Edwin Porter's 1st edition destroyed, NOT
Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2016 1:54 pm
Being one of those whacky bibliophiles, I have made it my business to know the book world and its inner workings, which includes the circulation, existence, and sale of Porter's book over the years.
Of course it was Frank Spiering who spread the very popular rumor that there were only 3 copies of Porter's book in existence, knowing full well that there was not. But old Franky boy knew how to spin a tale and make fools of us all by repeating to the world how rare Edwin Porter's, The Fall River Tragedy, was........which it is not.
The term scarce and rare are not interchangeable when describing books. A scarce book is one which is difficult to find, but which may come up for sale once or twice a year. A rare book may been seen for sale every 5, 10, or 15 years, plus.
Thus, Edwin Porters book of 1893 is indeed scarce but not rare. Right now I know of 3 copies on the market for sale. And as many of you heard me say many, many times in the past, I have handled about a dozen of them and have seen another 20 for sale over time. I have one and my girlfriend had 3 of them at one time.
Uncertain where the original story started about Lizzie purchasing all the books and destroying them. It very well may be true. She could have paid off Porter and purchased all the unsold copies for herself and destroyed them. But not until countless copies were sold. And if true, I am certain that Porter would have had his own private stockpile, to mention nothing of the publisher himself.
So, they are out there. It is not a rare book. It is scarce. But scarce enough to be desirable and pricey.
Below is still another copy which just came up for bid on eBay. Not in the greatest shape, but most of them are not.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/262329793327?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT
Of course it was Frank Spiering who spread the very popular rumor that there were only 3 copies of Porter's book in existence, knowing full well that there was not. But old Franky boy knew how to spin a tale and make fools of us all by repeating to the world how rare Edwin Porter's, The Fall River Tragedy, was........which it is not.
The term scarce and rare are not interchangeable when describing books. A scarce book is one which is difficult to find, but which may come up for sale once or twice a year. A rare book may been seen for sale every 5, 10, or 15 years, plus.
Thus, Edwin Porters book of 1893 is indeed scarce but not rare. Right now I know of 3 copies on the market for sale. And as many of you heard me say many, many times in the past, I have handled about a dozen of them and have seen another 20 for sale over time. I have one and my girlfriend had 3 of them at one time.
Uncertain where the original story started about Lizzie purchasing all the books and destroying them. It very well may be true. She could have paid off Porter and purchased all the unsold copies for herself and destroyed them. But not until countless copies were sold. And if true, I am certain that Porter would have had his own private stockpile, to mention nothing of the publisher himself.
So, they are out there. It is not a rare book. It is scarce. But scarce enough to be desirable and pricey.
Below is still another copy which just came up for bid on eBay. Not in the greatest shape, but most of them are not.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/262329793327?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT