Ferret, 1978.
In the old days, booksellers and dealers built their knowledge slowly and incrementally, by noticing how fast or slow their material sold, by examining the material their peers had for sale at fairs, and by perusing bibliographies and other reference material. Behind Allan's desk was a wall of reference -- price guides (often inexact and always out of date), author studies and monographs. I rarely saw him consult any of this material. He gave the appearance that he had absorbed it all years ago. In truth, he often simply made assumptions about what he thought was correct, which is what booksellers were often forced to do before the Web.
For instance, Allan had in early 1992 a copy for sale of Margaret Atwood's Survival, issued in 1972 by Anansi. It had a number line ending in "1" but it also had blurbs on the back from Maclean's, the Vancouver Sun and the Globe & Mail, all of them specifically about the book itself, not merely celebrating Atwood. I wanted the book, but I was pretty sure the reviews indicated a second state. Allan however insisted that first states of books could indeed have reviews, and this was one. Somewhat in his favor was the fact that Anansi had simultaneously issued paperback and hardcover editions, and surely they wouldn't have reprinted the hardcover so quickly they could add blurbs but not change the printing number?
Neither of us could convince the other, although I did buy the book and later got Atwood to sign it. (Still haven't read it. Of course.) I figured some day I would find another copy of the first state, and switch the jacket onto my signed copy. Last year, a copy of the first state did finally fall into my hands. The only trouble: it was a smaller size than my reprint, so I couldn't switch jackets. I now have two copies of Survival. (Update: in writing this item, I brought out both copies but neglected to put them back securely. I later brushed against the true first, it fell to the floor and the binding tore. Now I have only one copy.)
Anyway, after Allan's death, a local bookseller showed up and carted away most of the reference material for a pittance. It wasn't a dealer that Allan particularly liked or who had liked Allan, and it seemed an injustice that he should get anything. But it wasn't my call and I didn't want the books myself. (Stupidly, perhaps.) I took only a few reference books, including this.
George Locke (b. 1936) was and perhaps still is an English dealer in science fiction and fantasy, especially material from before the first World War. His masterwork is the three-volume Spectrum of Fantasy, which sells for about $500 if you can find it. The volumes detail his own collection, and give notes on bibliographic rarity. This book is a much more modest enterprise -- partly a catalogue of 250 post-WWII books for sale, with annotations, and partly a discursive series of brief essays about various collecting points, including letters from writers, proof copies, specialty publishers, the two SF book clubs, etc. He gives the date of publication of many Doubleday books, derived from a friend's collection of review copies which is helpful but mostly encourages one to dream how nice it would be to have these review copies oneself.
Locke talks about the recent vogue for 1960s authors, specifically mentioning Philip K. Dick and Ursula Le Guin. "Now is a bad, bad time to start collecting some modern SF authors," he warns, "at least if you have any consideration for your wallet." He worries that the first hardcover of Left Hand of Darkness, published by Walker in 1969, was a bubble -- some fool, he reports, was trying to sell a copy for $50. By 1986, he frets, "the book may fetch only half that."
Well, 10 years later a fine copy was worth much more than $50, and 30 years later there are only a handful of copies on the net. Currey wants $2500 for a briefly inscribed copy that is no more than near fine. It goes without saying that if a reader of Locke had put down this pamphlet and bought every rare Philip K. Dick item he saw, that reader could now afford a life of caviar and cream.
Future trends in collecting: dang hard to predict.
Submitted for your approval: The damaged Atwood. Right or wrong, Allan *always* has the last word ;-)
Posted by: Joe Marchione | January 23, 2010 at 06:18 PM