On 10/4/2013 10:49 PM, Linda Donnelly wrote:

I was at an estate sale today and came across a copy of The Sea Wolf by
Jack London. I am new at book collecting , so please pardon my
ignorance.

I am having trouble figuring out what it is worth in the market. The
copyright says 1903, 1904 and it is followed by "Published October
1904, Reprints October, November, December 1904; June, November , twice
1906 November, 1907; September , 1908, March 1909; February,March 1910.
"

So I assume this is not a first edition but a reprint that happened in
1910. Would this be something a collector would like and how do you
determine what it is worth?

Thank you for your help, Lind



Hi Linda,

I am assuming that your book was published by Macmillan in New York.
That is vital information to establish it is the real deal and not a
pirate edition. There may have been a Canadian edition in 1910. Does
it say Toronto?

What you have, it appears, is a 12th printing (in March 1910) of the
first edition. Just so you know the lingo, when some one says "I have a
first edition", they do, as you supposed, mean the first printing of the
first edition. Anything less would be a misrepresentation.

You can count the printings: 1st and 2nd in October, 1904, 3rd in
November, 4th in December, 5th in June 1906, 6th and 7th in November
1906, 8th in November 1907; etc.

Condition of the book matters a lot to collectors. There are websites
where you can look up standards for the condition of used books.

There are two websites I use most often to see what dealers are asking
for books: www.abebooks.com and used.addall.com
Critically compare your book, its printing and its condition to the
condition of the books described at those sites. Take lower values for
like condition. Those are the ones that are going to sell, and thus
establish value. Books originally published with dust jackets that
still have the dust jackets will sell for a lot more than books that
have lost their dust jackets. (Would you buy a vintage Cadillac
Eldorado convertible with the chrome trim removed?) Also like cars, a
book should be in original condition, in the binding in which it came.
Gussied up books are not as valuable, just as tarted up cars are not as
valuable as those with their original features.

After taking a look at those two websites, it would seem that the low
price for a 1910 printing (Toronto) in good condition (which is not as
good as you might first suppose) is about $14.

You will need a guide to first editions. The best I have ever found is
one that was published by ABBookman, now defunct. BUT, you can find it
by using the WAYBACK engine. Another good listing of first editions by
publisher can be found he http://www.cars101.com/firstid.html

There are also "points of issue" for some books, features (such as
typos) which distinguish a first issue from a second issue of the first
printing. Bill McBride puts out a useful pocket size booklet listing
points of issue.

I hope this has been useful.


Francis A. Miniter