Thursday, November 3, 2011

Which Twisted Candles Book to Keep

I detailed here how I had found a first printing Nancy Drew Twisted Candles book and had to decide whether to keep the book I already had or the book I had just acquired. I stated that the decision would be like making a coin toss.

This is my first printing Twisted Candles dust jacket.


I purchased it as the 1932D-2 printing in 2006. The 1932C-1 and 1932D-2 printings have the same dust jacket, and the only difference is the book. The 1932C-1 book is extremely elusive. Approximately one year after I acquired the dust jacket, I was finally able to buy the 1932C-1 book. I swapped out the books, which unfortunately meant a downgrade in the condition of the book but an upgrade in the book/jacket combination to the 1932C-1 printing.

My first printing book is in rough shape, and I have wanted an upgrade. As of right now, I still want an upgrade, even though I now have another book. I have a difficult decision to make on which book to keep, because both are in rough shape.

In the below photos, the book on the left is the book that I have paired with my first printing dust jacket, and the book on the right is the one that I just acquired.




The book on the left is more worn on the edges of the boards and has a discolored spine. Those are the only two condition details which are worse for that book. Both books have a cracked front hinge. Both books have stains on several pages. Both bindings are weak, and both books have significant spine slant. All four illustrations are present in both books.

My initial reaction was that I would keep the book I already had. After removing the jacket from that book and seeing the discolored spine, I began to consider keeping the book that I just acquired. As of right now, I am leaning in that direction. The condition of the two books is virtually identical, except for the wear to the edges of the boards and the appearance of the spines.

Neither book is worthy of having a jacket placed on it, but one book will hold that honor. Which one would you keep?

5 comments:

Paula said...

Yes, I would go with the one on the right also - less wear - although it is a tough call. It's really hard to find the "perfect" book isn't it?

Andy said...

I agree with Paula. I'd go with the book on the right.

Laura said...

I will go with both Andy and Paula and chime in another vote for the book on the right. (I absoutely love this TC cover. My copy of TC has the 'green' cover.)

Jennifer White said...

To update this, I expect that I will keep the book that I just purchased. For now, I am keeping both of them, since I have placed the one I just acquired in my book press to see if I can lessen the spine slant. My first printing dust jacket remains on the first book.

As always happens, the upgrade cost much less than the one I already had. Therefore, whenever I get around to selling the first book, it will most likely be priced according to what I paid for it.

Jennifer White said...

Another update: I just removed the second book from the book press, and the slant is much less than it was previously.

I spent five minutes carefully checking both books. The condition is so very close. The first book has more external wear. The binding seems a little less strong for the second book. Both have stains. I am going to keep the second book, only because externally, the book looks more like one that should have a dust jacket on it.