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Authenticity is Everything
first edition books either signed or unsigned
I would be interested to know what members thought about buying first edition books. Some of the less recent ones look in very poor condition yet the estimates remain very high
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by michelle on
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you couldnt believe the number of uk charity shops i have looked for books and jewellery and have found nothing!! so I am well impressed by your finds. So would a Christies jewellery valuer who told me he always looked for stuff in charity shops and had found nothing there either so got upset watching the Antiques Roadshow each week which made me laugh. Some of the signed books you have found are really nice espec Sting's. well done again
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Permalink Reply by Stepeanut on
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Thanks, Michelle.
I find you have to do a lot of charity shops, and do them often, in order to increase your chances of making good finds. Like I say, it’s not unusual for us to do 20-30 in a day. Often, I’ll come away empty-handed, or with just one or two minor finds. Other times, I’ll hit the jackpot.
With jewellery, we never find gold or diamonds. You have to be realistic about these things. What we do find a lot of is silver, amber, freshwater pearls, and collectible costume jewellery by name designers. On rare occasions, we’ve also found Blue John.
Amber is a particular favourite with my girlfriend. We have a LOT of amber. It is often mistaken for plastic by charity shop workers, and sold as cheap costume jewellery. The trick is having the eye to pick out the good stuff amongst all the worthless tat. My other half is brilliant at it, and I’m definitely developing my skills. I love nothing more than finding a quality piece by myself then presenting it to her as a gift.
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Permalink Reply by crazyrabbits23 on
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First edition, or first printing? There's a difference -- a first printing of a signed book can be much more valuable than a signed later printing. As far as signed book collecting in thrift shops, that requires a whole other topic, but here's some tips I wrote for a blogpost/article/idea/something I haven't figured out what to do with yet.
(Types of Signed Books)
* Flat-Signed: A signed book without an inscription or the author's writing of the previous owner's name. In the modern age, these books may be more uncommon as ever, as many authors do a majority of their signings at public events and have no problem inscribing their copies to fans instead of simply signing them.
* Inscribed Copies: What you will likely find most of the time. Inscribed books are signed by the author with the recipient's name and a short note ("All the best", "Best wishes", etc.)
* Association Copies: These are signed books that are valuable because of their connection to the author. This includes, but is not limited to, personalized review copies, copies given to a close friend, co-worker or family member, and/or correspondence that indicates the recipient was known by the author. These may not necessarily raise a book's value, but they are often uncommon, and in some cases, very rare.
* Dedication Copies: Inscribed to the person the book is dedicated to with a special message or note. These are the rarest of all signed books, as there is (usually) only one such recipient per book.
(Things to Look for When Buying Signed Books)
* Advance Reading Copy (ARC): Considered by some to be the "true" first printing of a book, ARCs are advance softcover (and uncorrected) copies of a book circulated to the media, reviewers and key partners for review. While there is desirability for ARCs from certain writers, their value is often debated by many collectors.
* Changing Signature Styles: No two authors are the same, and their handwriting and signature style is likely to change as time goes on. Witness examples like Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling (whose signature gradually morphed from her full name to stylized initials, complete with holographic watermark) over the span of twenty years, or Nobel Peace Prize winner Alice Munro, whose signature style gradually tightened up the older she became. It's a given that signature styles change, so having a database/comparison images of similar signatures from authors whose work you collect may be worth pursuing.
* First Edition/First Printing: Generally, the earlier a book is in its print run, the more valuable it will be. Moreso if it is a first-edition that has been signed by an author. When examining a book for first-edition, first-printing attributes, look for a complete number line (which goes down to the number "1") on the copyright page.
* Provenance: A piece of supporting documentation that corroborates the signature of the book. This can include, but is not limited to, a photograph with the author and the recipient, a piece of documentation from the event (flyer, etc) or some other piece of information that proves the author attended the event in question.
* Ephemera: Usually lumped in with "Provenance", this includes supporting documentation that may prove to be valuable from a historical standpoint, like press clippings, reviews, handwritten letters, brochures, etc.
* Certificate of Authenticity: Some books (especially those related to sports figures) may contain a CoA, used as a way to "validate" the signature. I would caution those buying books with CoA's -- they are not a foolproof method of discerning whether a book is valuable or not. Go to an independent or licensed book appraiser and get a second opinion. Most CoAs aren't worth their weight in paper.
(Things to Avoid)
* Autopen Signatures: Certain individuals use "autopens" -- that is, mechanical autographs -- to relieve the stress of hand-signing books and replicate what appears to be a legitimate signature. If you find a book that looks suspiciously similar in style, size and tone to other autographed books by the same author, it may be an autopen signature. (e.g. Wayne Gretzky's "99: Stories of the Game" had a large batch of supposedly-signed books done through autopen, which were then distributed and marketed as legitimate signed copies.)
* Bookplates: Generally (but not always), bookplates command a lower premium than hand-signed books, primarily due to the fact that they're often signed beforehand and stuck into distributed copies by someone else. That said, bookplates can hold some value depending on who's signed it (e.g. the leader of a country, an author with a desirable signature, a signed copy obtained from a special event, etc.), and can give additional details on where a book was signed.
* Ex-Libris: Anything that has a piece of information identifying it as the property of a former owner (a "From the Library of..." bookplate, a name or note written from the previous owner) generally commands a lower premium, except in very special circumstances (association copy/famous owner). Doubly so if it was a signed copy that came from a public library.
* Facsimilie Signatures: Some books have pre-printed "autographs" by the author on the title or half-title page of the book as a stylistic choice. These can trip up collectors who often mistake it for the real deal and attempt to sell it as a legitimate signature. Some famous examples of this include Michael Jackson's "Moonwalk" (pre-printed sketch/signature before title page), Barbara Bush's "Reflections" (pre-printed signature above title) and Jack McClelland's "Imagining Canadian Literature" (pre-printed signature below title), among many others. If you're concerned about whether your book has a facsimile signature or not, look on the opposite side of the page where the book was signed, and see if any pen(cil) indents or marker has bled through to the other side.
* Scratched-Out Owner Names: By far one of the most damaging things I've seen done to signed books is the previous owner crossing out the name of the previous owner, usually with a pen or black marker. Avoid these books like the plague except in very, very special circumstances -- they look trashy and speak to a lack of awareness by the previous owner. Not only that, but you can usually still see the name anyway. The chances of later owners knowing who a "John Clark" is would be slim-to-none.
* Clipped-Out Signatures: There are numerous reasons why a collector would want to cut or take the signature page out of a book -- they don't want to have an item that may be bulky for them to move around, they may believe it is worth more as a single page, they want to cut the signature out to prevent other identifying information (previous owner) from being discovered -- whatever the case may be, it's not worth it to buy one in most cases. Unless the signer was extremely-difficult to find through other methods, these clipped signatures are usually overpriced, and often slabbed in plastic (usually with BGS/PSA "authentication", which means an additional premium). Avoid.
(General Tips)
* It is very easy to want to collect every single signed book you come across, regardless of whether it's fiction, non-fiction or anything in-between. This is a slippery slope; you will often end up with far too many books and not enough space to sort them in. If you are a beginner collector, limit your searches to specific fields and/or authors and build up from there, based on what you want to look for, how much space you can reasonably justify for your collection and your physical tolerance.
* Open every book you come across. You never know what you might find inside.
* Learn what the difference between a "first edition" and a "first edition, first printing" is, and save yourself the trouble by avoiding sellers who confuse/deliberately misrepresent the first term. Generally, the closer to a first printing the book is, the better -- and that goes doubly so if it's signed.
* My general rule is that most signed books will be worth at least as much as their cover price, if not more. There are certain exceptions to this (i.e. authors who sign many, many books, making it exceptionally easy to find their works for cheap online with signatures/inscriptions).
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Permalink Reply by Eddy on
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Wow...thanks for taking so much time to put that together, crazyrabbits23...I just stored it for future reference!
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Here's one that I stumbled upon from a rare and used dealer who wanted to raise some cash (and I luckily had some at the time). The first printing...5000 copies I believe, in 1945. It's the play that catapulted Tennessee Williams from obscurity to fame and is the only one that I have encountered inscribed and signed contemporary to the printing.
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plus one. thanks Mr Crazyrabbits23. I have done the same and have stored the information for future reference
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plus one. thanks Mr Crazyrabbits23. I have done the same and have stored the information for future reference. Thanks for all the timeit must have taken you to put it together
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Useful list for newbies.
A few notes:
In my experience, the majority of signed books I find in charity shops are flat-signed, not inscribed copies. I do find inscribed copies, too, but I’d estimate them at 20% or less of my total finds.
Inscribed books aren’t necessarily a bad thing. It depends on the author, message, etc. Some collectors like to have examples of an author’s handwriting that goes beyond just their own name.
I wouldn’t say bookplates are something to avoid. It’s a perfectly valid form of signing a book, as is a tipped-in page (also used increasingly in the modern era). For me, it’s all about context. Some collectors write to authors to request a loose, signed bookplate then place the plate in a book of their own choosing. Not something I have ever done myself, as the lack of meaningful context makes it less desirable, to me. But a known, limited edition signed on an author’s, or publisher’s, bookplate is perfectly fine, IMO. It can even help determine authenticity, as it is much harder to fake both a bookplate and a signature than it is to fake just the signature itself.
The use of a printer’s key, or number line, to determine what impression/printing of a book one has is something that became more common from the 1980s onward. Older books may not utilise a number line at all, so further research is sometimes required to determine what impression you have.
Whilst looking for the number 1 in a number line is the most common way of determining the first impression, it is not always foolproof. Publishers’ individual conventions do vary, and there are whole pages online that list what to look for from different publishers. For older books especially, do your research.
”It is very easy to want to collect every single signed book you come across ….” I’ve definitely been guilty of buying books I’m not interested in just because they are signed. It’s difficult to leave a signed book on the shelf, especially if it is cheap, but I’ve learned to become more selective over the years.
“Open every book you come across. You never know what you might find inside.” This is definitely true of hardbacks, especially celebrity/sports autobiographies. But I also check hardback novels and have made many great finds that way. Signed paperbacks are much less common, unless it’s a book that was only ever published in softback form. I generally skip checking every mass market paperback, for the preservation of time and personal sanity. Over the years, I’ve developed a certain Spidey-sense, which is difficult to define, but I tend to know which books are worth checking and which to skip.
Last, but not least, here’s an example of an association copy. Association copies are very rare, and this is the only one I’ve ever found in the wild. Signed by British television presenter and author Bamber Gascoigne, together with his photographer wife Christina, to Granada Television sound recordist Alan Bale, who worked on the 13-hour television series that this book accompanied. This cost me £1.00:
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Thank you for the kind words -- this was written as part of a longer document I made, something I had wanted to post on either a personal website or as part of an article/feature for a magazine, but it's been sitting in my archive folder for some time, and even though it's an "active" file, I haven't found a strong-enough use for the entire document (which also had some Q&A-style responses and a breakdown of different types of places to find signed books).
It was written with a regional focus, as what I find is specific upon my area (up here in Canada) and is conditional upon my "collecting career" and the majority of signed works I've found. As mentioned above, I've given thought to writing a piece about how I go about looking for signed books (prized attributes/authors I look for consistently/my thought patterns), but I haven't found the best way to present it yet. Maybe as a Youtube video or as part of a larger collecting channel.
Insofar as bookplates, in most instances of research I've done, bookplate-signed titles generally command a lower premium, as anyone with the mindset or initiative can simply take an unaffiliated bookplate signed for a different work, paste it into a high-value and mark up the value. I've seen that happening consistently now with Margaret Atwood's work, where a reseller will take a signed bookplate, paste it into a first printing of The Handmaid's Tale, and try to pass it off with a 300-500% markup just because it's in a valuable title.
There are limiting factors related to bookplates -- authors not being available in your region to sign, forcing the reader to contact them directly; making it easier for the writer of the book so they don't have to deal with stacks of books; tied to a specific release or book event (the recent discussion over the signed Bob Dylan bookplates), which I actually do collect and covet in some cases; and the pandemic, which put the kibosh on live signing events in many places and caused authors to change tactics.
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