Unknown works by Crichton discovered

Extracts From The Independant

Like the dinosaurs he created in Jurassic Park, or the mutating virus at the centre of The Andromeda Strain, Michael Crichton is back from the dead. The late author will mount a final assault on the best-seller lists from beyond the grave.

Crichton, who died of cancer in November aged 66, left a treasure trove of work on his personal computer, his estate revealed yesterday. The valuable cache includes a completed historical thriller and roughly a third of a new science-fiction novel. Both will be released over the next 18 months, with the first novel, an adventure story called Pirate Latitudes set in 17th-century Jamaica, hitting stores in time for Christmas.

"Pirate Latitudes is obviously unedited, but the book is complete, and it will all be his own work," said Julia Wisdom, Crichton's UK publisher at HarperCollins. "Like all of his work, he wrote it in secret. He would have these extraordinary ideas, which he'd keep under his hat, before springing them on us when the manuscript was completed."

Full article
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/back-from-the-dead-unknown-works-by-crichton-discovered-1664428.html

Modern First Editions
http://www.modernfirsteditions.info/michael%20crichton/

Bloomsbury auction tomorrow 11am includes Children’s Books

Children’s Books, Private Press & Limited Editions, Livres d’Artistes, Modern Illustrated Books

The most comprehensive private collection of mauchline ware books ever to come onto the market, is being sold by Bloomsbury Auctions in London as part of the Children's Books, Private Press & Limited Editions, Livres d'Artistes, Modern Illustrated Books and Original Artwork sale (26th February 2009). Consisting of 54 lots (many with more than one item per lot), the collection was painstakingly put together over a period of about 25 years, and is considered to be more extensive than that in the National Library of Scotland.

These charming wood mementos were both useful as well as decorative and were created by William and Andrew Smith in the first half of the nineteenth century and continued to be made until about 1930. Initially made from sycamore and later other local woods, they were often covered in a tartan and then embellished with engravings of Scottish views.

The beautifully crafted books in Bloomsbury's Property of a Lady, span a wide spectrum of subjects such as prayer books, bibles and books on the language of flowers or birds' eggs to poetry books by HW Longfellow, Robert Burns, Thomas Moore, Sir Walter Scott or Lord AlfredTennyson. Particularly interesting is lot 18, The Poetical Works and Letters by Robert Burns decorated with transfer vignettes 'from Pitnacree, Dunkeld' and 'Dinna forget Pitnacree' with an unexpected vignette of the Italian patriot Garibaldi (estimate £150-200). Another attractive lot is the group of seven mauchline fern ware bindings from about 1870 (lot 24) estimated £300-400. The Scottish Keepsake by Robert Burns (lot 17) with a Campbell tartan mauchline binding and gilt leather spine is datable to1845 and is estimated £300-400. The Tourist's Guide to Loch Lomond (lot 31) is a typical souvenir piece with 12 chromolithographs and made of wood from the slopes of Stirling Castle (estimate £200-300). The main point of interest for lot 13 A Book of Common Prayer is that it was 'made from tree felled by ...Gladstone' with transfer views of Hawarden Castle and Church (estimate £50-100), while lot 49 consists of various works by Scott all in mauchline bindings of wood grown on the lands of Abbotsford and decorated with transfer vignettes and photographic portraits (£300-400). However the highlight of the collection is lot 48, a six volume box of Select Poetry by Sir Walter Scott in mauchline tartan bindings with a cameo bust of Scott on the lid, estimated £1000-1500 and datable 1869-70, Edinburgh.

Can Books Beat the Stock Market?

On radio 4's The Open Book there was a feature on Books and prices, and Books as an investment.

Mariella Frostrup interviewed Richard Davies from Abebooks about Books as an Investment. Interesting feature but no real revelations - Buy Books Because You Like Them, Buy 1st Editions, Buy Hardbacks, Must be in Mint Condition, and Signed.

View the web site for The Open Book
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/openbook/openbook.shtml

You can listen to the feature on the site (starts about 20 miniutes into the show)

Twilight and Stephenie Meyer

With the release of the Twilight film in the US I throught I would have a look at some of the prices that the Stephenie Meyer books are selling for.

There have been four books released in the series so far with Twilight being released in 2005 also New Moon (2006), Eclipse (2007), Breaking Dawn (2008)

Looking at Abebooks there are a number of 1st editions available including at the highest end the first three books in the series 1st Editions / 1st Printings at US$ 6500.00 £4500

Wow!

Not sure if anyone will pay that but it shows that if you hit on the right title at the right time small fortunes could be made.

Anyone got any tips on what will be the next hot title????

You can visit Stephenie Meyer links, book sales links and details below

http://www.modernfirsteditions.info/stephenie%20meyer/

Page Updates and Flat Signed Books

We have been adding new content to our author information pages and are gradually building up a sales database of actual results.

http://www.modernfirsteditions.info/patricia%20cornwell/
http://www.modernfirsteditions.info/j%20d%20salinger/
http://www.modernfirsteditions.info/stephen%20king/

We have also added links to Flat Signed Books and their ebay auctions for first editions on al the author information pages.

There current and completed listings section make interesting viewing. This edition of The Catcher in the Rye sold by Flat Signed Book in November 2008 for $1780 - J.D. Salinger "The Catcher in the Rye" (Little Brown, 1951) 1st Edition 1st Printing

Click here to view Flat Signed auctions and results

Jurassic Park author Crichton dies at 66

Michael Crichton, the bestselling author behind the Jurassic Park films and the long-running television series ER, has died unexpectedly in Los Angeles at the age of 66.

A statement released by his family said that the author died after a "courageous and private battle against cancer". He leaves behind his wife, Sherri, and Taylor, his daughter from a previous marriage.

Crichton was a prolific writer whose books spawned numerous film adaptations. More than a dozen of his novels, including Rising Sun, Congo and Twister made it on to the big screen, but it was Jurassic Park, his scientific thriller about the botched creation of a dinosaur theme park, which made him a household name. He co-wrote the screenplay for the film, which was directed by Steven Spielberg and won three Oscars for its special effects.

Visit http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/jurassic-park-author-crichton-dies-at-66-994915.html for more details

First Edition Books and The Number Line

I must admit when I first got back into collecting first edition books again I was not aware of the number line. It is possible that a few people reading this might be saying what's the number line?
I had always looked for the term "First Edition," "First Printing," "First Published," "Published," or "First Impression" to indicate whether a tome was a first.

Apparently now about 80% of publishers particularly in the US use the number line.

So what is it?

The number line is usually a series of numbers

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 or 8 6 4 2 1 3 5 7 9 etc

If a 1 is present in the line the book is a first edition first printing.

For a second printing the 1 is removed and the lowest number will be 2.

Pictured right is the number line from a first edition of Prey by Michael Crichton - this does not include any text mentioning First Published but does have 1 in the number line.

Some books may say First Published as well as having a number line.

I have several Eoin Colfer Artemis Fowl books. One of which I thought was a first edition

The first is Artemis Fowl with the following
First Published
10

indicating a First Edition 10th printing (so not really a first edition at all)

Occasionally the number line may be accompanied by a date line

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 90 91 92 indicates a third printing, published in 1992.

There seem to be a few exceptions to this rule.
Book Collecting Tips mentions that for Random House Publishers

A letter "B" in the middle of a number line that contains a "1" is an 11th edition.

Pictured right is a publisher page for Bridget Jones The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding.
This includes the text First Published 1999 as well as a number line at the bottom. This indicates a First Edition First Printing.

I have noticed lots of price differences on certain books with different First Edition Printings.

As well as lots of books on ebay indicating First Editions. These may well be First Editions but not necessarily a First Printing.