…I gotta be honest, the cover for The Eye of the World was what got me into the books in the first place.
What really sucks is that I found out that the larger than normal paperback I have been rereading all this time was the first issue for The Eye of the World . I thought there was a hardcover version. So all this time I have been beating the crap out of a rare first edition. Boy do I feel special…. kinda like the time I found out my sister traded all my first run Uncanny X-Men s for my cousin’s … er “collection” of Archie comics…. kinda like the time… gah…
Hi All,
Been lurking since The Beginning. Although I haven’t had the time or the mental capacity/creativity, most days, to contribute in any significant fashion. Although hopefully I can find some more time in the future to do more than Lurk….
However, to all the new posters, regulars and alumni—I’m appreciative of the hours and hours of entertainment you’ve provided; Kudos to all!
Just a heads up to Sub, that the first printing of the oversize paperback isn’t overly valuable (50-150 $) pending condition, and they show up on ebay on a regular basis—but still something worth looking after carefully.
If I’ve managed this properly—my avatar will have a picture of what I believe is the first bound version of The Eye of the World that I rescued from ebay a couple of years ago (maybe tnh can/will comment). Read the red fine print, if/when you can … it’s really cool.
Edited: for coherency. Deleted a sentence as my avatar showed up as planned. And add—you can’t see it well in the picture/avatar, but there is printing along the top of book that reads “Harriet’s marked up copy”—no trolling. This book contains some hand written edits by Mrs. Jordan (and someone else whom I have yet to identify although there is a fairly obvious choice), and includes a 3-page letter to tnh from Mrs. Jordan. As I understand it, the advance reading copy was created from this version, as were the final hardcover (yes Sub there was a limited hardcover printing) and oversize softcover both originally printed in February 1990.
JD
How the devil did that production copy wind up on eBay? With, for all love, my correspondence with Harriet still tucked inside? (Is that the letter where we were going back and forth about Nancy Weisenfeld’s copyedit, and Jim Rigney’s preferred style of ellipses? It’s been a long time.)
Did the person who sold it say anything about it?
I’d love to see large high-resolution photos of all those materials, including samples of the interior markup, and all three pages of the letter. I can recognize the handwriting of most of the people that could have marked up the pages, so there’s a good chance that I can either identify the person or rule out some possibilities.
I’d very much prefer that you mail me pictures of the letter, rather than posting them somewhere. My email address is on the front page of my weblog, Making Light .
Onward.
What you have there isn’t the first bound edition. It’s either a bound galley or a bound manuscript copy—I should remember which, but I don’t. Tom Doherty did so much fiddling with the marketing and format of that book that it spent close to a year in production, rather than the normal nine months, and at times drove our department to distraction.
If it’s typeset, it’s a bound galley. If it’s reproduced from the manuscript pages, it’s a bound manuscript. Both can be referred to as “advance copies.”
Anyway, the advance copies with the plain light-blue cover were superseded by the massive printing of ARCs with the four-color Darryl Sweet cover. An ARC (Advance Reading Copy) is basically a bound galley with a four-color cover that’s usually an early version of the cover that will appear on the book. The Tor booth at the ABA that year had so many copies of it that they could have built Vauban-style fortifications out of them. Printing such a large and lavish ARC in such quantities was a gamble for Tor, which back then was a smaller and poorer company.
Is the thing you’re referring to as “the first printing of the oversize paperback” the ARC? Check and see whether it has a price printed anywhere on the cover. If not, it’s an ARC. IIRC, the ARC also featured the interim state of the cover in which the author of one of the cover quotes was erroneously identified as “Gordon R. R. Dickson.”
Thanks for the info, greatly appreciated!
I will email pictures in the next 24 hours along with what history I know or have deduced. I agree with you that the letter shouldn’t be made public without necessary approvals. The “discussion” you mentioned sounds…interesting…but the contents of this letter are more mundane and simply include info on book formatting, layout and listing of the chapter icons (I’ve scanned a copy of it too).
While not clear in my avatar, the book looks grey in real life (although if there was a light blue one, that would be interesting as well). I acquired a second one, without markups, that is identical to that pictured, and it is grey as well.
I know the ARC well, as at one point I had five of the things from various bundled purchases I made (the exterior cover of the ARC is the same artwork that is now found on the inside flap, and the inside cover of the ARC is the same artwork that now appears on the current cover). I just picked up one of the ARCs and on the back has a quote attributed to George R Dickson—is that what you were referring to? (Been so long since I’d picked it up that I’d completely forgot that I had the matching bookmark, and postcard inside, a pleasant surprise). I’ve since donated one to Jason Denzel and one to Jennifer Liang, for helping make a waking nightmare of a trip to the Gathering Storm signing in Charleston end on an awesome note.
In referring to the “oversize paperback”—it is a softcover book with the dimensions of approximately 6” x 9” (matching the size of the arc as well as the other proofs/galleys/bound manuscripts that I have). On this version, the exterior artwork and inside flap match what is currently on shelves everywhere. There are prices (both Canadian and US, etc) and ISBN # listing.
From your perspective—is there a difference between a galley, bound manuscript, or proof? Just curious, as I have various versions of almost all those written by RJ (have never seen a proof/galley/manuscript for Crown of Swords despite hours and hours of searching).
Okay, this is funny. I’ve been able to confirm that what Kafmerchant has is a one-of-a-kind artifact from the production of the first edition of The Eye of the World . The line written in red ink at the top edge of the cover that says “Harriet’s marked-up copy” is in my handwriting.
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