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Supreme Being
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| Collins has produced exact replicas of the first 10 editions available through this website.
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Forum Newbie
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| These are claimed to be "exact replicas". How do you tell them from the original editions?
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Forum Member
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| Good question. I wish there was some text on the opening page to distinguish them
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Forum Newbie
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| If they can't be told apart, then don't the current market prices for hardback editions, based on numbers originally sold, become an irrelevance? Am I missing something here? I can't imagine people who have invested considerably in collections will be hugely impressed...!
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I don't have a whole lot of originals in the 1-10 range, but comparing those I do have against the facsimiles, the best non-subjective differentiator is that on the facsimilies, the book-block has a green/white striped ribbon protruding slightly at the top and bottom of the spine, whereas the originals don't (perhaps someone with 1st edition 1-10s can confirm). Probably easier than trying to judge paper age etc.
The attached photo shows the difference between an original No.6 (top) and a facsimile No.5 (bottom)
n.b. Collins, can you do something about the attachment limits? - I had to delete one of my earlier attached pictures to upload this, as 500kb only allows a few jpegs.
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Forum Guru
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Brendan (10/29/2009)
I don't have a whole lot of originals in the 1-10 range, but comparing those I do have against the facsimiles, the best non-subjective differentiator is that on the facsimilies, the book-block has a green/white striped ribbon protruding slightly at the top and bottom of the spine, whereas the originals don't. Probably easier than trying to judge paper age etc.
The attached photo shows the difference between an original No.6 (top) and a facsimile No.5 (bottom)Brendan, I can confirm that all of the first 10 editions in the NN series have page blocks looking like your photograph of No. 6. In most cases I think that the upper edge of the page block on genuine first editions will be dirty as I doubt anyone would have had the foresight at that time to protect them from dust, sunlight etc. Certainly all of my copies are a uniform grey brown colour on the top. I'm a little surprised that these are considered to be a threat to the value of collections anyway, as I don't recall having seen first editions of any of the first ten in the series (except #9 Country Parish) selling at more than about £45-50 each in good condition (and often lower), which is less than the RRP (and most eBay prices) of the facsimile editions. Bill
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| Bill - It isn't just the monetory issue. As a collector of all sorts of things I do consider it important to be able distinguish the genuine article from modern-day reproductions. Facsimiles are commonly produced in the art world but, usually, care is taken to ensure that they are identifiable as such. If people from Collins read these postings it would be interesting to know the strategy behind not labelling the new products, eg. on the frontispiece, with something like "This book is a facsimile of the 1st edition published by Collins in ....". Maybe this idea can be taken up in future. Ian
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Forum Member
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| I wholeheartedly agree. And that is why I was impressed to see Collins mark the PODs as such so clearly. As for the monetary value, mint or very fine originals of 1-10 go for a lot more £45-50. They are incredibly rare to find in truly top notch condition and as such command a very high premium. Particularly the first two volumes: Butterflies and British Game.
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Supreme Being
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Jackbus (10/30/2009)
They are incredibly rare to find in truly top notch condition and as such command a very high premium. Particularly the first two volumes: Butterflies and British Game.
Which is exactly why they'll never in a million years be confused with the facsimiles. I've (literally) never seen one that could be confused with a 2 year old unread book... But, I do agree that they really should have a distinguishing mark of some obvious kind so that collectors in 50 years or so aren't confused.
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Forum Member
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Which is exactly why they'll never in a million years be confused with the facsimiles. I've (literally) never seen one that could be confused with a 2 year old unread book... But, I do agree that they really should have a distinguishing mark of some obvious kind so that collectors in 50 years or so aren't confused. Well it think in a few years time, 20,30. it may be a lot less easy to tell the difference. Of course currently it is obvious, because you are comparing a new book with a 50 yr old book.
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