Collecting FAQs

The following listing comes from one of our society member book dealers, Paul Schildgen, of Yesterday’s Memories:

BOOK CONDITION GUIDE

So you want to sell or buy some books and are not sure of what the various grades mean? Here is a paraphrase of the A. B. Bookmans Grading guide, developed in 1949 and in general use by booksellers today.

As New: As it comes from the publisher. No defects, no markings, no library stamps, etc. Dust jacket if one was issued must be immaculate.

Fine: approaches As New but not crisp. Again no defects, markings, etc. If dust jacket has any minor damage it must be noted.

Very Good: A used book that shows small signs of wear, but no tears of either binding or paper. Any defects must be noted.

Good: The average used and worn book, with all pages and leaves present. Any defects must be noted.

Fair: A worn book that has complete text pages including any maps or plates, but may lack endpapers, half title, etc.

Often the terms nearly except or else appear in an attempt to further define the book’s condition. While these terms serve that purpose, the condition of the book is still the next lower level.

Zane Grey’s main publisher, Harper’s, began using code letters to indicate when an edition was published in 1912. These code letters were located on the copyright page and can be used to determine the true first edition. Sometime around 1920, Harper started using the indication “First Edition” also. As you look at the listings of Zane Grey’s writings on other pages of this website, you will see the codes listed for the true first edition. Use the following table to decipher these codes.

Table of Harper’s First Edition Codes

	Months
	A	January	G	July
	B	February	H	August
	C	March	I	September
	D	April	J	October
	E	May	K	November
	F	June	L	December

	Years
	M	1912	Z	1925	N	1938
	N	1913	A	1926	O	1939
	O	1914	B	1927	P	1940
	P	1915	C	1928	Q	1941
	Q	1916	D	1929	R	1942
	R	1917	E	1930	S	1943
	S	1918	F	1931	T	1944
	T	1919	G	1932	U	1945
	U	1920	H	1933	V	1946
	V	1921	I	1934	W	1947
	W	1922	K	1935	X	1948
	X	1923	L	1936	Y	1949
	Y	1924	M	1937

A blindstamp is the indented mark you see on the back cover, lower right corner of a book to indicate it is either a book club edition (most often) or by a particular publisher. It may vary from an indented “dot” (book club) to an impressed copy of the publisher’s logo. Regardless of which purpose that is what is known as a blindstamp.

Walter Black Publishing House of Roslyn, NY, published 75 of Zane Grey’s titles in the late 50’s and 60’s. Apparently, millions of copies of these were printed and distributed. They are very noticeable in their red and tan book bindings. Most have little value, but there are several that are worth quite a bit. These editions make great reading copies.

For more detailed information on these books and a list of titles, go to our All Writings page and select Walter J Black Series from the drop down menu.

There are many different movie collectibles available, most notably several different styles of posters. Some of the more common are:

• One sheet movie posters — 27″ by 41″ — most sought after
• One half-sheet posters — 22″ by 28″
• Insert posters — 14″ by 36″
• Lobby cards — 11″ by 14″ — normally released in a series of 8 different cards

Over 100 movies have been made from the many books written by Zane Grey, beginning in the teens with silent movies to the last one made in the 1990’s, Riders of the Purple Sage, starring Ed Harris and Amy Madigan.

Some of the most famous actors and actresses in Hollywood starred in these movies. These individuals read like a who’s who of Hollywood, including John Wayne, George Montgomery, Jack Holt, Tim Holt, Randolph Scott, Buster Crabbe, George O’Brien, Tom Mix, Roy Rogers, Barbara Stanwyck, Sally Blane, Shirley Temple, Richard Arlen, Richard Dix, Marsha Hunt, and many others.

To view the movies made from Zane Grey’s novels, go to our All Writings page and select Movies.

Dust jackets can increase the value of a Zane Grey book by several times. In fact, without a dust jacket, most reprints are considered to be reading copies. First Editions with dust jackets are becoming so rare that they are commanding better value while a First Edition without a dust jacket is considered fairly common. Dust jackets, in good shape, are very important to the value of a Zane Grey book.

The Walter J. Black Editions were reprints of seventy-three of Zane Grey’s titles with one additional title appearing as a First Edition. Most of these books have little value, but the last thirteen in the list below are substantially rarer and can command higher values.

Visit our WJB Series page for additional info!

Most first editions Zane Grey books were published by Harper’s. While there were a few books first published by other publishing houses, most were from Harper’s. Therefore, if you have a Zane Grey book published by someone else, chances are that it is not a first edition and is a reprint. Look under the Writings page of this website to determine who the publisher of the first edition was.

NOTE:
If you are collecting and are looking at books on Ebay, you might notice multiple listings where the seller claims that the Grosset & Dunlap book they are selling is a first edition. WRONG! There is one title printed by G&D that is a first edition – The Red Headed Outfield. However, G&D printed so many editions of this, while it is easy to find a G&D copy of this book, it’s rare to find the actual first edition. But, most of the titles shown on Ebay as a first edition G&D are other titles:

G&D Titles marked First Editions (but really aren’t):
Nevada
The Drift Fence
The Hash Knife Outfit
The Thundering Herd
Under the Tonto Rim

What happened on these titles is that G&D made a deal with Harpers to reprint the Harpers title. As part of that deal, G&D used the exact same printing plates as Harpers except for the title page. That included the page with Copyrights. That page in some instances said “First Edition”. So, the above G&D titles say “First Edition” on the copyright page, but they aren’t truly first editions – the Harpers printing is the first edition. While these particular G&D titles will command somewhat higher prices as they are G&D first printings, they aren’t as valuable as the true Harpers First Edition. BUYER BEWARE!

There are multiple resources to help you determine the true First Edition of a particular title. To access these resources, please visit the Writings page and click on the following: First Editions, Reference, and Harper’s First Edition Codes.

Values of Zane Grey books are difficult to determine. As with any collectible, the value is often in the eye of the beholder. First Editions with dust jackets can command prices up to several hundred dollars. Without dust jackets, most first editions are worth substantially less. We’ve seen many firsts without jackets go for $10 to $20. However, reprints with dust jackets will typically go for less than $20. Reprints without dust jackets have practically no value – they are probably only reading copies. For a better determination of the value of a specific book that you might have, here are a couple of suggestions. First, check check some of the online used books sites such as ebay.com or abebooks.com. Second, check with a reputable used book dealer or one of the auction houses such as Heritage Auctions.

As always, the condition of the collectible plays a major role in the value – the better the condition the book is in, the higher value it will have. This is especially true for dust jackets.

Dust jackets can increase the value of a Zane Grey book by several times. In fact, without a dust jacket, most reprints are considered to be reading copies. First Editions with dust jackets are becoming so rare that they are commanding better value while a First Edition without a dust jacket is considered fairly common.

Also, there are exceptions to the rule, so in order to gain the best information you can on your particular book, please take a look at the online used book sites or contact a reputable dealer.

To determine if your book is a first edition, visit The Writings page and click on First Editions from the selections.