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.

Frank L Baum and Oziana collection at Bloomsbury

Just went to check the results of Frank L Baum and Oziana auction at Bloomsbury and nearly all items are marked as unsold. I am not sure whether the results are just late coming in or whether the items were really unsold.

If anyone was present at the auction and has any news please post to let us know.

I will wait until the results are uploaded or I speak to Bloomsbury next week about the sale until I say more.

Eoin Colfer to be new Hitchhiker's author

http://www.modernfirsteditions.info/eoin%20colfer/

http://www.modernfirsteditions.info/douglas%20adams/

Fine to NM copies of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy are on abebooks for £500 - £800

This copy sold at Bloomsbury Auctions in June 2008 for £130 - The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, first hardback edition , original boards, dust-jacket, worn at corners with 2 small splits, 1979; and a signed copy of Mostly Harmless , 8vo (2)

This will definately generate renewed interest in the books.

From the BBC

Children's author Eoin Colfer has been commissioned to write a sixth instalment of the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy series.

Mostly Harmless, the last Hitchhiker book, was written by its creator, the late Douglas Adams, 16 years ago.

Now Adams's widow, Jane Belson, has given her approval to bring back the hapless Arthur Dent in a new book entitled And Another Thing...

Eoin Colfer, 43, is best known for the best-selling Artemis Fowl novels.

He said he was "terrified" by the prospect of creating a new Hitchhiker book almost a quarter of a century after being introduced to what he described as a "slice of satirical genius" in his late teens.

'Pressure'

The book also spawned a BBC TV series starring Simon Jones"My first reaction was semi-outrage that anyone should be allowed to tamper with this incredible series," he said.

"But on reflection I realised that this is a wonderful opportunity to work with characters I have loved since childhood and give them something of my own voice while holding on to the spirit of Douglas Adams.

"I feel more pressure to perform now than I ever have with my own books," he said, adding that he was "determined that this will be the best thing I have ever written".

Jane Belson said: "I am delighted that Eoin Colfer has agreed to continue the Hitchhiker series.
"I love his books and could not think of a better person to transport Arthur, Zaphod and Marvin to pastures new. The project has my full support."

Adams died of heart failure in 2001, aged 49.

Around 16 million copies of his Hitchhiker books, which have been translated into 35 languages, have been sold around the world.

Colfer was a primary school teacher in Ireland before he secured the largest ever advance for a children's novel by an unknown author.

His Artemis Fowl series, about a teenage criminal mastermind who wreaks havoc in this world and the next, went on to sell more than 18 million copies worldwide and a film adaptation is due to go into production next year.

And Another Thing... will be published in October next year.

Ian Fleming Sale Results from Bloomsbury 4th September Sale

There were two sections of Ian Fleming books the first were lost 308-314. Lots 308-311 sold for the estimate or above estimate, but the remaning lots 312-314 were unsold. Goldfinger made £500 and For Your Eyes Only made £260, over £100 of the estimate.

308. Fleming (Ian) Goldfinger, first edition , ink name on front free endpaper, original boards, slight shelf-lean, dust-jacket, slight browning to spine with small repair to inside head, some other light marking, but overall an unusually good example, 8vo, 1959.
est. £500 – £600
Sold for £500

309. Fleming (Ian) For Your Eyes Only, first edition , ink name on front free endpaper, original boards, dust-jacket, spine faded, light staining to edges of lower panel, rubbed at corners, 8vo, 1960.
est. £100 – £150
Sold for £260

310. Fleming (Ian) Thunderball, first edition , ink name on front free endpaper, original boards, dust-jacket, slightly browned and chipped at spine, otherwise very good, 8vo, 1961.
est. £120 – £180
Sold for £160

311. Fleming (Ian) The Spy Who Loved Me, first edition , original boards, shelf lean, dust-jacket, spine slightly browned, otherwise a fine copy, 8vo, 1962.
est. £180 – £220
Sold for £260

There were eight Ian Fleming James Bond lots in the second section of the auction (lots 346-353). Four were sold and four remainded unsold. Lot 346 Casino Royale was sold above the estimate, Lot 347 a series of 1st paperbacks made £170 with an estimate of £150-£200. Lot 348 a copy of Dr No was sold for just under estimate and Lot 350 Thunderball was sold for just £25 with an estimate of £50-£75. So a mixed bag of results.

346. [Fleming (Ian) Casino Royale], first edition , impression unknown, lacking title, some foxing, new endpapers, original Kenneth Lewis jacket laminated onto boards, 8vo, 1953.
est. £75 – £100
Sold for £140

347. Fleming (Ian) Casino Royale, 1955; Moonraker, 1956; Live and Let Die, 1957; Diamonds are Forever, 1958, first paperback editions , browning, original pictorial wrappers, 8vo, Pan (4)
est. £150 – £200
Sold for £170

348. Fleming (Ian) Dr No, first edition , 1 p. creased at corner, ink name on front free endpaper, original second state boards with silhouette, dust-jacket, tears to corners and spine ends with some loss, rubbed at fore-edges, circular mark on upper panel, light soiling visible on lower panel, 8vo, 1958.
est. £150 – £200
Sold for £120

350. Fleming (Ian) Thunderball, first edition , original boards, dust-jacket, rubbed at corners and spine ends, tear with loss descending into closed tear from head of spine into upper panel, 8vo, 1961.
est. £50 – £75
Sold for £25

Bloomsbury NY 17th Sep sale catalogue featuring Frank L Baum and Oziana collection

The sale catalogue for the Frank L Baum and Oziana collection is now online and can be viewed at http://ny.bloomsburyauctions.com/auction/NY014

The sale will commence on September 17th with the Fred M. Meyer Collection. As Executive Secretary of The International Wizard of Oz Club, Inc. for nearly forty years, Mr. Meyer amassed a wealth of first editions, manuscripts, printer's proofs, rare toys and games, and drawings by W. W. Denslow, John R. Neill and others.

The sale includes a copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

13. BAUM, L[yman] Frank (1856-1919). The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Chicago and New York: Geo. M. Hill Co., [1900]. 8vo (211 x 165 mm). Illustrated by W.W. Denslow. 24 color plates tipped in. Publisher's green cloth, covers and spine stamped and lettered in red and green, pictorial endpapers, housed in a lettered clamshell case. Condition: hinges neatly repaired, covers slightly faded, some minor soiling, corners bumped, previous owner's inscription on front pastedown dated 1901. first edition, mixed state with publisher's imprint in serified type stamped in red on spine.

As is often mentioned, the first edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has a complex printing history. It is made up of three separately produced components: the text sheets, the color plates, and the stamped binding. The publisher ordered a major modification of the text sheets after the first printing. They repositioned many of the text illustrations and corrected typographical errors. The color plates were also slightly modified, and the binding underwent several changes. As a result, scrambled copies combining first and later states have been identified. Although Jacob Blank in his pioneering bibliography Peter Parley to Penrod (1938) described X, Y, and Z states of the first edition, there were only two printings that resulted in the mixed copies. The 1900 Hill edition of this children's classic in any state is still highly desirable.

as well as other Oz editions including Glinda of Oz, Dorothy and the City of Oz, and The Emerald City of Oz.

Should be a cracking sale.

New Book Forum added

We have added a Book Forum to the site

http://www.modernfirsteditions.info/forum

Forums include Pricing and Valuing First Edition Books, Is this a 1st Edition and a General Forum. Let us know if there are specific forums that you would like to see added.

Bloomsbury New York Sale Featuring the Fred M. Meyer Collection of L. Frank Baum and related Oziana

I am quite excited about this sale which will take place on Wednesday 17th September in New York. I have been checking the Bloomsbury site regularly but no sign of the catalogue yet.

It will be interesting to see the prices realised in the current market.

http://www.modernfirsteditions.info/frank%20l%20baum/
has links to some current book sales for Frank L Baum
Currently listed is a true first edition of The WonderfulWizard of Oz with slight restoration for $100,000
There is another in a lesser condition for $12,000

As soon as the catalogue is up I will add some details.

New Pages Added and Khaled Hosseini

Just added some new pages to the site

http://www.modernfirsteditions.info/eoin%20colfer/

http://www.modernfirsteditions.info/bernard%20cornwell/

http://www.modernfirsteditions.info/thomas%20harris/

http://www.modernfirsteditions.info/khaled%20hosseini/

Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner appears to be one of the hottest books over the last year. One book dealers says that pices have gone from $51 in 2004 to $1500 in 2007/2008

His second book A Thousand Splendid Suns has also seen a large increase.

Visit http://www.modernfirsteditions.info/khaled%20hosseini/ and click on Find Books to see latest prices.

Blyton more popular than Shakespeare

Enid Blyton has been named as the UK's most loved writer from a survey in The Independant - slightly surprising. The top 50 places include a number of children's authors. Pictured right is a copy of Five on a Treasure Island, first edition of the first ‘Famous Five’ which was sold by Bloomsbury Auctions in June 2008 for £950.

From the Independant on Sunday

The Children's authors Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl have been named as the nation's best-loved writers – over Shakespeare, Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, according to a poll of 2,000 people.

The creator of the Famous Five books topped the poll, followed by Dahl and the Harry Potter author J K Rowling. Austen, the author of enduring favourites such as Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice and Emma, is fourth in the nationwide survey of readers.

She is followed by Shakespeare, Dickens and The Lord of the Rings author J R R Tolkien.

The murder-mystery writer Agatha Christie is eighth, followed by the horror writer Stephen King, who shares the honour with Rowling of being the only two living authors to appear in the top 10. Beatrix Potter and C S Lewis, two other writers who have been read by millions of children, take 10th and 11th place.

You can read the full article at http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/blyton-more-popular-than-shakespeare-says-survey-901848.html

Britain's top 10 scribes
1. Enid Blyton
2. Roald Dahl
3. J K Rowling
4. Jane Austen
5. William Shakespeare
6. Charles Dickens
7. J R R Tolkien
8. Agatha Christie
9. Stephen King
10. Beatrix Potter

First Edition Book Search - Guide to Pricing

I have added a quick search box on all of our author information pages - there is a link to each author we feature at the bottom of the http://www.modernfirsteditions.info/ home page.

Most people want to know what their books are worth, whether a book they have seen is good value and to get rough price estimates. The First Edition Book Search searches over 100 million books from over 13,500 book dealers and gives a great guide to what certain book dealers are asking.

On the same page there are also links to ebay.

Here are a couple of examples from the search - both from authors I have in my collection: Louis De Bernières and V S Naipaul. Unfortunately I do not have Captain Corelli's Mandolin but I do have Red Dog which I picked up for 50p ($0.95)

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Captain Corelli's Mandolin & Günter Weber's Confession (ISBN: 0436201585)
Bernières, Louis De
Bookseller: YGRbooks (Zürich, CH, Switzerland)
Price: £ 1772.55 US$ 3,280.98

Book Description: London, United Kingdom: Martin Secker & Warburg Ltd and Tartarus Press, 1994, London, United Kingdom, 1994. Cloth. Book Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: As New. First Edition. Cloth. Signed by Author. First Editions, First Printings. Both volumes are as new. The Mandolin signed and dated ("1994") by the author on the title page. The Confession No. 61 of an edition of 100 copies, signed and numbered by the author and printed on Zerkall paper in 2001. The complete Corelli, and what a great book it is: simply wonderful! CHF 3'500. This item is part of our Catalogue 5: 100 Key Books, a copy of which you can order from us at YGRbooks. Signed by Author.

http://www.modernfirsteditions.info/louis%20de%20bernieres/

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Mr Stone and the Knights Companion Naipul, V. S.
Bookseller: modern-ISM (Playa Del Rey, CA, U.S.A.)
Price: £ 556.46 US$ 1000.00

Book Description: Macmillan, New York, 1964. Cloth. First U.S. Edition. 8vo. A clean, attractive, lightly used ex-library copy. I would rate the book Near Fine without the library markings (some fading to the pink dye on the top edges). The Fine DJ has no library markings, stickers or paste and was well-protected by a mylar cover. The $3.50 price is present at bottom of front flap. There is a small piece of tape placed inside at the spine crown for reinforcement but there are no wrinkles or tears. The only flaw to the DJ is some minor bleed through from the tape. Scarce in any condition. Naipul is a recent winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Bookseller Inventory # 003739


http://www.modernfirsteditions.info/v%20s%20naipaul/

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Let us know if you find the links useful

http://www.modernfirsteditions.info/

Bloomsbury UK 4th September Sale includes nice collection of Ian Flemming editions

The Bloomsbury UK Bibliophile Sale on the 4th September includes a collection of interesting first editions including a number of Ian Flemming editions including:

308. Fleming (Ian) Goldfinger, first edition

309. Fleming (Ian) For Your Eyes Only, first edition

310. Fleming (Ian) Thunderball, first edition

311. Fleming (Ian) The Spy Who Loved Me, first edition

312. Fleming (Ian) On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, first edition

313. Fleming (Ian) You Only Live Twice, first edition

314. Fleming (Ian) The Man with the Golden Gun

The Goldfinger Edition has an estimate of £500-£600

The sales also includes Agatha Christie, Ernest Hemmingway, Jame Joyce and Aldous Huxley among others.

Visit http://www.bloomsburyauctions.com/ for more details

Condition of Books

Condition is paramount to many collectors. A pristine perfect condition of a book may fetch many many times that of even a good copy. Currently in the world of Comics here is a Comic Guarantee LLC also known as CGC. Professionals grade comics and mark them out of 10. A 10 being a perfect copy of a book, no faults at all. In the past a near mint copy would be acceptable, now collectors are wanting high grade CGC copies of comics. A CGC 10 copy of a comic can even be worth many more times than a near mint copy. At some point in the future I will look at Professional Book Graders.

Personally I still gather books in Good and Fair condition. It would be interesting to guage opinion on whether collectors would rather given a sum of money to spend one perfect book (which you might be afraid to touch as you may damage it) ir many lesser quality tomes? I have a number of books such as Jaws by Peter Benchley, Travesties by Tom Stoppard and A Flag on the Island by V S Naipaul that many collectors would not consider.

Condition of Books

As New is self-explanatory. It means that the book is in the state that it should have been in when it left the publisher. The is the equivalent of Mint condition in numismatics.

Fine (F or FN) is As New but allowing for the normal effects of time on an unused book that has been protected. A fine book shows no damage.

Very Good (VG) describes a book that is worn but untorn. For many collectors this is the minimum acceptable condition for all but the rarest items.

Good (G) is (as an old bookselling joke has it) not very good. It is used to describes the condition of an average used worn book that is complete.

Fair shows wear and tear but all the text pages and illustrations or maps are present. It may lack endpapers, half-title, and even the title page.

Poor describes a book that has the complete text but is so damaged that it is only of interest to a buyer who seeks a reading copy. If the damage renders the text illegible then the book is not even poor

Alexander Solzhenitsyn dies age 89

When Alexander Solzhenitsyn's 'One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich' appeared in the thick monthly literary magazine Novy Mir back in November of 1962, taboos were shattered. Buried secrets were unearthed. And the Soviet Union was shaken to its foundations.

Solzhenitsyn's short novel described a single day in the life of a carpenter caught up in the Soviet Union's secret network of slave labor camps, where starvation, bitter cold and punishing work regimes were the rule and, it has been said, the average life expectancy was one winter.

The author was working as a provincial math teacher, and his greatest work, "The Gulag Archipelago," was still to come. But "One Day" was to shock the USSR and the world.
Some of the crimes of the dictator Josef Stalin were exposed and denounced following a secret speech by Communist Party leader Nikita Khrushchev in 1956, as part of his short-lived campaign to reform the brutal Soviet system.

But Solzhenitsyn's novel, based on the seven years he spent as a prisoner, was the first real expose of the gulag — a word derived from the Russian "Glavnoe Upravelenie Lagerei," or Main Camp Administration.

Solzhenitsyn, who went on to win the Nobel Prize for Literature but was exiled from his homeland because of his work, died of heart failure on the 3rd August at age 89, his son Stepan Solzhenitsyn told The Associated Press.

How it all began

I have always loved books fiction, non-fiction, old, and new. In 1988 I bought a book entitled Modern First Editions by Joseph Connolly. My new copy was the third edition and the wonderfuly cover featured covers from the books of Wodehouse, Christie, Spark, Waugh, Deighton and Auden. Very eye-catching.

I would love to say that I read the book from cover to cover and and now some twenty years later I am expert. Alas no. I did read it and have found it invaluable but I have never had the time to devote to become all knowledgeable.

After twenty years I know a little more than I did but am still no expert - so I have started a web site to learn more, share finds and point to interesting items and web sites.