This is one of my prized possessions. It's the true 1st edition of "On a Chinese Screen" (1922). It was put out by Doran before the British one. It is extremely rare to find one in the original dust-jacket. As you can see the "GDH" stamp is directly underneath the copyright notice which is where it needs to be to indicate that it's a 1st printing. Doran also put a larger GDH stamp on the title pages of all his books, don't confuse that larger stamp with the one indicating a 1st printing.
The 1st printing had a run of 2000 copies. I won this at an eBay auction for $175. The trick to auctions on eBay is to get in at the last second. Sometimes you really have to fight with others doing the same. Often it comes down to luck - whose bid gets recorded in at the final half-second. It's not a pleasant experience.
Nice copy you have. I've one with facsimile jacket, which I got in what seems to be æons ago, and in fact the description of the seller didn't really match, but anyway, it was cheap. I don't like bidding at all and I avoid it as much as I can. It's a thrill when it's something that I don't care much, but if not, it'll give me a heart attack one of these days.
ReplyDeleteI remember how stressed you were with that Cakes and Ale LP recording a couple of years ago. Speaking of books not matching descriptions, today I received what was supposed to be "The Bread-Winner" 1st edition, but was a CD of some obscure jazz artist! It's especially frustrating because I waited 3 weeks for it. My guess is while he was packing the order, he searched what other sellers were asking for it then figured he'd throw the CD in there, then tell me it was a mix up and he doesn't have the book. He'll then relist it after a couple of months for a lot more money. This was Revival Books, LTD of Lancashire, England.
ReplyDeleteNice purchase! Well please let me know if you want to spare this one. :))
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