If one can't have the first printing of The Secret of the Old Clock in dust jacket, what would be the next best thing? Why, the second printing in dust jacket, of course! I am fortunate to have the second printing of Old Clock in dust jacket. Actually, it is the second printing dust jacket that is mated with a third printing book that is water-damaged. Since the dust jacket has no evidence of moisture exposure, I suspect that the mismatch was done rather recently, possibly by the collector who sold it to me.
The dust jacket is the important part, so I am not that concerned with the fact that the book is the third printing or that the book is water-damaged. Someday I'm going to have to find a second printing book to mate with the jacket. Since I do own a first printing book, lacking a dust jacket, it is not a pressing issue to upgrade this one from a third printing book to a second printing book.
I also have the second printing dust jacket of The Bungalow Mystery.
This dust jacket has a lot of tape on the spine, and as I recall, when I purchased it, I was not able to place the jacket in a mylar cover. Since the taping was done very badly with the dust jacket bunched up and overlapping, I could not flatten it to place in a mylar cover. Therefore, I had to carefully snip and tear the tape, bit by bit, so that I could pull it apart. I cannot remember how long it took, but it was a painstaking and scary process to do on a Nancy Drew dust jacket that lists only four titles.
I am not willing to pay more than around $500.00 for a book, regardless of how scarce it is. I was able to purchase both of these books for a little more than $300.00 each. They have a lot of wear, but I feel like I got them for a good price. For these early printing dust jackets, it is more important for me to get one at a reasonable price than to have one that is close to perfect. There is something very special about having a dust jacket that lists only three or four titles on the front flap.
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