Why is it worth buying first editions, first prints and early editions of literature.

Why is it worth buying first editions, first prints and early editions of literature.

The value of the first editions of twentieth-century novelists on the global book market has increased several times over the last dozen or so years. It is similar with poetry or older objects. The market is reflected in the listing of books and manuscripts conducted at auctions organized by renowned antique shops and auction houses.

Collectors, not only of books, but also of comic books, CDs and many other objects, believe that first editions and first editions are the most valuable, which is why they hunt for them.

First editions are usually very rare, because they appeared most often in the press and magazines, these in turn were most often thrown away or burned in furnaces, some issues have probably survived in single copies to this day, especially if the circulation of the magazine itself was small.

The first book editions also appeared, and still appear, most often in low circulation. Publishers are very cautious about investing in books by new or little-known authors. Friendly reviews from the press and readers' enthusiasm translate into sales, prompting them to publish renewals on a larger scale. Sometimes fame and large amounts of money come only after the author's death. This was the case with F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby". The first edition, numbering about 23,000 copies, met with a cold reception from critics and readers, the multi-million copies appeared 20 years after the author's death.

Another thing is the first editions of authors who have gained popularity, such as Stephen King and J.K. Rowling. Their latest novels have a circulation of many millions of copies. It is known that the value of these editions will be negligible in relation to the rare volumes at the beginning of their literary activity.

In the domestic market, early editions of the works of bards are rare today, which not only were published anonymously in exile, in very low circulation and were subject to censorship, but were often smuggled and transported between the partitions (under various conditions) and read. Hence, not only the first, but also the early second and subsequent Paris editions or other editions of these works by Adam Mickiewicz, Juljusz Słowacki and Zygmunt Krasiński are also rare. The same is true of the famous positivist Henryk Sienkiewicz and his "Ogniem i czas" [Fire and Sword], the second edition of which - due to its enormous popularity - was published in the same year a few months after the first publication.

The same applies to children's and teenagers' literature, adventure books, as well as westerns and interwar poetry in soft brochure covers, one cannot forget about underground publications. These items were most often used very intensively, hence they were most often found in hard library covers and today you can often find decent copies, also in the original binding with a soft dust jacket intact.

The price is naturally influenced not only by the rarity of a given title, but also by the state of preservation of a given copy.

The first releases keep gaining in value. For example, recently the market has reacted very well to the appearance of the first editions of Tadeusz Różewicz's volumes in the antiquarian auction offer. Tadeusz Różewicz immediately drew the attention of critics, his dissimilarity compared to the poetry of the time, which arose from the experiences of the war and occupation. Most of the volumes were sold at unprecedented prices [similar prices could be observed after the publication of the information about the poet's death on April 24, 2014]:

RÓŻEWICZ Tadeusz - The plain. 1954; the obtained price PLN 480
RÓŻEWICZ Tadeusz - Silver ear. Warsaw 1955; the price obtained is PLN 380
RÓŻEWICZ Tadeusz - Green Rose. File; the obtained price of PLN 300
RÓŻEWICZ Tadeusz - An Open Poem; the obtained price of PLN 280

But Różewicz is one of many examples here ... The first edition of "Pan Tadeusz" by Adam Mickiewicz, published in Paris in 1834, is today worth several times more than a dozen years ago. E.t.c.
Summing up the first editions, the first and early editions can be a tasty morsel not only for collectors, but also for investors who want to invest their money well.

Our online antiquarian bookstore invites you to enrich your book collection with first editions, first or early editions of interesting books.

You like it, give it a thumbs up:

 https://www.facebook.com/antyksobieski/#