Help ID James and Giant Peach 1st
Jill Morgan
Would anyone be able to help me id a 1st of "James and the Giant Peach" by
Roald Dahl?
My copy was published by Knopf in 1961 with no other printings stated. Its a
red cloth hardcover measuring 7.25" x 10.25", green endpapers, no dj is
present. Its illustrated by Nancy Burkert with red and black line drawings.
There are also 4 full color, full page illustrations. There is a gift
inscription dated 1967, and the end of the book is a small note about Mr
Dahl, which states that this is his first book written for children. It has
a L.C. Catalog card number 61-8127, no isbn anywhere and no other books
mentioned.
Thanks for any help!
Jill
Collectible Children's Books
http://www.jillmorgan.com
James D. Keeline
Jill,
If it were possible, JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH (and CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE
FACTORY for that matter) are harder to identify as first printings than Dr.
Seuss books.
If you have been selling books for any length of time, you must know that the
information you supplied is not sufficient to make an evaluation. You already
have an indication that it is later with an inscription which is 6 years later
than the publication date.
The Zempel and Tannen guides indicate that Knopf typically printed "FIRST
EDITION" on the copyright page of its books but I have not seen or heard of
a copy of this title so stated. I have also seen Freddy the Pig books which
were obviously not firsts (pictorial cover) but did state "FIRST EDITION" on
the copyright page. In other words, they weren't consistent on their chil-
dren's books.
You do have the large format which is an indication of an early copy but you
don't indicate the price on the DJ. I would imagine that by "red" cloth, you
mean the dark orange which is seen on most copies of this book. I have seen
a couple of early copies with a light orangish-yellow cloth.
ISBN numbers were begun around 1967 so a copy available for sale at that period
might not have one. Despite the notation on the DJ, this was not his first
children's book, GREMLINS was published in 1943 (in association with a Disney
film which was not produced) while he was a flight Lieutenant with the Royal
Air Force; however, this title is not usually mentioned in DJ biographies for
Dahl.
You also don't mention the other sources of information, such as any list of
titles which may or may not appear on the copyright page. This is more of an
issue with CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, however.
An additional factor which you may not have considered is the typesetting
information on the last page. Most copies show different type for some of
the names, suggesting that a change was made. To determine which names are
right, you could begin by consulting the copy at the Library of Congress if
it is still the copyright deposit copy and hasn't been replaced.
As you can see, this is complex and I haven't given you all of the answers
intentionally. There is a great deal of effort required to correctly identify
first printings of some popular titles and the theory and proceedure separates
casual from serious children's booksellers.
James
Jill Morgan
comments:
James D. Keeline wrote in message <36B8746A...@adnc.com>...
>> Jill Morgan wrote:
>>
>> Hi All
>>
>> Would anyone be able to help me id a 1st of "James and the Giant Peach"
by
>> Roald Dahl?
>>
>> My copy was published by Knopf in 1961 with no other printings stated.
Its a
>> red cloth hardcover measuring 7.25" x 10.25", green endpapers, no dj is
>> present. Its illustrated by Nancy Burkert with red and black line
drawings.
>> There are also 4 full color, full page illustrations. There is a gift
>> inscription dated 1967, and the end of the book is a small note about Mr
>> Dahl, which states that this is his first book written for children. It
has
>> a L.C. Catalog card number 61-8127, no isbn anywhere and no other books
>> mentioned.
>>
>> Thanks for any help!
>>
>> Jill
>>
>> Collectible Children's Books
>> http://www.jillmorgan.com
>
>Jill,
>
>If you have been selling books for any length of time, you must know that
the
>information you supplied is not sufficient to make an evaluation. You
already
>have an indication that it is later with an inscription which is 6 years
later
>than the publication date.
I have found your vast sharing of knowledge immensely helpful to me. If I
knew what to spell out in my book description then I would already know if
it was a first, wouldn't I? If a book has an inscription dated 1967, that
does not imply that it was printed in 1967.
>
>The Zempel and Tannen guides indicate that Knopf typically printed "FIRST
>EDITION" on the copyright page of its books but I have not seen or heard of
>a copy of this title so stated. I have also seen Freddy the Pig books
which
>were obviously not firsts (pictorial cover) but did state "FIRST EDITION"
on
>the copyright page. In other words, they weren't consistent on their chil-
>dren's books.
My copy of Zempel says for Knopf in 1976: "Knopf identifies a book's edition
on the copyright page. We do NOT indicate that a particular work is part of
a first printing, but for second or subsequent printings, the information is
also carried on the copyright page. We have been using these methods of
identification for a great many years."
>You do have the large format which is an indication of an early copy but
you
>don't indicate the price on the DJ.
There is no dj present, as I stated already. If it were present, I am
definitely smart enough to include that in a description to help ID the
book.
>
>ISBN numbers were begun around 1967 so a copy available for sale at that
period
>might not have one. Despite the notation on the DJ, this was not his first
>children's book, GREMLINS was published in 1943 (in association with a
Disney
>film which was not produced) while he was a flight Lieutenant with the
Royal
>Air Force; however, this title is not usually mentioned in DJ biographies
for
>Dahl.
Yes I already know isbns started in 1967, that is why I mentioned that it
had NO isbn. If it did have an isbn, that would imply the book was a
reprint.
>
>You also don't mention the other sources of information, such as any list
of
>titles which may or may not appear on the copyright page. This is more of
an
>issue with CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, however.
Yes, I mentioned that no other titles by Dahl were listed in the book.
>
>An additional factor which you may not have considered is the typesetting
>information on the last page. Most copies show different type for some of
>the names, suggesting that a change was made. To determine which names are
>right, you could begin by consulting the copy at the Library of Congress if
>it is still the copyright deposit copy and hasn't been replaced.
A very helpful, friendly bookseller pointed that out to me yesterday. I
learned that since my book says
Printed by Reehl Litho Company, New York
instead of "Printed by Rae", and along with other points I mentioned that
this is most likely a true first.
>
>As you can see, this is complex and I haven't given you all of the answers
>intentionally. There is a great deal of effort required to correctly
identify
>first printings of some popular titles and the theory and proceedure
separates
>casual from serious children's booksellers.
Oh my goodness, are you implying that I am merely a "casual" bookseller and
therefore worth less than you, a "serious" bookseller, or that knowledge I
have is somehow less valuable than yours? How pompous and arrogant, don't
bother wasting your time and knowledge on any future questions I may have in
the future, which will happen once or twice a year.
Why do you feel the need to be so scathing and demeaning online? What is
the point? I was going to ignore your letter until I saw it was also posted
here to the newsgroup.
Jill Morgan
PROUD TO BE A BOOKSELLER AND ENJOYING MOST CONVERSATIONS ABOUT BOOKS
Collectible Children's Books
www.jillmorgan.com
James D. Keeline
cise.
I apologize, publicly, for any offense I caused. I should not answer
newsgroup posts after four hours of sleep.
James
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