thinking about what to get Idril for her birthday and decided the perfect gift would be a first American edition of Halldor Laxness’ Independent People. The book means a lot to both of us for a couple of reasons, but mostly because it’s the first book we both loved equally. (she usually hates everything I recommend, and I yawn over the stuff she thinks is fabulous.)

I found quite a few, ranging from a few dollars to over $2K. (Sadly, she’ll get one of the less pristine copies)

I own a few signed copies of books, but no dream first editions.

I was wondering if any of you lit-netters have first editions, are they something you have or would spend significant amounts of money on, and if so, what are the first editions you have or dream of having?

I haven't read Independent People yet but it's on my reading list for this year. Laxness is great.

I have a Grove Press 1961 Edition (first US Edition) of Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. I don't know if they're worth anything, but I don't rightly care either! Tropic of Cancer cost me £7 which is the cost of a new paperback, and Tropic of Capricorn cost £2.99 from a local charity shop. Super find :p

[Idril]

I think I have one or two worthless first editions. That might be a very good birthday present gven the significance. Or perhaps something music related. There must be some new weird group that you both lve, some group with a name like Garbage Truck Girls, and they must cover some song that fits the two of you like "Groovy Kind of Love." :p

Are you implying something there, Virgil? Are you questioning the nature of our relationship? ;) :lol: Garbage Truck Girls does sound like something we would like though so I have to give you points for that. ;)

Riesa, that Laxness book sounds amazing! You know how much I would that.

[Whifflingpin]

"I have a first edition Jack London -- I'm waiting till it's a hundred years old though, so I can sell it and pay off my college bills ."

Don't hold your breath. I've a handful of first editions, some over a hundred years old, and I doubt they'd fetch more than $100 dollars for the lot. Having first editions gives some odd kind of satisfaction, but it's only quirks of fashion that make them valuable.

[Virgil]

Are you implying something there, Virgil? Are you questioning the nature of our relationship? ;) :lol: Garbage Truck Girls does sound like something we would like though so I have to give you points for that. ;)

:blush: No I didn't mean anything like that. I assume you're referring to A Groovy Kind of Love. All I meant was a hip sixties type of song. It had come up on my ipod a few minutes before writing that post. I was not thinking along those lines.

Nice to see you Idril. :)

[Riesa]

:lol:

oh, Virgil, you blush so easily.

Yeah, Idril, I'm sorry to ruin the suprise, I'll send it non-birthday instead.

Fifth, Independent People is really wonderful, but World Light is the favorite of what I've read so far. I have Iceland's Bell and Under the Glacier in my to-read pile.

[andave_ya]

a first edition of White Fang or Call of the Wild would be appreciated, I imagine.
I wonder if your little girl who was sick with everything was part of the Edward Gorey Alphabet book?

I'm not sure. This is the poem though:

Sick
by Shel Silverstein


"I cannot go to school today,"
Said little Peggy Ann McKay.
"I have the measles and the mumps,
A gash, a rash and purple bumps.
My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,
I'm going blind in my right eye.
My tonsils are as big as rocks,
I've counted sixteen chicken pox
And there's one more--that's seventeen,
And don't you think my face looks green?
My leg is cut--my eyes are blue--
It might be instamatic flu.
I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,
I'm sure that my left leg is broke--
My hip hurts when I move my chin,
My belly button's caving in,
My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained,
My 'pendix pains each time it rains.
My nose is cold, my toes are numb.
I have a sliver in my thumb.
My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,
I hardly whisper when I speak.
My tongue is filling up my mouth,
I think my hair is falling out.
My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight,
My temperature is one-o-eight.
My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,
There is a hole inside my ear.
I have a hangnail, and my heart is--what?
What's that? What's that you say?
You say today is. . .Saturday?
G'bye, I'm going out to play!"



"I have a first edition Jack London -- I'm waiting till it's a hundred years old though, so I can sell it and pay off my college bills ."

Don't hold your breath. I've a handful of first editions, some over a hundred years old, and I doubt they'd fetch more than $100 dollars for the lot. Having first editions gives some odd kind of satisfaction, but it's only quirks of fashion that make them valuable.

:( nuts!! Oh well. I know I'd get a ton of satisfaction out of having a first edition of one of my favorite author's works...maybe I can find someone like that.