Dangling in the Tornefortia, 1st Ed. 1981 pb (1 Viewer)

[HenryChinaski]

I'm parting with a very fine copy of Dangling In The Tornefortia.
Thought I'd come here first. I'm not even sure what a soft cover in near fine condition goes for these days but if somebody makes me an offer we can go from there. The spine is yellowing and has very litte reading wear. For some odd reason, the "Black Sparrow Press" is too far down the spine and got cut off. It reads "Black Sparrow Pres".

second to last page states it's a first editon. or whatever that page is called, before the bio. NO MARKS WHATSOEVER, NOTHING. Pages are clean and tight.
let me know what you think. I'll post pictures tomorrow.

The only reason I'm parting with this item is to raise money for a 16mm film camera.
thanks for looking.

-ryan

 

[Purple Stickpin]

The colophon page doesn't normally state that it's a first edition. In fact, I don't think any BSP books make that statement anywhere. What the colophon says is that: "This edition is published in paper wrappers; there are 750 hardcover trade copies; 350 hardcover copies numbered & signed by the author; & 100 hardcover copies handbound in boards by Earle Gray, each with an original painting by Charles Bukowski."

Problem is, that exact colophon appears in my numbered & signed first, and in my 1986 second printing in wraps. So while my wrapper copy may still technically be a first edition (if no editorial changes were made for the 2nd printing), it's not a first edition, first printing, which is what matters most often. So, often that colophon is a bit misleading. I've seen it dropped in later printings, but it seems to show up in lower printings that are not first printings. Maybe it's dropped after any editorial changes are made that would constitue a second edition; I'm not sure.

The key is to look at the title page. If it's in color, then it's a first ed, first printing (there are a couple of exceptions, as noted on Buk.net). The printing date is at the bottom of the title page. If it's 1981, good. So check the date and for color on the title page. Then flip the title page over, and see if it says "second printing," etc underneath the ISBNs. True firsts say nothing here.

I'm not trying to question you, but people who read this should be aware that the colophon is not the place to go to see what edition is in question. Good luck with the camera!

 

[HenryChinaski]

I'm aware of all of this. and yes, the title page is in color. red and dark blue. I'll post the pics soon.

 

[LickTheStar]

I almost jumped on that... then checked my paperback copy and apparently I have a first edition too... Awesome. That's a kickass surprise.

 

[mjp]

Dangling had one of the largest paperback first editions, 8000 copies, which is why they are a little more common.

BSP must have figured that 8000 was too high for a first paperback, since the next two major follow-ups, War All the Time and You Get So Alone, had slightly smaller first runs.

They went back to 8,000 for The Roominghouse Madrigals, and Hollywood was over 10,000.

Compare those numbers to the earlier books like The Days Run Away (1243 copies), Post Office (2001 copies) and Mockingbird Wish Me Luck (2515 copies), and you can see why the earlier first paperbacks fetch higher prices.

And of course a lot of that price difference is due to the fact that more of those later firsts were "collected" - kept in very good condition - as opposed to the earlier titles which were published when Bukowski was less well known, making the available pool of excellent condition copies much smaller.

Blah, blah, blah.

 

[HenryChinaski]

well fuck, so what youre saying is it aint worth a damn.

 

[LickTheStar]

I paid 10-12 bucks for mine... but is neither clean nor tight. Quick beat up, in fact.

Some of the ones on abe are between 40 and 65 dollars in between very good and fine shape... so if it is in as described, its probably worth a bit.

 

[Purple Stickpin]

ebay can be a crap-shoot. If you list it at a healthy reserve, who knows, maybe stnickl will be your friend.