Titles, Inc.

A Couple of WOW Prices

Not Harry Potter again!  Yes, because the first Harry Potter book was auctioned off June 26, for - drum roll - $13,000.  About.  It was held in London and the price is in pounds, 9000.  (Someone tell me how to find the pound sign, and the cents sign on the keyboard.  I know it's hidden somewhere.)

This was the first London edition (Bloomsbury Publishing), 1997, Harry and the Philosopher's Stone.  In dust jacket, of course.  The first American edition, also highly prized (and priced) came out in 1998, published by Scholastic had one word changed in the title.  It was published as Harry and the Sorcerer's Stone.

How about Eloise, by Kay Thompson?  This is another book with a small initial printing.  It came out in 1955.  We have all read it.  I say that positively.  It is still in print in the same format.  The only thing that changed is the Plaza.  A portion of it now has become Private Residence Condominiums, also Pied-a-Terre Hotel Condominiums.  Book price?  First edition in DJ, around $3000.  Did you just run to look at your copy?  It has to say First Edition. 

Whatever happened to Eloise?  Did she grow up, get married, and move back into the new Plaza Condo where she is still driving the staff crazy?  Or is she managing the place now?

-- Florence

Plays Harmonica, Flies Planes

Big John anwered my question.  No prize, just a big Thank You.

Now we know the whole spelling rhyme.  It ends with:  Or when sounding like A as in neighbor and weigh. 

Big John, who knew this little rhyme,  had been a Pilot Captain with American Airlines.  John, among other accomplishments, plays the harmonica.  He told me that when the passengers were boarding, he would introduce himself and play the harmonica over the loudspeaker.  He said it was to make eveybody comfortable.  I told my daughter this charming anecdote, and she said if she heard the pilot playing the harmonica, she would turn around and leave.

John has retired to a hu-mong-ous motor home.  Almost as big as the AA plane.  And it tows a hu-mong-ous motorcycle.  Instead of his dapper Capt. cap, he sports a wrap-around-the-head bandana.  His smart navy coat with gold braid has been discarded for a leather biker jacket.

He still plays the harmonica.

-- Florence

Dust Jackets

We're talking about collectible books here.  If you just want to read that book, you can leave now. 

You ask, "Why does the book need its dust jacket"?

I say, "Because it is part of the book."  It has information.  It tells a little about the author, a summary of this book perhaps, quotes from other authors who are offering compliments about the author or the book, and possibly a picture of the author.

The dust jacket sometimes determines the edition of the book.  The price in the corner might indicate its printing if the price went up for the second printing although nothing in the book was changed.  If there are reviews on the back panel of the DJ, we know it is not a 1st ed. because reviews are printed on subsequent editions.

Sometimes the DJ itself is either a first printing or a corrected DJ, reprinted for the first edition.  I am thinking of Gone With the Wind.  The back panel of the DJ listed current Macmillan books, and GWTW is listed in the middle of the second column.  The book was such an immediate best seller, that Macmillan recalled the DJs, and reprinted new ones listing Gone With the Wind in the place of honor in the first column at the top. 

So you may have a first edition GWTW (May 1936), but do you have the first issue dust jacket?

-- Florence

Spooky

Sometimes things are beyond coincidence.  They are downright eerie.

When I wrote the spelling rule, "i before e except after c," I wondered how that had crossed my mind when I hadn't thought of that for umpteen years.  Or longer.

That very same night I listened to late night talk show host Craig Ferguson, and he said, "i before e except after c."

I almost fell out of bed in astonishment.

-- Florence

"Vivacious and effervescent"

The assessment from Kenan Heise, as recounted by a reader leafing through a pamphlet Heise wrote (“Bookstores galore: A selective guide to the big stores and small”):

On the by-line was his name. I flipped the pages and came upon a photograph of Florence Shay in her Titles, Inc. Bookstore in Highland Park. She held two armloads of books and sported a winning smile against the backdrop of a wall covered with framed prints flanked by well-stocked book-cases. The open bookcases were inviting,and the entry on her store seemed to confirm what Kenan had been saying about Midwest Bookhunter members being friendly and imbued with a sense of democracy: “Florence Shay is a vivacious and effervescent proprietor. Her stock and prices show she is also a very good bookwoman. Her shop has the comfortable feel of a fine library.”

Here's One Exception

Remember I said nothing is absolute?  There is always the exception, and sometimes more than one exception.  I'm reminded of "i" before "e" except after "c" -- "relieve, receive" was a favorite example.  There was more to that chant, but I only remember the part that rhymed.  (If anyone remembers the second part to that spelling rule, please tell me.  And if they are still teaching that in school, tell me that, too.)

Back to the issue.  Book-of-the-Month Club books are nearly always considered just used books.  Here comes one exception:  J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, first edition in dust jacket is very scarce and expensive, so the BOMC edition has moved into a collectible book. The book club edition must be in fine condition with a fine first edition dust jacket - with his photograph on the back panel.  After the first printing, Salinger, a recluse, had his photo removed, and subsequent issues have a blank back panel.

-- Florence

What is my book worth, AND WHY

When I was invited back to a local library because of the success of an earlier program, the new librarian didn't understand the concept, and had me seated at a desk with the attendees waiting to be called to have their books appraised.

"No, no," I said, "This is a learning experience.  I address the group as I discuss the book in hand."

Taking the first book, I held it up, and explained why I knew immediately that this book had no collector value.  It was a Book-of-the-Month Club edition.  While there are no absolutes in the book world, several clues indicate this book club book.  First alert: there was no price on the dust jacket.  Then removing the dust jacket, the quality of the binding often indicates a reprint, but not recognizable to the novice, so go on to a sure thing.  On the back cover, on the bottom corner near the spine was the give-away: a little red dot.  Now while there is always some indicator there, it is not always that little red dot.  There might be an indentation (called "deboss" in reference books) in the form of a square, circle, dot. 

I waited while the group examined their books, and several groaned and put those books under the chair. 

As I talked with each book presented, there was a new alertness to the audience as they reviewed the books that had been clutched so hopefully as they arrived.  Each book had its own publishing history, making it a winner or loser.

And making it even more interesting, there were some winners amongst the entries.

Did I know how to appraise all at the moment?  Even after 30 years in the business there are books I've never seen.  What you do learn from years of experience is to look at that "new" book, and know that this is something to pay attention to, and that it is tantalizingly worth further investigation.

-- Florence

Finding Florence Shay

Here's a photo of Florence Shay, with her husband, Art Shay, at the Art Shay museum exhibition opening.

Welcome to Titles

Titles, Florence Shay's antiquarian book shop in Highland Park, Ill., has been affiliated with the ABAA for decades.