Facsimile Dust jackets

[other ranker]

I wondered what fellow collectors thought about the merits of the facsimile dust jacket. Are they a positive addition to a book or not? Do they add to the attractiveness of the book or should the book be left naked?

I have been caught out by my own avarice and excitement rushing to buy a rare book, not reading the description carefully enough and ending up with the cuckoo of the facsimile dust jacket in my nest of classics on the shelf! 

[Dust Jacket Collector]

Not a problem as long as they’re clearly labelled as such. I collect Graham Greene & his early books regularly fetch 5 figure sums. Way beyond my means so I succumbed to the lure of the facsimile for some of them. I’ve certainly made the same mistake as you especially when the description doesn’t mention the facsimile until right at the end. Fortunately I’ve always managed to cancel in time.

Have to admit that many of the WW1 facsimiles on the market have come from my collection. I let the main producer of them scan my books in exchange for the Greene jackets!

[Black Maria]

I personally wouldn't buy facsimile jackets to go on my WW1 books , i would rather have the originals or nothing . I too did once buy a book with a facsimile jacket without knowing it at the time but it was quite cheap and i wanted the book anyway so i didn't feel too disappointed . I suppose we could also debate the merits (or not) of putting an original jacket from a different edition onto another book , something which i don't have a problem with doing with some of my own collection but it would no doubt horrify some purists .

Edited 19 May , 2023 by Black Maria

[Dust Jacket Collector]

2 hours ago, Black Maria said:

I personally wouldn't buy facsimile jackets to go on my WW1 books , i would rather have the originals or nothing . I too did once buy a book with a facsimile jacket without knowing it at the time but it was quite cheap and i wanted the book anyway so i didn't feel too disappointed . I suppose we could also debate the merits (or not) of putting an original jacket from a different edition onto another book , something which i don't have a problem with doing with some of my own collection but it would no doubt horrify some purists .

I know at the top end of the market in modern firsts, collectors are very fussy as to whether the jacket and the book have always been together but down at our end it hardly matters. The only facsimile I have on a WW1 book is for Anthony Bertram’s ‘The Sword Falls’ as the only known example of the jacket is in the Bodlean.

[Black Maria]

1 hour ago, Dust Jacket Collector said:

I know at the top end of the market in modern firsts, collectors are very fussy as to whether the jacket and the book have always been together but down at our end it hardly matters. The only facsimile I have on a WW1 book is for Anthony Bertram’s ‘The Sword Falls’ as the only known example of the jacket is in the Bodlean.

Yes i suspect they wouldn't want a 'marriage' of a different edition jacket and book . I probably have only done it a couple of times , usually it's when i already have a copy without the jacket and the jacketed copy of a different edition is more worn so i have sold the tatty copy and put the jacket on the better one . I do feel a bit guilty about it as it feels like i'm taking away a bit of the books history but i know that some dealers do it , although it's with the same edition books of course .

[dpolglaze]

I have matched the better jacket with the better book (when each are the same edition only) in my collection. I don't buy facsimiles, and I wouldn't swap a jacket of a different edition. But to have the better book and better jacket when both the editions/jackets are the same, I'm fine with it.

[Resurgam13]

The only facsimile dust-jacket I have is on a First Edition of Bairnsfather's "Bullets and Billets" and was purchased (correctly described as having a facsimile) as it was very cheap and I was curious to see the jacket in the flesh. No complaints about the quality but, to my mind, there is just something not quite "right" about it. On the other subject, I have no issue about transferring an original jacket on to a better copy so long as both are identical Editions, and have done this a few times.

[Dust Jacket Collector]

I suppose it’s a bit like ‘Trigger’s Broom’. Still the original but it’s had several new heads and several new handles.

[charlie962]

It would be good if the facsimile covers were robust.

Then one would have the advantage of protecting the cloth cover and spine from fading as well as having some of those excellent artwork examples that you lot have shared in the past. 

Charlie 

[Dust Jacket Collector]

2 hours ago, charlie962 said:

It would be good if the facsimile covers were robust.

Then one would have the advantage of protecting the cloth cover and spine from fading as well as having some of those excellent artwork examples that you lot have shared in the past. 

Charlie 

The ones I’ve bought do come in a removable plastic sleeve, so quite robust.

[MartH]

If you know what your doing and have a stock of old paper and good printer you can do wonders. Book restores do it a lot.

[other ranker]

Next question..... I have limited shelf space. Do you double up? Do you put them in a box? I like to see my books. Any tips?

[Dust Jacket Collector]

9 minutes ago, other ranker said:

Next question..... I have limited shelf space. Do you double up? Do you put them in a box? I like to see my books. Any tips?

Definitely not in a box. Here’s a picture of various solutions. The books at the back are the Australian Official History set.

[Dust Jacket Collector]

I say, that last post has got me promoted to Brigadier-General. No more slogging it out in the trenches for me. I shall now only be answering questions by appointment!

[other ranker]

Trying hard to identify all those classics Sir!

[Black Maria]

2 hours ago, other ranker said:

Next question..... I have limited shelf space. Do you double up? Do you put them in a box? I like to see my books. Any tips?

Buy a bigger house ?  ...Yes i have to double up in some bookcases and find space where i can , very annoying though when you're looking for a particular book and it's not where you thought it was .

 

2 hours ago, Dust Jacket Collector said:

I say, that last post has got me promoted to Brigadier-General. No more slogging it out in the trenches for me. I shall now only be answering questions by appointment!

Well done , i salute you sir !

[Dust Jacket Collector]

2 hours ago, other ranker said:

Trying hard to identify all those classics Sir!

They’re all Australian accounts. I’m trying to get the originals of the dozen books that Angus & Robertson later published as ‘The Gallant Legion’ but some are proving rather elusive or too expensive.

[Dust Jacket Collector]

1 hour ago, Black Maria said:

Buy a bigger house ?  ...Yes i have to double up in some bookcases and find space where i can , very annoying though when you're looking for a particular book and it's not where you thought it was .

 

Well done , i salute you sir !

Thank you, Colonel  🪖

[dpolglaze]

Most of my shelves are double deep. More shelf feet available = more books. Mine are substantially all WWI aviation titles. Pamphlets and the like are stored separately. Boxes and boxes of duplicates. I really must do something about those.

[dpolglaze]

On 21/05/2023 at 08:31, Black Maria said:

Buy a bigger house ?  ...Yes i have to double up in some bookcases and find space where i can , very annoying though when you're looking for a particular book and it's not where you thought it was .

 

Well done , i salute you sir !

I have a shelf map. Give every shelf a number and know the system. Then in your spreadsheet of books (you have to have one of those ) put the location. Mine has a five alphanumeric key, for floor, compass direction of wall, shelf section left to right, shelf number top to bottom, and front or back - i.e., 3N23F. It will take some doing, but once you have your books organized the way you want them (leaving room for further additions), it makes it easy to find. Once you've done that, you'll remember many of them anyway, but when they get into the thousands you won't remember them all so ... shelf map.

My sister is a librarian, and spent some time over summer a few years back greatly assisting me in this endeavor.

 

 

[Dust Jacket Collector]

1 hour ago, dpolglaze said:

I have a shelf map. Give every shelf a number and know the system. Then in your spreadsheet of books (you have to have one of those ) put the location. Mine has a five alphanumeric key, for floor, compass direction of wall, shelf section left to right, shelf number top to bottom, and front or back - i.e., 3N23F. It will take some doing, but once you have your books organized the way you want them (leaving room for further additions), it makes it easy to find. Once you've done that, you'll remember many of them anyway, but when they get into the thousands you won't remember them all so ... shelf map.

My sister is a librarian, and spent some time over summer a few years back greatly assisting me in this endeavor.

 

 

Wish I’d thought of that method years ago. Not sure I’ve got the stamina to do it for all two and a half thousand of them now. I often spend ages with a torch trying to find a particular book - alphabetical order broke down years ago. There are a few that seem to have disappeared completely!

[Black Maria]

3 hours ago, dpolglaze said:

I have a shelf map. Give every shelf a number and know the system. Then in your spreadsheet of books (you have to have one of those ) put the location. Mine has a five alphanumeric key, for floor, compass direction of wall, shelf section left to right, shelf number top to bottom, and front or back - i.e., 3N23F. It will take some doing, but once you have your books organized the way you want them (leaving room for further additions), it makes it easy to find. Once you've done that, you'll remember many of them anyway, but when they get into the thousands you won't remember them all so ... shelf map.

My sister is a librarian, and spent some time over summer a few years back greatly assisting me in this endeavor.

 

 

Very impressive !

 

[dpolglaze]

I have over 3000 items with locations on the shelf map. I had the spreadsheet complete(ish) before starting the reorg after purchasing another collection. On the shelves they are organized by subject and then generally alphabetical. Getting it all set up initially happened after the large collection got added to mine and SI had to go through everything to cull duplicates. At that point, everything came off all the shelves, and it was all organized in a process that took a good week. There was subject matter sorting, followed by duplicate culling, general alphabetization, and then figuring out which shelves would hold what. Took a looong time but the end result was sorted, shelved, mapped, and catalogued.

[other ranker]

Amazing!