Fake first editions?

[Dog3]

Hi all,

I'm getting on a bit now, but have always loved reading pratchett.

A few years ago I started collecting some first editions. So I periodically check eBay.

I also have a look at completed, sold, listings to see what's going on.

I've just noticed some bizarre results for Once More With Footnotes. This is pretty rare (2500 copies), but recently a couple of sellers have sold about ten copies each, at 35-60 gbp, way under normal price.

It's odd as it's cheap, but also a couple of sellers selling so many copies.

This made me suspicious, I wonder if they are fakes? Easier to fake as it wasn't standard publication.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_sacat ... ld=1&rt=nc

Thoughts?

 

[Ghost]

there has been a price drop since the publication of blink of the screen but what I am seeing for the most part is bidding prices and that is ongoing till the final bid but there is one going for about £36 but I can't say legit it is
other than I can't say

 

[Dog3]

It's weird though. If you look at sold listings there are a couple of sellers who have sold one every three days or so for a month! E.g. Newblastentertainment

If you look at sold listings thee are two sellers doing this in the same time period. Each of their listings just reuses the same text and image.

Looks very dodgy to me,but I hadn't heard of fake first editions?

 

[Ghost]

me neither but I'm not a expert

 

[Dog3]

Have noticed similar trend with a Derren Brown book.

This seller has sold quite a few once more with footnotes and "absolute magic by Derren brown - 2nd edition".
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/hermes-eu/m.h ... 7675.l2562

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_sacat ... ld=1&rt=nc

So beware of cheap versions of this first edition.

Hope this helps someone.

 

[Tonyblack]

Don't quote me on this, but I think that there was a second edition of the book.

 

[Dog3]

As far as I know the first edition was printed three times. I don't know maybe there has been some reprint and a couple of people have cashed in, but it looks very strange.

 

[Tonyblack]

I'm not certain whether a 1st edition 1st printing would be more valuable. I was trying to find details on Colin Smythe's site, but couldn't find an answer.

 

[Dog3]

Hi thanks for looking. Yes I think you are right the 1/1 is most valuable.

But I've never seen one seller selling ten of these in a row before. And a couple of sellers have been doing it at the same time... Maybe I just have a suspicious mind!

 

[Who's Wee Dug]

Hi Dog3 this info may help to clarify the situation. It was printed because Terry was a G.O.H for the 2004 Worldcon in Boston.

1.There were three printings marked as "First Edition", "First Edition / 2nd printing" and "First Edition / 3rd printing"
2. In at least two copies of the third printing, page 128 was blank. It is in the story "The Sea and Little Fishes." We have only heard of one instance, so we assume it was a one-off printing problem. Since this title is out of print, there are no replacements
________________________________________

Out of Print!
ISBN: 1-886778-57-4
Page count: 288
Book Size: 5-1/2" x 8-1/2"
Published: September 2004
Edited by Sheila Perry and Priscilla Olson
Cover art by Omar Rayyan
Cover design by Omar & Sheila Rayyan
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The initial run is a limited edition hardback, consisting of 2,500 copies. It had two additional printings in hardback and is currently out of print. The book has a notable discrepancy: the front cover gives the title with two asterisks (the result of the cover design.) The title page has no asterisks, the press release [1] and the Publisher's product page [2] have one asterisk.
The title is a reference to the phrase "once more, with feeling" and to Pratchett's frequent use of footnotes in his Discworld series, along with the brief author commentary at the start of each piece; the book itself actually contains very few footnotes. One of NESFA's working titles for the book was "Oh Bugger, by Wossname".[1]

 

[=Tamar]

One other element: when the book was first sold, at the WorldCon, it was restricted to two per paid member of the convention. Not all convention members chose to buy their allotted copies. After the convention was over, there were lots of books left over, and the restriction was raised. Then the book dealers bought crates of them. I assume that dealers have been slowly releasing them onto the market a few at a time, but since A Blink of the Screen reprinted the fiction, there was a drop in sales and prices. Now that there is another volume including the non-fiction to be published soon, the dealers are attempting to get the high prices while they still can.

 

[Who's Wee Dug]

I bought two one for a friend got them signed, at one point they were selling for £350 I don't know how much a signed first,1st printing was selling for.

 

[Catch-up]

I bought one online early on. I think I paid $40. When they hit the prices you mentioned Dug, I decided that was one book I could part with. It's the only TP book I've ever sold.

 

[The Mad Collector]

I also bought mine online from the convention at about $40 including postage to the UK. I would never pay the prices that were being asked for it.

 

[chris.ph]

I biy an awful lot of watches and it always amazes me the amount of fakes out there,and it isn't just Rolex and omegas getting faked either an eight quid Casio is one of the most copied watches in the world. Ot would be of no surprise to me if somebody saw how much these first editions were going for and decided to get a few knockoffs made for virtually no cost in china. I'm only surprised that this isn't a lot more widespread with the likes of a first Harry Potter going for thousands, and its a lot easier to copy a book than it is to copy a watch

 

[The Mad Collector]

There are quite a few fakes in the bear business as well. It is easy to fake a lot of Steiff bears because they have made so many replicas. Just take the modern labels off those and knock them around a bit to age them and people do get fooled. I have had to tell several people that what they have isn't what it appears to be.

I also collect Penguin books from the first 10 years (1935 to 1945) and there are a number of counterfeit versions around although these weren't to fool collectors they simply represent the supply and demand issues of wartime production with unofficial copies made in various other countries where the originals simply didn't get to the market. They are fun to find

 

[pip]

Probably still a bit of value to the wartime fakes due to the reasoning but I know a few people burnt on books , mainly with faked signatures. One foolish friend bought a copy of The Gathering Storm signed by Robert Jordan who had died two years before the books release.

 

[huhhuh]

How do you identify if a book is fake?

I recently bought a copy of City Watch trilogy, not first edition or anything, I just wanted a copy of the book. Book arrived few days ago, along with the other Discworld omnibuses from another seller, and it looked 'too clean' to me.

I'm not sure if the City Watch trilogy is still in print, I would assume no, and it came out a decade(?) ago. The paper on my copy is so white, it almost seem bleached and/or fluorescent, like A4 paper. It doesn't 'feel' like A4 paper, but I'm no authority there. Aside from that, the paper color of the first page attached to the cover seems normal, unlike the rest of the book.

I've personally never seen a book, even a brand new release in mint condition, with paper that 'white'. Seller description states book is in very good condition, but the paper here seems a little too new, considering age of publication.

Is it common practice to counterfeit a title like City Watch trilogy, where it's not even a first edition, with no 'extras' like signatures? I would think production costs of the counterfeit copy would be too high, but again, I'm no expert on that area. I paid USD 40 for the book. There are cheaper copies about, but this seller had lower shipping costs, so total price including shipping was actually more agreeable to me.

Are there any other ways I could check to verify authenticity of the book? Is this a counterfeit, or is a new/near mint copy of the book really really white (paper), and I just got lucky? Appreciate feedback on this, thanks.

 

[Who's Wee Dug]

Hi huhhuh, Check the ISBN on the flyleaf page that's the one with all the publishers details overleaf from the title page.
Hardcover, 768 pages
Published November 18th 1999 by Gollancz City Watch Trilogy.ISBN0575067985 (ISBN13: 9780575067981) .edition languageEnglish.seriesDiscworld #8, 15, 19 .

Also there should be a row of numbers at the bottom of the page showing what tells you what the print edition it is.
Being it's not a 1st may start with a 3579108642 etc meaning that's the 3rd printing.

If there is no ISBN then it is a book club edition. it is unlikely be a fake as that would not be cost effective, if it was stored wrapped and kept in a dark place with a lot of other copies that would explain the clean condition.

Hope this helps.

 

[huhhuh]

Hi WWD,

Thanks for the feedback. Hope you're right in this case. I compared the book contents to the preview in Amazon, all seems to be similar with exception of 'second imprint...'. That entry isn't in my copy. I'm just wondering if it's financially feasible for someone to scan an existing copy and then print it out and glue the whole thing together. My concern isn't the book's print run, and I guess the contents are the same, whether printed by publisher or individual, but it irks me to think that it's a copy, even if it may be cleaner and possibly on higher grade (or maybe just brighter) paper than intended by the publisher.

Plus, I did pay 40 bucks for it, and I'm irritated suspecting if someone, somewhere is profiting from this by printing a scan. Hardbacks go for less than that, but then again publishers print in bulk. How many counterfeit copies would someone need to print and sell at 40 bucks to turn a profit?

I had a look at the other omnibuses, there are multiple blank pages at the end of the book. For City Watch trilogy, there is only one blank page at the front, and one blank page after the last printed page at the end of the book. Is there anyone with a copy of this book that can help confirm if the book is constructed this way, or should I expect multiple blank pages after page 759? Any feedback on this would be appreciated, thanks.