First Edition or Signed Copy?

"michael adams" <mjadams28.TakeThisOut@onetel.net.uk> wrote in message
news:2sv8rhF1nl0gnU1@uni-berlin.de...
 >
 > "Luca Notini" <L.notini.TakeThisOut@lboro.ac.uk> wrote in message
 > news:ckdp3b$flk$1@sun-cc204.lut.ac.uk...
  > > Dear Group,
  > >
  > > In the case of a book I wish to purchase I have have two
  > > choices: a frst edition hardback or a later edition hardback
  > > that contains the signature of the author and a dedication.
  > > I would be grateful if anbody can provide an opinion as to
  > > the rationale one should apply when faced with such a decison.
  > >
  > > Many thanks,
  > >
  > > Luca
  > >
 >
 > The first question to ask is who is the book dedicated to ?
 >
[snip]
 >
 > The second question is who is the author ? Some authors sign
 > far more books than others and there are other posters on here
 > who are fairly knowledgable on this.
[snip]
 >
 >
 > michael adams
 >
And to expound upon the second question, is the author still alive? If not,
I'd tend to go for the signed edition, since there won't be any more of
them. (I did once hear of a signed Twain edition published after his
death--the story was that he signed the sheets before he died, and they were
bound in later. However, that's the only instance I've heard of that
happening.)

A third question is how common is the book? If there are dozens of copies
listed online, you could always get one later. If a copy comes up once a
decade, you might want to get it now. I was at a book fair once where I saw
a book I'd heard about for years and never expected to discover in the wild.
I knew I'd probably never encounter it again, so I bought it, despite the
fact that it cost about the same as a month's rent. I shook for three days
after that, but I'm glad I bought it.

And if you're unlikely to come across them again, is it within your means to
buy both of them? This may sound like I'm trying to weasel out of making a
decision, but if it's something you really want, you'll regret not getting
it later. Many years ago (1979 or so) I passed up a copy of Steal This Book
by Abbie Hoffman for $2.00. It costs a bit more these days.

Phred<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: First Edition or Signed Copy? 

The correct answer is both. Just skip dinner for a few weeks.

---Mike


"Luca Notini" <L.notini RemoveThis @lboro.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:ckdp3b$flk$1@sun-cc204.lut.ac.uk...
 > Dear Group,
 >
 > In the case of a book I wish to purchase I have have two choices: a frst
 > edition hardback or a later edition hardback that contains the signature
 > of
 > the author and a dedication. I would be grateful if anbody can provide an
 > opinion as to the rationale one should apply when faced with such a
 > decison.
 >
 > Many thanks,
 >
 > Luca
 >
 ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: First Edition or Signed Copy? 

Phred wrote:

 > (I did once hear of a signed Twain edition published after his
 > death--the story was that he signed the sheets before he died,
 > and they were bound in later. However, that's the only instance
 > I've heard of that happening.)

Of course, it's far from the only instance on eBay, etc., where mostly it's
just that - a story, like the posthumous Poe signature discussed in the rcb
archives (http://tinyurl.com/3zzwr), where Paghat adds:

 > Philip K. Dick signed some books after he died, by having his
 > signature clipped from old checks & pasted in.
 >
 > I'm trying to recall if it was Twain, I think it was Twain, who'se
 > final signed edition was issued a few years after his death, using
 > signed plates that'd been laying around for quite some while.

I haven't checked on the Twain story, so can't vouch for it, thought there
were, of course, quite a few editions of Twain (as of other authors) with
facsimile signatures, often on the frontispiece, so the emptor needs to bit
of serious caveating.

An interesting, somewhat related topic, is posthumously-created bookplates,
see, e.g., <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.gslis.utexas.edu/~landc/bookplates/20_1_Joyce.htm." target="_blank">http://www.gslis.utexas.edu/~landc/bookplates/20_1_Joyce.htm.</a>

--
John
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://rarebooksinjapan.com" target="_blank">http://rarebooksinjapan.com</a><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: First Edition or Signed Copy? 

On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 00:24:35 +0900, "John Yamamoto-Wilson"
<johndeletethis DeleteThis @rarebooksinjapan.com> wrote:

 >Phred wrote:
 >
  >> (I did once hear of a signed Twain edition published after his
  >> death--the story was that he signed the sheets before he died,
  >> and they were bound in later. However, that's the only instance
  >> I've heard of that happening.)
 >
 >Of course, it's far from the only instance on eBay, etc., where mostly it's
 >just that - a story, like the posthumous Poe signature discussed in the rcb
 >archives (http://tinyurl.com/3zzwr), where Paghat adds:
 >
  >> Philip K. Dick signed some books after he died, by having his
  >> signature clipped from old checks & pasted in.
  >>
  >> I'm trying to recall if it was Twain, I think it was Twain, who'se
  >> final signed edition was issued a few years after his death, using
  >> signed plates that'd been laying around for quite some while.
 >
 >I haven't checked on the Twain story, so can't vouch for it, thought there
 >were, of course, quite a few editions of Twain (as of other authors) with
 >facsimile signatures, often on the frontispiece, so the emptor needs to bit
 >of serious caveating.
 >
 >An interesting, somewhat related topic, is posthumously-created bookplates,
<font color=purple> >see, e.g., <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.gslis.utexas.edu/~landc/bookplates/20_1_Joyce.htm.</font" target="_blank">http://www.gslis.utexas.edu/~landc/bookplates/20_1_Joyce.htm.</font</a>>

There are a few other legitimate examples. I have a very nice
collection by Fredric Brown issued signed some twenty years after the
author's death... Seems that there was going to be a signed edition of
Science Fiction Carnival under the editorship of Brown and Mack
Reynolds that didn't come off... A publisher obtained the signature
pages from the original publisher and had them bound in. Of course
they were signed by both co-editors, but fortunately the two men had
also collaborated on a handful of short stories, so these stories were
included in the collection so that the dual signature made sense.

When my friends at Fedogan & Bremer were assembling a Karl Edward
Wagner tribute volume, they sought out pther publishers he'd worked
with for left-over signature pages, or correspondence in order to
create a signed edition.

An interesting practice, certainly not the same in my mind as
obtaining a book actually signed by the author, but better than not
having a signature at all...

Cheers,

John

<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.darksidepress.com" target="_blank">www.darksidepress.com</a><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: First Edition or Signed Copy?