Loot of the Week 14 Jan 2017

So it is 2017 already. Over the slow festive season, I had and missed a few chances to acquire some really good books. Lamentable, but that's part of the fun of collecting first editions. In this batch of loot, we have two new first editions, a Franklin signed edition and two award winners.

First, we have John Barth's National Book Award winner, "Chimera". This is the limited signed first edition issued by the publisher, Random House in grey slipcase in place of a dust jacket. What's wonderful about this copy is it still has the original acetate cover in VG+ condition. With a VG+ slipcase and a NF book (see you see the rich top stain from the pic), we have the complete set of this edition limited to just 300 copies. You have to wonder, how many of them survived to this day, and of those that survived, how many are still complete?

Next up is the Franklin signed limited edition of Philip Roth's first book, "Goodbye, Columbus". First edition of this book in first state dust jack is now quite rare and sells for over $1,000. There is no publisher-issued edition of the first edition, so the next best choice for an authentic signed edition of this title is this Franklin edition, which is generally not very rare if you don't mind having an incomplete set. The are sellers who routinely list this book from between $50 to $150 on eBay, but most of them are generally incomplete. By that, I mean the book is either missing the protective tissue on the signature page or, more commonly, missing the separate "Notes from the Editor" booklet. This pristine copy I acquired is complete and seems to have never been read. Lucky.

Then we have a copy of Jerzy Kosinski's "Steps", also a National Book Award winner. Unfortunately, due to a dishonest eBay book seller, this copy is not as pristine as I thought it was. Finally, we have two separate signed first editions - Zadie Smith's "Swing Time" from Harvard Bookstore's signed first edition club, and Michael Chabon's "Moonglow" from Powell's Indiespensable. "Night of Fire" is an uncorrected proof as part of the Indiespensable pack.