posted on March 4, 2001 03:02:59 PM
Well, I was going through a box of books and noted that several are Book Club Editions. Most do not have any indentation or colored dot. But I found one that did and it was clearly labeled as a BOMC. Is there some sort of difference between those marked as BOMC and those that aren't? Because those I'm finding that appear to be Book Club Editions without markings are published by traditional publishers, ie. Ballantine, Daw Books, etc. The one with a marking was identified as a BOMC on the copyright page.
But they do have the smaller size and lack of pricing on the dust jacket in common.
posted on March 4, 2001 03:16:49 PM
I am looking for a good reference on "points." These are notes about special
indicators of a true first edition. For
example a first edition may be printed with
a wrong spelling on a certain page, etc.
I used to have a couple of small green paperback books with a point reference but
I can't remember the author.
posted on March 4, 2001 05:14:35 PM
Hi, Helen - the books you are referring to are (I believe) the books by Bill McBride. Do a search at BookFinder.com for "A Pocket Guide to the Identification of First Editions".
Also regarding identifying BOMC copies by the little "blindstamp" on the back: in BOOK COLLECTING 2000, by Alan and Patricia Ahearn, they state the following about BOMC:
"At some point in the last decade or so, the BoMC stopped putting these marks on the back cover and started using a short series of letters and numbers printed so that it runs along the hinge or gutter on the last page (or one of the last pages) of the book. You may have to open the book almost flat to see it. Recently they have stopped differintiating at all, except that there is no price on the dustwrapper. We're trying to find differences in bindings or dustwrappers, and if there are any, we note them in our Author Price Guides; this is obviously going to become a problem in identification."
And one other thing that causes confusion, is that Random House (in recent years) does not use the number 1 in the print line of their First Editions. A First Printing will state "First Edition", but the number line will begin with "2". On any later printing, even if the line begins with "2", if the First Edition statement is not there, it is not a first printing. (This again, is according to the Ahearn book, which I have always found to be highly reliable.)
posted on March 4, 2001 06:56:16 PM
The book that was given to me - also mentions that the points listed in it were gleaned from the actual books and from publications by Ahearn, McBride and others. This one has points on over a 1000 books - HC's and PBO's by the most collectible authors.
To know any/all of this must be a mind-boggling job of research! I can't imagine it! (Possibly because I love to read books - not examine them!) But I'm glad these people have done the research - makes my job easier!
