Collectible Childrens Books on eBay

[picture*books]

As per cc's suggestion, a thread for relatively higher dollar children's books sold on eBay and the ensuing discussions.

[picture*books]

Nice DJ on this book.

Item 200683509969 sold for $187 on Dec. 11, 2011

TRUE 1st Edition of the classic Dr. Seuss book SHAPE OF ME in Dust Jacket!!

Dr. Seuss THE SHAPE OF ME 1973 1st ED w/ DJ 
THE SHAPE OF ME
By Dr. Seuss

A Bright & Early Book

RANDOM HOUSE/NEW YORK(1973)

True First Edition, First Printing, First Issuematching all issue points in First Editions of Dr. Seuss Books: A Guide to Identification by Helen and Marc Younger and Dan Hirsch.No. 72; Page 171-173;

Octavo (9 1/4" x 6 5/8")

Condition: Very Good in Good Dust Jacket

Binding Tight. Pages and covers are clean and bright. Moderate wear.

Dust Jacket is pretty clean with some wear and sunning top spine. Price clipped but not needed for identification as there was only one printing in dust jacket.

[blue*skies*ahead*]

Just interrupting this for a moment to say "Thank You" for continuing to maintain the invaluable information on this wonderful thread.

I especially enjoy your explanations and commentary - it helps to explain the "What the........?" reactions I sometimes have when looking at the final prices.:-x

THANK YOU, picturebooks!

Your efforts are very much appreciated.

Second that.

Thanks, Stan.

[picture*books]

You're welcome elynslibrary and blue*skies*ahead, I'm happy to be of some service.

[picture*books]

The first edition Wrinkle In Time is a major children's collectible, and has been the most difficult of the Newbery Medal books to acquire. Usually there are not any on the market; surprisingly there look to be five first editions currently on the market.

Would I be one of the booksellers, I wouldn't price cut unless direly in need of the money. Librarians are passionate collectors of Newbery Medal books, and this book sits just outside their grasp, I'm sure tempting many.

Item 220869334813 sold for $3,593 on Oct. 9, 2011

A Wrinkle In Time; by Madeleine L'Engle; First Printing of the Classic

"A Wrinkle In Time

by Madeleine L'Engle

Pub. by Ariel/Farrar, Strauss & Cudahy; NY, 1962, 1st Ed. Good/Fair

Book is 211 pages, hardcover with DJ, in good condition
Tight copy of the book with spine slant, wear and fading to boards, bumps to spine ends and board corners, foxing to prelims and page edges; DJ has chips, tears, stains, creases and soil.

This is the true first edition first printing of this strange and wonderful book."

A first edition book in a second printing DJ sold last week for $1500.

Item 380385524410 sold for $1500 on Dec. 6, 2011

Madeleine L'Engle. A Wrinkle In Time. Farrar, Straus & Giroux. 1962.  First Edition, first printing. [Stated.]

Paper boards backed by blue cloth. 8vo. 1962 Newbery Award winner.

Jacket has excellent color. Minor chipping wear to spine head and tail, corners. Spine not sunned or darkened.  Not price-clipped.  Priced at $3.25.   Not a first state jacket: first state would be with only three reviews to rear panel and no mention of Newbery Award on flap.

Paper boards have very good color and are unmarred.  Some darkening at the edge, as is usual.  Blue cloth bright and fresh. Spine not faded. Very minor color loss to spine edges.

Previous owner's bookplate to blank free front endpaper.  Interior bright, clean and fresh.  Near fine or better.  Never read.

First printing with a very small print run.  Very scarce  first member of the Time quartet.

Signed bookplate tipped to half-title.

Also included is a first printing of the paperback edition issued in 1973.

[picture*books]

$450 for a first edition Yertle The Turtle and other Stories.

From my webpage on the first edition points of Yertle:

The Yertle story first appeared in the April 1951 issue of Redbook Magazine, which pre-dates the publication of the book by seven years.

Yertle also includes the Gertrude McFuzz story, which was published in the July 1951 Redbook, and The Big Brag, which was originally published in the December 1950 Redbook.

The copyright page in the book makes note of these earlier publications, as follows.

“Copyright 1950, 1951, 1958 by Dr. Seuss” 

At this time, all three of the Redbook Magazines are relatively affordable.

Item 110665187866 sold for $450 on Dec. 16, 2011

Dr. SEUSS' YERTLE THE TURTLE! FIRST EDITION! 295 dj 1st

YERTLE THE TURTLE!!
by Dr. Seuss.

True FIRST EDITION / FIRST PRINTING!!

True First Printing of both the book and the Dust Jacket, with all required points:

1) Book with the copyright dated 1950, 1951, 1958 which is standard for the First Printing.

2) Dust Jacket has the 295/295 (is Not price clipped), with 3 titles on front flap.

Illustrated by Dr. Seuss.

Near FOLIO-SIZED!!
This book measures 11.5 inches tall!!

Random House, NY.

Book itself is in MINT Condition but for some light usage wear, main point of wear would be a long closed tear on blank first 2 pages. The dust jacket is in excellent condition with some rubs/wear along extremities. The dj is protected in an archival, removable, brodart dust jacket protector, with supportive white lining.

This would make an excellent gift and/or addition to any fine library.

Antiquarian books make a great investment, are only going up in value, and are sure to increase the aura of any room or office!

[picture*books]

These Charles Harper illustrated Golden Books continue to sell well.

Item 360385896499 sold for $375 on Dec. 14, 2011

The Animal Kingdom George Fichter CHARLES HARPER ILLUS.

ITEM DESCRIPTION:
The Animal Kingdom
An Introduction to the Major Groups of Animals
by George S Fichter
illustrated by Charles Harper
hardcover, no jacket
C- 1968

Very difficult to find this book - and this one is a beauty. NOT from a library, but privately owned with no writing (other than owner's name on the title page) no tears and only minimal wear. Tightly bound, crisp pages.The boards have wear to the corners and spine ends and the remains of a price sticker on the front board. The white background of the boards is a bit dirty in places.

I have had several copies of The Golden Book of Biology in the past, with the famed Charley Harper illustrations, but this is the first time I have ever found this particular title. I have taken numerous pictures so you can see the lovely type of illustrations that are throughout this entire book.

I know this is pricey so I want to be sure you have any and all information before purchasing.

[kbooks1]

Picturebooks: Thanks to your book and these threads I hit a few good children's books today: Seuss ABC 1st; 2 Bernard Waber 1sts, both signed, one with an extra illustration; Mike Mulligan's Steam Shovel, probable 1st in fair DJ, plus a bunch of lesser kids' books. My question is, are there points for Mulligan? I do see one first listed with a very high asking price.

[kbooks1]

Forgot to mention a "windfall". When I went through the books [purchased at auction in stacks] I found a fine first of Shrek I hadn't even seen.

[picture*books]

Mike Mulligan's Steam Shovel, probable 1st in fair DJ, plus a bunch of lesser kids' books. My question is, are there points for Mulligan? I do see one first listed with a very high asking price.

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel is a very difficult book to find in first edition. My notes indicate the first edition has '1939' on the title page.

[kbooks1]

I wonder. Children's firsts do seem a lot harder to identify. Mine matches the "first" listed on Alibris-1939 on the copyright page. Front flap at $3.00 mentions brisk over-the-counter sales of juveniles through the last decade from 'Millions of Cats' to 'Ferdinand'. Back flap is a write up for Choo Choo.If not a first this would be very early.

[kbooks1]

I checked Wikipedia and mine does match their  definition of a first with a footnote on p39  "Ackowledgement to Dickie Birkenbrush".

[picture*books]

I wonder. Children's firsts do seem a lot harder to identify. Mine matches the "first" listed on Alibris-1939 on the copyright page. Front flap at $3.00 mentions brisk over-the-counter sales of juveniles through the last decade from 'Millions of Cats' to 'Ferdinand'. Back flap is a write up for Choo Choo.If not a first this would be very early.

Yours is not a first, but it is very early. A first edition copy sold on eBay on Apr. 9, 2005 for $3,000, Item #6954466390 (sellerID=ll_rare_books; buyerID=mdsonny). The auction included photos of the title page with '1939', and the description included

"First Edition / First Printing

1939 on Title page and Copyright page"

While the DJ was clipped, the item description also included "Rear flap of the DJ advertises 'Choo Choo', the authors earlier title".

I don't have access to my set of Horn Book magazines from 1939, else I could validate the $3.00 DJ price. The price does seem a bit high for that era, although the other indicators are favorable.

[picture*books]

I checked Wikipedia and mine does match their  definition of a first with a footnote on p39  "Ackowledgement to Dickie Birkenbrush".

There is a 24th printing currently for sale on eBay with the same acknowledgement to Dickie Birkenbrush, so it was still being mispelled in the mid-1960's.

[kbooks1]

So it definitely has the 1939 on the title page? Then mine is not a first but would seem to date to 1939 from DJ flaps. Were there other printings in 1939? Are there other distinguishing marks besides the 1939 on title page? Do you wonder who put the Wiki article up?  Have you had copies of this? Have I askede enogh questions? 🙂

[picture*books]

Sans DJ, nearly $2,000 for the first American issue of The Hobbit.

Item 360418321944 sold for $1,913 on Dec. 21, 2011

1938 J R R Tolkien The Hobbit First American Edition 1st State with PR Release

"J. R. R. Tolkien. The Hobbit or There and Back Again. Illustrated by the Author. Boston and New York. Houghton Mifflin Company. 1938. Original light tan cloth-covered boards. 8 1/4 by 6 1/8 inches. 310 pages. The book is in very good condition with To Elizabeth from Auntie Jo. May 7th, 1938 in ink on blank front free endpaper. Otherwise there are no other markings and the covers and pages are crisp and clean. Corners are not bumped. Top and bottom of spine are not frayed. Just a hint of soiling to the covers. Complete. Please see the photographs, which can be enlarged and are part of the description.

This has all the first state or issue points: the bowing hobbit on the title page; no half-title; the hat on the spine; the misnumbering of Chapter VII as VI on page 118; and the Wilderland map at the front pastedown instead of the back and Thor's Map at the back instead of the front.

The News of New Books from Houghton Mifflin is a (English??) review by Phoebe Fenwick Gaye that appeared in Time and Tide. This press release is date 2/17/38 and states that The Hobbit is scheduled for publication by Houghton Mifflin Company on March 1."