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List of Earliest Book Club Edition Printings

Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2017 9:31 pm
by skcollector44
Does a list exist showing the earliest printing dates for specific book club editions of Doubleday King? These dates would be actual dates and/or the earliest known gutter codes. The dates/codes would represent the "first printing" of each of these book club editions. (I know the general key for gutter codes exists, but I can't locate a list matching titles with known gutter codes for those titles.) If this list does not exist, let's put one together. It would be a useful reference.

I thought of this today because I recently picked up a book club edition of the Stand with a gutter code of T45, which corresponds to the 45th week (July 9-July 15) of 1978. That's only six weeks after the first printing date of the first edition (gutter code T39). Given how close the dates are, I became curious if any other book club editions of the Stand were printed closer to the first edition date. Are there any collectors who look to obtain the earliest or "first" book club editions?

Re: List of Earliest Book Club Edition Printings

Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2017 11:28 pm
by Mr. Rabbit Trick
Sounds like you have a later printing book with a Book Club jacket.

Re: List of Earliest Book Club Edition Printings

Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2017 10:40 am
by TheCollector
No, there's nothing like that for BC editions.

Since BC editions are not overly collectible on the secondary market and there's no price difference between different book club printings the desire to hunt down that info was never there.

Re: List of Earliest Book Club Edition Printings

Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2017 6:10 pm
by skcollector44
I certainly agree that book club editions are not especially collectible. But two considerations. 1) Many Stephen King collectors want to track down unusual or nuanced collections, beyond what's traditionally collectible. And they're especially interested in "first" and "early" editions, no matter the format. And 2) Many Stephen King collectors simply cannot afford first editions of King's early work. A first printing of the first book club edition (as opposed to, say, later SK Library book club editions) is a consolation prize.

I also agree that book club editions are not priced uniquely. But surely that's in part because there isn't good information on how to differentiate those copies. They're perceived as all alike, even if some were printed several years before others. If sellers and collectors had better information, like the handy list I'm proposing, there would likely be more discrimination in pricing and buying.

Re: List of Earliest Book Club Edition Printings

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2018 3:25 pm
by Labyrinth
I couldn't agree more, as I am in that group of collectors who colllect anything they can. I have a few posts in this forum already relating to BCE's. I picked up a BCE of Carrie today as I do not have the estimated $5k for a first print. It would be very helpful to have more information on hand like we do with the first editions at the touch of a button. Until then, I suppose we sit and wait for feedback on the forums. 😌

Re: List of Earliest Book Club Edition Printings

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 12:45 am
by Mr. Rabbit Trick
This site is called, "The Collector - Your source for info on limited edition Stephen King". BCEs are not the intention of this site.

If you want info on BCEs why don't you make up your own list. I don't personally know of anyone who collects BCEs, so I would not be any use to you.

Re: List of Earliest Book Club Edition Printings

Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 3:25 pm
by TheCollector
skcollector44 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 26, 2017 6:10 pm I certainly agree that book club editions are not especially collectible. But two considerations. 1) Many Stephen King collectors want to track down unusual or nuanced collections, beyond what's traditionally collectible. And they're especially interested in "first" and "early" editions, no matter the format. And 2) Many Stephen King collectors simply cannot afford first editions of King's early work. A first printing of the first book club edition (as opposed to, say, later SK Library book club editions) is a consolation prize.

I also agree that book club editions are not priced uniquely. But surely that's in part because there isn't good information on how to differentiate those copies. They're perceived as all alike, even if some were printed several years before others. If sellers and collectors had better information, like the handy list I'm proposing, there would likely be more discrimination in pricing and buying.
I see both sides of the argument.
  1. There ARE collectors that want to track down unusual or nuanced editions. However I don't believe there are that many of them, if there were, items like books that are bound upside down or 1st Russian editions would sell for a higher price then they do. In fact misbound copies used to see a slight uptick in price occasionally before the great recession, but they've never come back up after. To me that means demand (while there) has stayed pretty soft
  2. Yeah so true, every collector starts with a single book, and often it's a simple paperback. Collections grow over time to whatever extent a person can/wants to afford to. That could mean just 1st trade editions, it could mean BC editions. It could mean they slowly phase out their BC editions as their desire (and $$$) grows.
But... I'm not convinced that the reason BC editions aren't priced uniquely is because people haven't figured out how to differentiate an earlier BC printing with a later one. Take a typical Viking trade edition, Let's say the number line shows it's a 3rd printing, is it more valuable than the 5th printing, or 7th? No it's not. they'd all equally be worth around $5. Why is that? Because there is no demand on the secondary market for those reprints and not enough people care about the subsequent printings that it would affect the value, even though they can very easily determine which one was printed earlier vs later.

I love knowledge for it's own sake, and if we can find a verified source to break the code (or at least a workable theory) and figure out what the BC gutter codes signify I'd love for that info to be on the site. But even if that information hasn't been lost in the fog of history and we could resurrect it somehow, I don't think enough collectors would see an early BC printing as more valuable than a later one.

Great discussion by the way, if you've got another viewpoint don't be shy, this is what a forum is all about.

Re: List of Earliest Book Club Edition Printings

Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2018 4:07 pm
by skcollector44
Mr. Rabbit Trick wrote: ↑Wed Mar 07, 2018 12:45 am This site is called, "The Collector - Your source for info on limited edition Stephen King". BCEs are not the intention of this site.

If you want info on BCEs why don't you make up your own list. I don't personally know of anyone who collects BCEs, so I would not be any use to you.
By that strict logic, then, first trade editions and mass-market/trade paperbacks are also not the "intention" of this site, right? I'm relatively new here, so am I wrong to be hoping this site could be a place for exploring the general topic of "collecting" Stephen King--as the website name implies?

Re: List of Earliest Book Club Edition Printings

Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2018 5:12 pm
by skcollector44
TheCollector wrote: ↑Fri Mar 09, 2018 3:25 pm But... I'm not convinced that the reason BC editions aren't priced uniquely is because people haven't figured out how to differentiate an earlier BC printing with a later one.
I'm not convinced either. I qualified my statements about BCE pricing. I think that pricing could be based "in part" on better information about printings and "likely" would change if both seller and buyers could agree on facts about earliest BCE printings. But for the record I only think pricing and perceived value would change much for the very first printing of the BCE and only for early King books. Yes, there's little to no price/value difference between a 3rd and 7th printing of a trade edition. But there is guaranteed to be a price/value difference between a 1st and a 3rd printing of that trade edition. I'm guessing sellers and collectors would similarly distinguish between 1st and later printings of BCEs of early King novels--that many collectors cannot afford in 1st/1st trade state--if such information could be discovered and agreed upon. That is certainly the case with the "first" BCE of Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, which commands a premium over later BCE printings in part because very few people can afford a 1st/1st trade edition. More related in time, I'm seeing a similar situation evolving with the 1st-state BCE of Sword of Shannara (1977) by Terry Brooks.

I'm not here to advocate for BCEs, generally speaking. Believe me, I hate weeding out BCEs while scouring shelves of thrift stores and second-hand book shops as much as the next collector. I'm only advocating for gathering facts about the complete publication history of King's books, no matter the "edition," in a way that has been done more thoroughly for more traditionally-canonical writers. As a collector of a book or author, it's interesting to learn how a text went from mind to mass audience, if you will. Manuscripts, advance reading copies, review copies, excerpts in magazines, limited editions, first trade editions, first book club or other reprint editions, first trade paperbacks, first mass-market paperbacks, first premium mass-market paperbacks, first children's adaptation, etc.

From the perspective of a book's total publication history, a bias against BCEs, specifically, doesn't make sense--especially on a collector site. Some BCEs are in fact the true first hardcover edition of a book (famously, Matthiessen's Under the Mountain Wall, but see also many sci-fi and mystery novels from the 60s and 70s). Yes, BCEs are "cheap," but so are magazines and paperbacks, another source of first or early appearances of texts that collectors target (Herbert's Dune, King's Firestarter and Gunslinger). Even a Reader's Digest BCE, the bane of many a bibliophile's existence, can be collectible if it has historical significance and/or if the first trade edition is extremely expensive (a FINE copy of the earliest appearance of To Kill a Mockingbird in RD can carry a definite premium).

So, again, if anyone out there can locate or help build a key for matching gutter codes with 1st-state BCEs of early King novels, please tell us what you find.

Re: List of Earliest Book Club Edition Printings

Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2018 6:57 am
by TheCollector
Well we won't know who's right unless we try it :) If anyone can figure out some way to at least distinguish 1st BCE editions from other printings yeah let us know and I"ll be happy to include it on the site where appropriate.