breakfast at tiffany's

hi,
i am new to collecting first edition books, but i have a question that
i was wondering if someone could help me on. I am interested in
purchasing a 1st edition/print of breakfast at tiffanys' and need to
know if there are any specific things to look for...i know they say
first edition on the publishing page, but is there a difference between
first edition and first printing in this books case? also, what mite a
fair value price be for the book. any help would be greatly appreciated

thanks in advance

wrote:
hi,
i am new to collecting first edition books, but i have a question that
i was wondering if someone could help me on. I am interested in
purchasing a 1st edition/print of breakfast at tiffanys' and need to
know if there are any specific things to look for...i know they say
first edition on the publishing page, but is there a difference between
first edition and first printing in this books case? also, what mite a
fair value price be for the book. any help would be greatly appreciated

thanks in advance



A good on-line resource is used.addall.com. But it cannot be considered
authoritative, as the information is information supplied by dealers selling
their copies. Some dealers are both knowledgeable and meticulous in providing
information. Others are less so. For points of a first edition, you need a
proper text and there are a number of them available.

From addall.com, it does appear that the first printing is 179 pages long, is
in bright yellow boards with a black spine, and has an orange dust jacket. The
size is generally given as "octavo". But that covers a small range of sizes and
is not an exact term. Both regular editions and book club editions may be
octavo, but still not be the same size. Reference is made in one listing to a
"first state dust jacket". But no details are given. (Often such a dust jacket
has a picture of the author on the back, whereas later states have reviews of
the book. But this is not a hard and fast rule and I do not know if it applies
to this book.) Usually a book club edition does not show a price on the dust
jacket, while usually, again, a regular edition does.

Again, from addall.com, the lowest asking price for a first printing of this
work is about $265. Asking prices go as high as $1,875. There may or may not
be valid differences in condition to warrant the asking price differential.
What you do not get from addall.com is any record of actual selling prices. The
only locale that those seem to be kept for any period of time is eBay, and then
only for 30 days or so on items that have sold through eBay auctions. So
determining a fair market price is not easy.


Francis A. Miniter