Posted by andyb on July 21, 2005 at 00:51:47 from 81.131.131.237 user beardbiter.
I try to avoid book collecting of the "slightly foxed" variety but did wander into Buxton Book Fair last weekend and thought that some Tarbordistas might like a report on what was on offer. These include a 1934 edition of SA with Clifford Webb illustrations. ( At least I think it was Webb not Spurrier). Cost: £35. Then there was a 1st ed of WH (no dust cover) for £40 and a 1st ed of SW with a dust cover for £165. There were also a number of ordinary editions with dust covers for £15. This raised the obvious question of buying a £15 "ordinary" edition with a dc and a £40 1st ed and marrying the two. I assume this is considered unethical. I also assume that I'm not the first person to have this idea. So, how can you tell when you shell out £165 for a 1st ed with a dc that a little reshuffling has not taken place?
Anyway I wasn't sufficiently tempted to buy any of them. The nearest I got to succumbing was to what was described as a "new edition with a new introduction by the author" of OPRT.
What surprised me the most was the prices being asked for 'second generation' Ransome material, e.g. £40 for Roger Wardale's book on Nancy Blackett. A good excuse for buying the hardback of everything on the Ted's bookstall, or even buying two!
Anyway I'm sure this is all old hat to those who are interested in this sort of thing. What I'd really like to know is what is the cure for seriously contemplating paying £15 for a copy of a book I already own just for its dust cover?