Some "Classics
Illustrated" navigating information:
The system used to identify specific
issues (editions) of "Classics" is the "HRN" or "Highest
Reorder Number", which
is taken from the reorder list ad usually found
on the back cover. Thus a #40 with a reorder list
that goes up to 62, is identified as
#40(62). A 1st edition of this title is
noted as #40(O). The "(O)" stands for
"Original", 1st editions are also referred to as "Originals".
Identifying a
first edition is the most often asked question.
For titles #1- #80 a 1st edition must have a cover price of 10¢ printed
on the cover. The 10¢ price is either
totally omitted or changed to 15¢ on
reprints. The second part of the
identification of a 1st edition would be the
presence of a coming next ad inside the book or on the back cover. If
both of these criteria are met you've got a
1st edition. For titles #81~#167 the cover price
of 15¢ (or 25¢) is printed on all editions so you need to look for the coming next ad
inside. If your book has one then it's a 1st
edition. #168 has only one edition and #169 has
two, neither of which has a coming next ad. The
HRN (166) is the 1st edition. These are the only two 1st
editions with a 25¢ price.
The
HRN is the most accurate
way to approximate publication
date. We can assume a book was published
sometime around the HRN of that book. The LAST title on the
list. Next, one
needs to find out the 1st edition's publication
date of that HRN's title, that is the approximate
publication date for that particular reprint edition. So
you see, going by the dates inside many reprints
can be very misleading. Many reprint editions
still have the publication date from the first
edition, and the reprint may have been published 15-20 years later. This can be a big difference in scarcity and
value..
Some of the
earlier numbers have as many as 25
editions. So
you can see how essential the HRN identification
is. The system breaks down with HRN 167, since
that was the "Highest Reorder Number" for seven
years worth of reprints, until #168 was published
and all new reorder lists then went down to
166. I guess it had something to do with the
title #167... "Faust". Anyway one needs
to also list the date from inside of the
book when listing a book with HRN 167, in order
to correctly identify editions. If no date is listed then note
that as well.
The HRN system may
seem a little complex at first, but if you just
work with it a little it's well worth the effort.
I've assembled
here for you a wonderful assortment of titles of
all grades and prices. This hobby provides
enormous pleasure & enjoyment for collectors
of any economic strata and every level of
interest, from the rare and expensive early
1940's first editions to the very
affordable late 1960's reprints. Each
edition standing on it's own, as a
collectible, from a time that is no longer
and can never be again.
enjoy,
......rudy
read
Dan Malan's explanation of editions here
[ another
excerpt from "The Complete Guide to Classics
Illustrated" ]
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