Full number string - it's grabbed!!

How do you know if it is indeed a first printing/first edition? Also Dr. Wilson, which is your most first collectable book?

How do you know itis a first printing & and first edition? Also what is Dr. Wilson's most collectable book if The Touchis the second most collectalbe?

How do you know itis a first printing & and first edition? Also what is Dr. Wilson's most collectable book if The Touch is the second most collectible?

From the FAQ:

2a. What is the hardest to find out of F. Paul Wilson's entire catalog?

When asked, he responded with:

The ultimate rarity is the special binding of THE TOUCH done by the president of Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. (I'm told he loved the novel) and given to the officers of the company as a Christmas gift. (He didn't forget me, thankfully.) It's a truly wonderful example of quality design and binding. Probably fewer than 20 copies exist.

There is also something called ARC’s (Advanced Reader Copies) of a lot of F. Paul Wilson’s work. These are usually very limited in number and are quite rare.

There is also something called ARC’s (Advanced Reader Copies) of a lot of F. Paul Wilson’s work. These are usually very limited in number and are quite rare.

Except for "Black Wind" ARCs, which seem to be listed on eBay and ABEbooks quite a bit. The bad thing about ARCs is that it's hard to get a handle on how many are produced.

Except for "Black Wind" ARCs, which seem to be listed on eBay and ABEbooks quite a bit. The bad thing about ARCs is that it's hard to get a handle on how many are produced.

Depending on the company that's publishing the book there can be quite a lot or very few ARCs.
The Dark Harvest books had less than 30 ARCs for each one. (Anyone have a spare Reprisal or Reborn ARC?)
There were very,very few 'The Tomb' ARCs from Whispers.
When I contacted Borderlands they said they seldom make ARCs so there may be fpw ones out there.
Gauntlet have a fair few out there. CD less so.
ARCs of books that were either published only as a paperback eg The Tery, or that had no mass market edition eg Nightworld, Reprisal are hard to come by or non-existant but I still find a few surprises - I found a Virgin ARC the other week.....
The mass market publishers eg Tor, seem to have higher print-runs than small press.

Steve
PS If anyone is interested in ARC trades let me know!!

I don't know the numbers on the 1st print run but it was small enough that they had to go back to press twice. You've got a first edition; make sure you've got a first printing.

I may be wrong on this, and I'm sure everyone will correct me if I am, but I didn't think a First Edition / First Printing as opposed to a First Edition / Second Printing actually existed. Isn't the First Edition the First Printing? And isn't the second printing the second edition? I know as a book goes through its "In Print" life , the format may change, dust jackets get updated, etc...but once a second printing is done, that's it, the first edition is gone.

For example, I have a harcover copy of Carrie by Stephen King that is an 11th printing. It is identical to the First Edition, with the exception of the price on the DJ, the number line stopping with 11 instead of 1, and the obvious fact that it's worth nowhere near the $2000 or $3000 a First Edition of Carrie would bring on Ebay! This doesn't make it a First Edition, Eleventh Printing, but just an eleventh edition...right?

If a book goes back to press for a second printing, typically the number line will change, and if the words "First Edition" actually appeared on the first printing, they would be omitted from the second printing. I've never come across a book that was a stated first edition, that also denoted a number line ending in a 2 or higher...

Hi Cyber-Jack
All 1st editions of a book regardless of printing number will be a 1st edition as long as the size, shape and artwork is identical. If the artwork or publisher changes or if the book is revised or has a new foreword etc then this is a new edition. eg the Whispers version of The Tomb is a 1st edition, the Borderlands version is a 2nd edition.
Stephen King's original Gunslinger from Grant is a 1st edition (all three printings are 1st editions). The 2nd edition is the new revised version from Viking. Mind you, the TRUE 1st edition of the Gunslinger is the old F&SF monthlies but that complicates things!!

Steve

Hi Cyber-Jack
All 1st editions of a book regardless of printing number will be a 1st edition as long as the size, shape and artwork is identical. If the artwork or publisher changes or if the book is revised or has a new foreword etc then this is a new edition. eg the Whispers version of The Tomb is a 1st edition, the Borderlands version is a 2nd edition.
Stephen King's original Gunslinger from Grant is a 1st edition (all three printings are 1st editions). The 2nd edition is the new revised version from Viking. Mind you, the TRUE 1st edition of the Gunslinger is the old F&SF monthlies but that complicates things!!

Steve

Steve -

While I won't outright disagree with you, I find this pretty contradictory. What makes the First Edition unique is the fact that it is the first printing. Once a book goes back to press, the new print run can not be referred to as a First Edition. How can you call a book that is printed 20 or so years later than the first run, a "First" edition?

In your example, the serialized parts of The Gunslinger that were in F&SF would be the first appearance of the story, not necessarily the First Edition, as that term generally applies to actual books. I picked up my copies of the F&SF issues with the Gunslinger in them for between $10 and $15 a piece. No way can I find a First Edition of the book for that price, not even at 10X that price.

I feel where things get dicey, is when multiple publishers are involved...Say when Cemetery Dance, Gauntlet, Grant or Borderlands Press does a limited edition, their copies will state "First Edition", then when the trade comes out from Random House or Forge, their copies will also state "First Edition". In these cases, the first to appear on the shelf (which should be the small press limited, but rarely is) would be the True First Edition. The same holds true for international editions, when the German version is released a week or a month before the US version, the German version is considered the True First World Edition.

When I get back home today, I will check in a few books on collecting that I have and see how they treat the printing history and such...

Thanks.

I picked up my copies of the F&SF issues with the Gunslinger in them for between $10 and $15 a piece. No way can I find a First Edition of the book for that price, not even at 10X that price.

A lot more than that. Check it out:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...eName=WDVW

A lot more than that. Check it out:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...eName=WDVW

I know! The cost of that first book has skyrocketed over the past year, year and a half...I think The Gunslinger L.E. was issued at $60 maybe? Now this guy is going to rake in over 7 grand!

Full sets of the 7 book Limited Edition series with matching numbers are going for $25,000 and up. All for an initial investment of around $1000. Pretty good scratch if you ask me.