The pencil mark on the end page is typical of secondary market booksellers. Many dealers have abandoned the practice. Some still do it. I only tried to erase it once. I botched the job. The pencil must have had a soft lead, and I just smeared it.Originally Posted by Rahfa
"One day you're going to figure out that everything they taught you was a lie."
Was that in the item I sold you, Brian? I often thought about erasing it but decided against it in the end.
The Regulators I just got had it also. Price and stock number plus something like "facsimile check signed by King" or some shit written under the check. I was able to erase all traces of it, as far as I can tell. Drives me nuts though. I think I'm swearing off Abes for a while, I've had more problems with Abes than with random eBay sellers, which is kind of the opposite of what I would expect.The pencil mark on the end page is typical of secondary market booksellers. Many dealers have abandoned the practice. Some still do it. I only tried to erase it once. I botched the job. The pencil must have had a soft lead, and I just smeared it.
ABE needs to mandate sellers start posting pictures
It's a good idea to write the seller. Ask for more information and pictures. Be specific.
If the seller actually has the book in hand he will be able to answer sufficiently.
Specify that you want the book wrapped, cushioned and boxed for shipment.
Save the original description and any communications to support your position in case of a dispute.
Now that I reread this, that goes for most book-buying situations with unknown sellers.
"One day you're going to figure out that everything they taught you was a lie."
A lot of antiquarian booksellers still mark pricesin the books with pencils. Usually a soft white eraser works best to remove the pencil marks.
Here's a page that provides more info on the subject:
How to erase pencil markings ?
The Regulators I just got had it also. Price and stock number plus something like "facsimile check signed by King" or some shit written under the check. I was able to erase all traces of it, as far as I can tell. Drives me nuts though. I think I'm swearing off Abes for a while, I've had more problems with Abes than with random eBay sellers, which is kind of the opposite of what I would expect.The pencil mark on the end page is typical of secondary market booksellers. Many dealers have abandoned the practice. Some still do it. I only tried to erase it once. I botched the job. The pencil must have had a soft lead, and I just smeared it.
The absence of a thing, this can be as deadly as the presence. The absence of air, eh?
The absence of water? The absence of anything else we're addicted to.
- Baron Vladimir Harkonnen
I don't get the hatred towards the pencil marks. My favorite bookstore marks their books with price and also the date the book was put on the shelf, and I find that to be useful information. If I walked into a bookstore and the books weren't marked, I would turn around and leave and probably never come back.
So you are saying you would be okay with multiple lines of pencil writing in a s/l The Stand?
No, no, no! This was long ago. It was on one of the first antiquarian books I collected that had a pencil marking. (They almost all do.) I think I used an eraser from a #2 pencil. The result was uglier than the original pencil mark. I went and bought an artist's set of erasers with varying kinds and did a decent job in removing the smudge. Since then I just leave the marks since they don't really bother me.
Also like Robert Fulman says they are usually informative. They often list the estimated sale price, dates, edition points, etc.. I had one book that I purchased as a 1st edition (again long ago) for $15. In pencil on the end page it read; $100, (next line) 1st edition, (next line) slrare. The last line ran together and was very faint in a different hand. I looked through the front of the book all the way to the first chapter and didn't find a limitation page. I didn't discover the limitation page at the end of the book until I had read the whole thing. The seller I purchased it from didn't know of the limitation page either. (Not a reader?) Yet the information was right there in pencil on the end paper.
I would prefer they were not there in that case. They would not devalue the book for me though.
"One day you're going to figure out that everything they taught you was a lie."
Potentially permanently marring a collectible book worth hundreds or thousands of dollars in order to know the price and date doesn't seem worth it, especially when that information could be recorded in another manner.
I would be interested in a better method. Are you aware of one?
"One day you're going to figure out that everything they taught you was a lie."
Easily kept in an organized excel spreadsheet or a simple databaseI would be interested in a better method. Are you aware of one?
I don't understand. I can see how that could help a collector. I can also see how that could help a secondary market bookseller with accounting and inventory.Easily kept in an organized excel spreadsheet or a simple databaseI would be interested in a better method. Are you aware of one?
How is a secondary market bookseller supposed to actually differentiate between a dozen similar books on a shelf by storing the data in a spreadsheet? The practice arose because there really isn't a better way to do it.
"One day you're going to figure out that everything they taught you was a lie."
A strip of paper inserted in the book.I would be interested in a better method. Are you aware of one?
Author of The Road to the Dark Tower, Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences and The Dark Tower Companion. Co-editor with Stephen King of the anthology Flight or Fright.
Write it on a piece of paper and stick it in the book. Write it on a sticker and stick it to the shelf in front of the book. Put the info in a printed binder and leave a few lying around the store. Stick a PC on a counter somewhere with an Excel document pulled up. Put a Brodart on the book and write it on the Brodart.I would be interested in a better method. Are you aware of one?
That works as long as the paper stays in place. A collector can get away with that I don't think a bookseller can successfully.A strip of paper inserted in the book.I would be interested in a better method. Are you aware of one?
"One day you're going to figure out that everything they taught you was a lie."
All good ideas. None of which actually identify the book.Write it on a piece of paper and stick it in the book. Write it on a sticker and stick it to the shelf in front of the book. Put the info in a printed binder and leave a few lying around the store. Stick a PC on a counter somewhere with an Excel document pulled up. Put a Brodart on the book and write it on the Brodart.I would be interested in a better method. Are you aware of one?
"One day you're going to figure out that everything they taught you was a lie."
If your dozen books are so similar that a single line of text in a spreadsheet can't be used to differentiate them, do you really need to be able to differentiate between them?I don't understand. I can see how that could help a collector. I can also see how that could help a secondary market bookseller with accounting and inventory.Easily kept in an organized excel spreadsheet or a simple databaseI would be interested in a better method. Are you aware of one?
How is a secondary market bookseller supposed to actually differentiate between a dozen similar books on a shelf by storing the data in a spreadsheet? The practice arose because there really isn't a better way to do it.
And the problems I've had are specifically with numbered editions. What's the justification for writing in those?
If you go to a book fair you would realize that it doesn't work. The dozen books are moved about, opened, perused, dustjackets are removed, etc..If your dozen books are so similar that a single line of text in a spreadsheet can't be used to differentiate them, do you really need to be able to differentiate between them?I don't understand. I can see how that could help a collector. I can also see how that could help a secondary market bookseller with accounting and inventory.Easily kept in an organized excel spreadsheet or a simple databaseI would be interested in a better method. Are you aware of one?
How is a secondary market bookseller supposed to actually differentiate between a dozen similar books on a shelf by storing the data in a spreadsheet? The practice arose because there really isn't a better way to do it.
And the problems I've had are specifically with numbered editions. What's the justification for writing in those?
David at Bett's can operate the way you suggest. Many dealer's can't make that work. Newer dealers might well abandon the practice. I don't see old school dealers doing so.
An anecdote: A dealer had several copies of the same book. One with a signed bookplate loosely laid in. A customer at the book fair opened the book, noticed the loose bookplate and let it fall out onto his stack of books. He picked up his books and walked away. The seller being suspicious looked at the book. It contained no bookplate. He confirmed his note on the end paper that said w/signed bookplate. He was able to get to the exit, explain to security, and recover his bookplate.
"One day you're going to figure out that everything they taught you was a lie."
I certainly admit I haven't been to a book fair lately. But if the dozen books are all identical or nearly so, what difference does it make? And, again, why write in a numbered book? People are regularly pulling DJs off collectible books and then leaving the DJ lying around?If you go to a book fair you would realize that it doesn't work. The dozen books are moved about, opened, perused, dustjackets are removed, etc..If your dozen books are so similar that a single line of text in a spreadsheet can't be used to differentiate them, do you really need to be able to differentiate between them?I don't understand. I can see how that could help a collector. I can also see how that could help a secondary market bookseller with accounting and inventory.Easily kept in an organized excel spreadsheet or a simple databaseI would be interested in a better method. Are you aware of one?
How is a secondary market bookseller supposed to actually differentiate between a dozen similar books on a shelf by storing the data in a spreadsheet? The practice arose because there really isn't a better way to do it.
And the problems I've had are specifically with numbered editions. What's the justification for writing in those?
David at Bett's can operate the way you suggest. Many dealer's can't make that work. Newer dealers might well abandon the practice. I don't see old school dealers doing so.
Still not really seeing the need to write in any book, let alone thousand dollar numbered editions. Most of the bookstores I've been to that I can recall have anything $300+ or so behind a counter or in a locked glass cabinet anyway. Any of the above suggestions would work perfectly for them, yet they still scribble all over their books, some of them permanently marring them in the process.
Presumably, any book that costs thousands wouldn't be out on a shelf for a customer to pick up and look at, so it wouldn't matter to me if anything was written inside The Stand. For something like that, I would agree that writing in the book is likely unnecessary. However, if I saw a copy of The Stand with writing in it, I wouldn't consider it damaged or less valuable unless it was impossible to erase.
Going back to why any book would require any writing, how do you suggest they indicate the prices? Price stickers that are easy to remove are easy to swap. Price stickers that are difficult to remove will damage the dust jacket. This is such a common practice and has been going on for so long that I think it's funny that people get so upset. Many sellers on Abebooks have (or used to have) physical bookstores, so it makes sense that their books would also have pencil marks in them. When I buy books with marks, I leave them as they are because I honestly do not care and do not think it detracts from value (again, unless it causes actual damage).
I'm the same way. So many of the books I perused and bought from actual antiquarian bookstores had those pencil prices on the fist blank page. SOP. Doesn't bother me at all.
Same here. I think they are great. I usually take a fine point sharpie and trace over them so they are easier to read.
Pos rep for that one lolSame here. I think they are great. I usually take a fine point sharpie and trace over them so they are easier to read.
So you don't erase them?
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