| Author | Message | ||
     Tom English (Deadletterpress) Username: Deadletterpress Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 216.54.1.35 |
I won a signed, slipcased, 200-copy limited edition of Ramsey Campbell's The Darkest Part of the Woods on eBay a couple weeks ago. This is the true first edition of the novel. When it arrived today, I noticed the title on the dustjacket spine is incorrectly printed as The Darkest Part of The Wods. I'm sure this printer's boo-boo was discovered early in the run and then corrected. But this mistake would constitute the first state of the first printing of the first edition. Have I lost anyone? More important, does anyone know how rare this WODS version is? Or were all 200 copies misprinted? Thanks. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 67.116.103.241 |
If you do decide to sell, Tom, just make sure you get a good price for it - don't blow your Wods. | ||
| Tom English (Deadletterpress) Username: Deadletterpress Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 68.10.197.98 |
Ha! Good one! Actually, I don't want to sell it. I'm just curious how many other copies there are. (We book collectors love the idea having something no one else has--in this case a whole Wod of it)! | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.137.236 |
I've heard about this before, I'm sure - maybe it was Ramsey who mentioned it. Or perhaps Andy Richards... I have one of the 500 numbered copies and it's printed ok on that. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.137.236 |
Just found an interview with Pete Crowther where he's asked about the early days of PS, and says summat about "But we have had a couple of splendid typos creep into our books -- like Ramsey's The Darkest Part of the Woods, which we put out with a cover-spine saying The Darkest Part of the Wods!" http://www.sfsite.com/columns/jeff259.htm | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.137.236 |
Oh, and a comment here by a seller - check title number 11:- http://www.tomfolio.com/SearchAuthorTitle.asp?Aut=Ramsey_Campbell | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.229.240 |
I have a signed copy of DARK FEASTS that is full of printing errors. Pages 107 through 110 are loosely tucked into the book (they form a single big leaf with 107-110 on one side and 108-109 on the other). "The Ferries" ends cryptically with the message 'End of File: 170AUP ... on Dir:70'. I've always wondered about this. Are all copies like that? | ||
| Lincoln_brown (Lincoln_brown) Username: Lincoln_brown Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 58.168.173.24 |
'Dark Feasts', with the "End of File..." message is a true first edition, first printing. Book was recalled and re-issued without the mistake - first edition, second printing. I was sure that the printing error on the spine of 'Darkest Part...' was only to be found on the 500 copy limited edition (no slipcase). My ltd/slipcased edition has 'Woods' spelt correctly. There was a copy for sale on e-bay recently, with the error and it was the ltd. to 500 edition. | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.229.240 |
Thanks, Lincoln. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.149.134.59 |
I have both the errant DARK FEASTS (which I purchased before those copies were recalled) and the errant (non-slipcased) THE DARKEST PART OF THE WOODS. In my copy of the latter, the text is missing from the last page. Tom, that may be the case with your copy also: if the last chapter ends rather abruptly at the bottom of the last right-hand page, the text on the final page is missing. Check any other edition to compare. The errant DARK FEASTS is badly corrupted, with a great many typos – evidently an uncorrected proof. Do not trust any version within that 'edition'! | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
Just to add to the bibliographical fun: I dedicated The Grin of the Dark to Pete and Nicky Crowther "who saved me from the wods". Alas, in the Tor edition someone has revised that to read "woods"... | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.149.134.59 |
Spare a thought for the publishing minion who had to proof-read FINNEGANS WAKE. And for the hapless editor who put MALONE DIES on the cover of a Samuel Beckett novel. Those words were not meant to be the title: they were the synopsis. | ||
| Tom English (Deadletterpress) Username: Deadletterpress Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 68.10.197.98 |
Thanks to everyone for the info. Apparently, what I have is #166 of the the 500-copy edition---but someone has added a slipcase. The 200-copy edition has 2 plates, which are missing from my copy. The signature/limitation sheet is no help, as it states both editions. So, I guess one determines the edition by the presence/absence of the 2 illustrations (and the slipcase, which is a bit more unreliable, since it seems to get around). Joel, the text doesn't seem to be cut short. (So there are at least 2 errant versions). Ramsey, what wod you do without intelligent copy editors? Now, I know this is going to sound bad, especially coming from another (very small) publisher, but (speaking as a collector) I expected a much sturdier binding on a book limited to 500 copies. This one looks like it could fall apart with one careless reading. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.149.134.59 |
PS Publishing had some production difficulties in the early days, and the physical properties of their novels from that time are less than ideal. Recent books from them have shown a quantum leap in terms of production values, in terms of binding, typesetting and even paper, along with a significant drop in price. You can't say fairer than that. | ||
| Tom English (Deadletterpress) Username: Deadletterpress Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 68.10.197.98 |
Yes, PS has improved tremendously in both physical production and book design, and the books continue to be a great value. I just pulled down my copy of Zoran Zivkovik's Impossible Stories, and it's quite nice. | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 86.163.170.232 |
WOD is my favourite story by Robert Aickman. | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.156.43.97 |
"Just to add to the bibliographical fun: I dedicated The Grin of the Dark to Pete and Nicky Crowther "who saved me from the wods". Alas, in the Tor edition someone has revised that to read "woods"..." Ha! - excellent! My first copy of Darkest Part Of The Woods actually fell to pieces while i was reading it. I emailed Pete Crowther, who earned my respected by being a complete gentleman and replacing the book, plus sending me a free copy of a Mark Morris for the trouble. PS's print quality is superb these days I must say, - second to none. gcw | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.156.43.97 |
"I emailed Pete Crowther, who earned my respected by being a complete gentleman and replacing the book, plus sending me a free copy of a Mark Morris for the trouble." A book that is, I don't think Mark Morris has been cloned yet! gcw | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.108.59.149 |
Pity. (Sigh.) |