A Century of War of the Worlds October 31, 2012

This is sort of a vertical sampling (somewhat out of order) of cover designs for H.G.Wells War of the Worlds, from Dr. Zeus. This site features book and magazine covers from dozens of countries with an incredibly well cross-referenced database. You can find covers of tripods, flying saucers, humans running at you, humans grabbed by tentacles, or just plain odd covers of this book which was first published in 1898. Dr. Zeus even has a graph of design element…

ABC’s of Book Collecting: Autograph January 16, 2010

Portrait of Edgar Allan Poe by Clark Ashton Smith, circa 1915 with Poe autograph facsimile AUTOGRAPH In our world it is an adjective (and is better not used as a noun). It is properly applied to a manuscript, a letter or a document, either in the hand of, and preferably signed by, the author of one’s choice, or on the subject of one’s choice; or annotations in books, whether signed or not. Descriptions of the…

ABC’s of Book Collecting: Author’s Corrections & Authorized Edition December 26, 2009

AUTHOR’S CORRECTIONS The larger changes made by an author to his work after it has been set up in type and before it is printed, the cost of which is charged by the printer, as distinct from printer’s errors. Some authors continue to rewrite even after a book has been printed, necessitating cancels (for which the printer will send in another bill); if their work is attended with success, this process may be extended to…

ABC’s of Book Collecting: Author’s Binding November 21, 2009

AUTHOR’S BINDING Copies to be presented by authors to their friends or to public figures were, from the earliest times, occasionally bound to their order; normally in a superior manner, but by no means always recognisable as such. (morocco was a common style for this purpose in the 17th and 18th centuries and vellum, gilt, in the 16th.) In the absence, therefore, of an inscription or other evidence, the statement that a leather-bound book is…

ABC’s of Book Collecting: Auctions November 7, 2009

AUCTIONS Sales of books by auction go back to the middle ages, although their enhancement by printed catalogues dates from the second half of the 17th century. Traditionally, auctioneers undertake to conduct the sale, charging consigners a percentage of the prices realised for their pains.In the 1980s British and American houses began to follow European practice by levying a premium (a percentage of the prices realised) from the purchaser, as well as the consigner. Auctions…

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