The Crosby-Schoyen Codex and other rare books - Katherine Roberts

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Earlier this month, one of the earliest known books in existence was sold at auction by Christie's for more than £3m... yes, you read that right... THREE MILLION pounds! That's enough to buy a big house with a few acres in the UK.

part of the Crosby-Schoyen codex

The Crosby-Schoyen Codex contains the first epistle of Peter and the Book of Jonah, making it the earliest known surviving Christian book (approx 300AD). It was written by hand in Coptic on papyrus, has 104 pages, and apparently took a single scribe 40 years to complete. Fortunately, the scribe lived in an Egyptian monastery at the time so was not trying to juggle a day job and kids as well.

First editions of popular books in good condition might also buy you a house (if a slightly smaller one). First edition hardcovers of JK Rowling's debut title Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone are currently listed online for six figures (£100,000+), while first paperback editions of the same title are fetching five-figure sums. Typos not corrected until the second printing can actually make the book more collectable... the first impression of Harry Potter had several: p53 lists '1 wand' twice in Harry's Hogwarts kit list, and the back cover is missing an 'o' in Philosopher's - go check your copy now!


Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
(first edition hardcover)

Author signatures can help... or not. Neil Gaiman once joked that Terry Pratchett signed so many of his books, it was the unsigned copies of his work that were worth more! In fact, small presses sometimes issue numbered copies of more obscure titles as a limited edition hardcover complete with author signatures aimed at collectors. I once co-wrote such a novella myself with horror writer Tim Lebbon, using a pseudonym so there was no danger of my younger readers confusing the genre. The photo shows my unique signed author copy, and we both dutifully signed a stack of numbered editions that came all the way from the publisher in America. 

Children of the New Disorder
(limited edition hardcover)
by Tim Lebbon & Lindy Moore

There are several interesting lists of high-value early editions of vintage books on the net. Looking at moneyweek, if you have a copy of one of the following titles on your shelf then you might want to think twice about donating it with other old books to your nearest charity shop... although, of course, the charity might thank you :-) Even number 10 on this list will set you back a five-figure sum.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
(first edition, 3 volumes)

1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - (six figures, £180,000)
2. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (5 figures)
3. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien (5 figures)
4. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (5 figures)
5. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens  (5 figures)
6. The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams (5 figures)
7. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome (5 figures)
8. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (5 figures)
9. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (5 figures)
10. Grimm’s Fairy Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm (5 figures)
 
Even not-so-famous authors' books can fetch surprisingly high prices. I once discovered a first edition hardcover of my I am the Great Horse (Scholastic US, 2006) listed for hundreds of dollars, though amazingly you can still snap up a beautiful signed copy of my debut hardcover Song Quest (Element, 1999) with the original ship cover for under £20 if you're quick.

Song Quest
(winner of the 2000 Branford Boase Award)


So what do these high-value first editions have in common? They are all physical paper books written by authors who have since become household names. Rather more crucially, I doubt Jane Austen had heard of print-on-demand. Digital publishing might have made things easier for readers to discover books, easier for smaller publishers to compete with the big guys, and reduced the cost of publishing a book. No longer do indie authors need to order a whole print run and store the unsold books under their bed. They don't even need to post their printed-on-demand books to their eager readers... amazon takes care of that.

But there is a price to pay. Where are all the first editions of the future? Would it be the first ever copy printed on demand? How does a reader even know they 'demanded' the first copy? Probably it was the author herself, checking the 'live' version of her own book looks just as good as the proof copy did. If the first copy ever printed had some kind of code inserted, then possibly that sole 'first edition' would have the same uniqueness as the Codex and eventually be worth enough to buy the whole of London... or not. When it is theoretically possible to print as many 'first editions' as readers demand, then the value of each one naturally decreases. Even with a book that is traditionally published, first editions of titles with huge initial print runs are usually worth less than those with smaller first runs, and subsequent easy availability in digital form with the content of the title no longer technically ever going out of print also tends to devalue the original edition. I have noticed that since my books started selling digitally, the value of the original publisher's paper editions has declined.

It seems that, despite our increasingly digital world, there are people who still love and cherish actual physical books. If print runs vanish for good, then first editions of future authors' work will no longer exist, which can only increase the value of those vintage books we all know and love.

How many of you have a first edition of one of your own books on your shelf?

And how many of you have a first edition (or any physical edition) of one of the titles mentioned above?

*

Katherine Roberts writes fantasy and historical fiction with a touch of legend for young (and older) readers.

If you are a collector, many of her books had genuine first editions with their original publishers, the most valuable probably being the hardcovers with smallest print runs: Song Quest, Spellfall, I am the Great Horse... grab them now, because one day they might buy you a house!



Comments

Griselda Heppel said…
Whaaaaaat? A five figure sum for The Velveteen Rabbit? Good grief. I do remember reading a review of Harry Potter and the Philosphers Stone and thinking wow, that sounds perfect for my children. Then, naturally, being of a frugal mind, I decided to wait till the paperback came out. FOOL that I was. Must go and check the very dog eared and battered paperback now!

Sadly I have none of the first editions on your list. Recently I had the interesting task of dealing with my fathers sacred book collection, and it was somewhat lowering to find that editions of Locke, Hume etc, even 18th century ones, are of no value ( not being first editions). An entire multi volume Cambridge encyclopaedia of Ancient History c 1912: worth nothing. Ditto a 15 volume edition of all the classical authors, in the original Greek and Latin, obvs, with commentary… zilch. On the other hand, a rather worse for wear, very dull looking French/English law dictionary did turn out to be worth a few hundred pounds because it was the first of its kind. Fascinating.

Great post. Readers will be scouring their shelves now.
25 June 2024 at 19:08
Katherine Roberts said…
Yes, it's strange. I guess a book with a tiny first print run makes the first edition rarer and therefore more collectable? But this obviously doesn't apply to all titles with small print runs, and many best-sellers of their time are now worth nothing much at all, so why some books and not others? The mysteries of publishing!
26 June 2024 at 17:57
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