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.
Saturday, 30 August 2008
Wednesday, 27 August 2008
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.
Monday, 25 August 2008
New Pages Added and Khaled Hosseini
Just added some new pages to the site
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
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 2007/2008His 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.
Sunday, 24 August 2008
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
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
Saturday, 23 August 2008
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 ($0.95)
*****************
Captain Corelli's Mandolin & Günter Weber's Confession (ISBN: 0436201585)
Bernières, Louis De
Bookseller: YGRbooks (Zürich, CH, Switzerland)
Price: £ 1772.55 US$ 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/
*****************
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/
*****************
Let us know if you find the links useful
http://www.modernfirsteditions.info/
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 ($0.95)
*****************
Captain Corelli's Mandolin & Günter Weber's Confession (ISBN: 0436201585)Bernières, Louis De
Bookseller: YGRbooks (Zürich, CH, Switzerland)
Price: £ 1772.55 US$ 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/
*****************
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/
*****************
Let us know if you find the links useful
http://www.modernfirsteditions.info/
Thursday, 14 August 2008
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
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
Tuesday, 12 August 2008
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.
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
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
Sunday, 10 August 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, 7 August 2008
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
