I've been looking at some mail-bid auctions and online used book stores recently (I check the online stores every couple of weeks to see if something I want has come in) I for some reason I have noticed a rash of facsimile copies of older, scarce books for sale. I would not be surprised to see something like this on eBay, but I have seen copies in two well known mail-bid auctions and a couple of high end used book stores. We are talking about books from the 20's and 30's so I do not know if the copyright has run out or not, but one of the "books" was a copy of the first edition of "penny whimsy" which I think is now owned by Whitman Publishing. Is this common in the rare book world? It just seems a little strange to me. Cheers, David
Yes re-prints are common. Often they are rather expensive as well. To find out if they are really worth the asking price you need to shop around and check prices. There is listing in the Numismatic Resources titled Books that will allow you to do that.
Is there a difference between a facsimile copy and a reprint? I have seen both terms used when listing books.
here is a great resource for both cheap, used books for less than $3, all the way to signed first editions. www.alibris.com
I suppose that depends on the person listing the item for sale. A reprint is published with permission - a facsimile may not be. It could also be that the person using the word facsimile in their description may be using the word incorrectly - they may be calling a re-print a facsimile. To me, a facsimile is when someone takes a book and runs it through a copy machine, then staples the pages together or puts them in a binder and thus they have a copy of the book. If it were me, I'd stick to buying real books. Just about all them can be found with patience.
