Rare Book Monthly

Articles - January - 2015 Issue

Seeking Collectible Editions from a Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away

- by Renee Roberts

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Like all the Science Fiction Book Club firsts, the printing code is in the gutter of the second to last page.

The books tied to the subsequent Star Wars movies were treated similarly. The Empire Strikes Back was written by Donald F. Glut from the story by George Lucas and screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and Leigh Brackett. It was published first as a mass market paperback by Del Rey/Ballantine #28392-9, May 1980 with a Roger Kastel cover.

 

The first edition in hardcover was again a Science Fiction Book Club edition, published by Del Rey #3863-8 in August 1980 with printing code K29 and a Roger Kastel cover.

 

In the case of The Empire Strikes Back, a first thus was created in 1994 with a new introduction by George Lucas and a Roger Kastel cover (Ballantine/Del Rey #40078-X, October, 1994). It has no particular value, other than the introduction.

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Posted On: 2015-01-01 16:16
User Name: keeline

As already implied in the article, the first appearance in hardcover may not be the most valuable. The book club edition of Star Wars was printed in larger numbers than the trade first edition. Probably for a collector the simple answer is to own them both along with the 1976 paperback with the concept art.

Only some of the Han Solo and Lando Calrissian books from the late-1970s and early-1980s had trade editions so sometimes the only hardcover to be found is the book club edition.

The first Zahn book, Heir to the Empire (1991), has a seldom-seen band around the jacket.

This collection is not exhaustive (because I have not kept up with recent releases) but may be interesting to see some of what is out there.

https://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=Keeline&collection=93014&shelf=list&sort=date&sort=date

James D. Keeline

Rare Book Monthly

  • 420d84fb-385f-4b62-ab1d-5eb2f85bb2e7 76c2ccbe-5e30-4687-95df-775ebed24ed8 5d087872-447f-4f9b-90e5-b0c553d77152 8cc4cfa5-59d4-4f28-8e70-e03771089c7c 8777b28f-83be-4f5c-b235-6f629d3a3454 04420096-5280-47c2-99a0-5f5996bdd706 22e148a0-89ae-4af2-b8e5-f187f0f7a40c 9f4e8bc2-4fc0-410e-a172-554142046bf6 09c6721b-5ca9-4fbb-8740-0c4de1653c55 879a3fd4-2035-48e9-ada5-a41ae7d1b55d
    <b>ALDE, Apr. 18:</b> CASAS (BARTOLOMÉ DE LAS). <i>La Découverte des Indes occidentales par les Espagnols,</i> Paris, 1697. €1,500 to €2,000.
    <b>ALDE, Apr. 18:</b> GARCILASO DE LA VEGA. <i>Primera parte de los commentarios reales, que tratan del orígen de los Yncas…,</i> Lisbonne, 1609 [1608 au colophon]. €8,000 to €10,000.
    <b>ALDE, Apr. 18:</b> GARCILASO DE LA VEGA. <i>Histoire des Yncas rois du Pérou. On a joint à cette édition l'Histoire de la conquête de la Floride,</i> Amsterdam, 1737. €800 to €1,000.
    <b>ALDE, Apr. 18:</b> LAET (JOHANNES DE). <i>L'Histoire du nouveau monde, ou description des Indes occidentales,</i> Leyde, 1640. €8,000 to €10,000.
    <b>ALDE, Apr. 18:</b> LAFITAU (JOSEPH-FRANÇOIS). <i>Mœurs des sauvages amériquains, comparées aux mœurs des premiers temps,</i> Paris, 1724. €1,200 to €1,500.
    <b>ALDE, Apr. 18:</b> ORRIO (FRANCISCO XAVIER ALEXO DE). <i>Solución del gran problema acerca de la población de las Americas,</i> Mexico, 1763. €1,500 to €2,000.
    <b>ALDE, Apr. 18:</b> [ROCHEFORT (CHARLES DE)]. <i>Histoire naturelle et morale des Îles Antilles de l'Amérique,</i> Amsterdam, 1716. €800 to €1,000.
    <b>ALDE, Apr. 18:</b> TURGOT (ANNE-ROBERT-JACQUES). <i>Mémoire sur les colonies américaines, sur leurs relations politiques avec leurs métropoles…,</i> Paris, 1791. €1,000 to €1,200.
  • 4dd62966-ba43-4eba-8585-e6127e35849a A975e6f4-1e0b-4e17-8478-89d8abf1fb4b 61005cdb-f36d-4470-9843-d4f716b09de5 Fc37c591-b0f8-4643-9850-74b280ecb775 9b9ffbd5-ef20-4e7d-a5ca-d39c764bd892 E24c55d0-f10d-4eb2-8280-c3d3a35b7bb5 14af371e-1880-4d8f-a6e6-3837826fbe89 Ddf22f2f-554f-49ef-b2d9-e79dc5aa49e3 8a6b7f72-bfa0-452a-9fb3-8332f654d4fc E1a097d3-fcee-424f-95b9-9f5b2671c636 F2bf7590-5021-4ff4-aaa6-d28968566d4c 4e01306c-5ca3-45c6-8294-23b8a5007cc7 6c30c98b-c3be-47f2-a265-44027f2f4491 4b014653-72b8-4305-9c74-d59d9d3cb7de 6d15e1e3-f637-494d-b147-b3bfa560b811 8526e894-0365-49a5-84af-1b6a1e6d7be8
    <center><b>Dominic Winter Auctioneers<br>April 5<br>Printed Books, Maps, Atlases & Caricatures</b>
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> Speed (John). <i>The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine...</i> bound with <i>The Prospect of the most Famous parts of the World,</i> Thomas Bassett & Richard Chiswell, 1676. £20,000 to £30,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> China. De Jode (Cornelis), <i>China Regnum,</i> Antwerp [1593]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> World. Hondius (Henricus), <i>Nova totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica ac Hydrographica Tabula.</i> Auct: Henr. Hondio. Amsterdam, circa 1630. £5,000 to £8,000.
    <center><b>Dominic Winter Auctioneers<br>April 5<br>Printed Books, Maps, Atlases & Caricatures</b>
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> World. Blaeu (Willem Janszoon), <i>Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica ac Hydrographica Tabula</i> auct: Guilelmo Blaeuw, Amsterdam [1635 - 58]. £5,000 to £8,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> Acosta (Emanuel). <i>Rerum a Societate Iesu in Oriente gestarum ad annum usque à Deipara Virgine…,</i> 1st edition, Dillingen: Sebald Mayer, 1571. £3,000 to £5,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> Ruggieri (Francesco). <i>Scelta di Architetture Antiche e Moderne della Citta di Firenze…,</i> 4 volumes bound in two, Florence, Appresso l'Editore, 1755. £3,000 to £4,000.
    <center><b>Dominic Winter Auctioneers<br>April 5<br>Printed Books, Maps, Atlases & Caricatures</b>
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> Parry (William). <i>Journal of a Voyage for the Discovery of a North-West Passage,</i> 6 vols in 5, 1st editions, 1821-27. £2,000 to £3,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> Hunter (John). <i>A Treatise on the Blood, Inflammation, and Gun-Shot Wounds,</i> 1st edition, 1794. £1,000 to £1,500.
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> Furber (Robert). <i>The Flower-Garden Display'd, in above Four Hundred Curious Representations of the most Beautiful Flowers…,</i> 1st quarto edition, London, 1732. £1,000 to £1,500.
    <center><b>Dominic Winter Auctioneers<br>April 5<br>Printed Books, Maps, Atlases & Caricatures</b>
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> Friedman (Milton). <i>A Theory of the Consumption Function,</i> 1st edition, 1957. £500 to £800.
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> Clarkson (Thomas). <i>The history of the ... abolition of the African slave-trade,</i> 2 vols., 1808. £800 to £1,200.
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> Civil War Pamphlets. A sammelband of 19 pamphlets relating to events of the English Civil War, 1640-1661. £2,000 to £3,000.
  • D2794e6e-fea9-43ac-99ca-1488eb9e4cc0 F0b53f91-4923-4ea4-ab2b-c5d474a47245 B7c46986-9d7c-40b0-9787-aef0a5cdc22f 8c45db1f-0253-42e4-a996-9925074095d3 7eecc77b-f56a-4657-a792-0e5ba2e21ac3 Dd7a4fbf-fdfa-4fdb-9636-9382ecdc026d
    <b><center>Swann Auction Galleries<br>Printed & Manuscript African Americana:<br>March 30, 2023</b>
    <b>Swann March 30:</b> Victor H. Green, <i>The Negro Motorist Green Book,</i> New York, 1949. $10,000 to $15,000.
    <b>Swann March 30:</b> Papers of pianist-composer Lawrence Brown relating to Paul Robeson & more, various places, 1925-54. $5,000 to $7,500.
    <b>Swann March 30:</b> Freedom Summer archive of civil rights activist Karen Haberman Trusty, Atlanta & elsewhere, 1963-64. $5,000 to $7,500.
    <b>Swann March 30:</b> E. Simms Campbell, <i>A Night-Club Map of Harlem,</i> New York, 1933. $8,000 to $12,000.
    <b>Swann March 30:</b> Archive of letters from the sculptor Richmond Barthé to a close Jamaican friend, various places, 1966-85. $25,000 to $35,000.
  • 2de1415a-ed60-4aa5-8be7-d59b48337ec3 645dddfd-1dc1-4527-93d3-d7ab4268f427 A5d77093-de3a-4859-8b37-de9f765ae594 6e0fcff2-10b7-40cd-9d1f-f11b1dc8f3dc A98a0027-a061-4538-a0fc-c8777609026f B42ab238-0957-4b68-bea6-b4601e3cc96e 6efb72cd-5b22-49d2-b246-1ebbcf65184e

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