Early Christmas Presents

I managed to be very disclipined during an online auction of a James Bond book collection today and limited myself to three lots:

I was excited to get the Still Life series as a complete set for a bargain price - in particular as "The Spy Who Loved Me" is hard to obtain in this series. The hardbacks are a set of later impressions. If in good condition I will add suitable copies of the missing volumes to make up a complete set of the first UK hardcovers, available through Bois Books.

An Unexpected Find

One of the joys when purchasing a mixed lot of books via an online auction are the unexpected jewels you find, from time to time, when you unpack your purchase. These are books that that escaped the auctioneer's attention when the lot description and price estimate wer prepared for the lot. My two notable finds in terms of resale value/rarity were a 2nd printing copy of the 1st paperback edition of Philosopher's Stone and a 4th impression copy from 1946 of the 1st UK edition of Tolkien's "The Hobbit". The latter was found, unloved, unremarked and invisible in the online pictures, at the bottom of a lot purchased for the 1st edition set of later printings of the 1st edition of Lord of the Rings it contained. This printing of the Hobbit, the final of the 1st edition, is notable for the significant textual revisions made by Tolkien for the 2nd edition, in advance of the first publication of the Lord of the Rings in the 1950s, to harmonize the two narratives. In particular the tone of Bilbo's encounter with Gollum leading to the former's acquisition of the Ring from the latter was significantly rewritten between the 1st and 2nd editions. This copy contains a colour frontispiece of Hobbiton with another eight illustrations by the author in black and white.

À l'une

Since the 2020 lockdowns I have been buying and selling online, primarily as a hobby for my own amusement, English-language literature. With an emphasis on 20th century first editions and a few specialist areas of pop culture fiction. My main vehicle is through a personal eBay store supplemented occasionally by Catawiki .

You can browse through, and if desired purchase from, my eBay niche. In case you are wondering about the name, it's a petit multilingual jeu de mots linking my name and my town of residence. 

If any books appear overpriced that generally reflects a reluctance to part with certain volumes.

My specialities have developed to include in particular works by Tolkien, Rowling, Ian Fleming and Le Carré. For EU-domiciled clients there is the added attraction of (generally) rapid delivery combined with no risk of extra charges due to customs barriers and other shipping issues when you purchase from me, compared with items sourced from a UK- or US-based seller. 

The motivation for my eBay activity started, and remains, to create an online catalogue of my book collection. Over time it is becoming a deeper dive into bibliophilia and providing (some) commercial reward, or at least useful argent de poche. My intention is to use this blog to highlight items from my collection that appeal to me, possibly as linked to cultural or historical issues. I may even create an online resource for some of my specific areas of interest. Links to James Bond bibliographical resources anyone?