"Electronic books are a bad thing because they cannot be accumulated on shelves to remind you of your past, to impress your neighbors and colleagues, and to help prevent divorces thanks to the sheer bother of arguing over who owns what."
- J.P. Donleavy
The Ginger Man audio book read by J.P. Donleavy. To place an order, email me and I will put you in touch with distribution.
Authors
make their living primarily from royalties on the sale of new, in-print books,
and this site encourages those interested in the work of J.P. Donleavy to
purchase new books from bona-fide book dealers; however, when one wishes to
obtain titles that have gone out of print, there is no choice but to purchase
used copies.
Both new and used sources are given on this page with no endorsement of any
particular bookseller or dealer group. While intentional fraud and mislistings
are rare, care must be taken when transacting to ensure that you know which
edition you are getting, its condition (if used), shipping & payment details
and so forth. When contacting a seller, get as much specific information as
possible on the edition. Often important details such as condition of the
dust jacket, whether or not the edition is price clipped, and even which printing
the edition is may be omitted from a seller's listing.
A so-called
"first edition" that is a later printing is not as collectable as a first
printing and should not be priced as high. Also, know how true first editions,
limited editions, and first printings of new editions differ. For example,
the first true edition of The Ginger Man
is the Olympia Press ed., published in Paris in 1955. The Franklin Library
edition is a limited, signed edition, not a true first edition. The Delacorte
Press edition, NY 1965 is the first US and first hardcover unexpurgated edition,
and so on.
It's a simple fact
that copies of any book that are signed by the author are more valuable than
copies of that edition which are not signed. Forgeries of Donleavy signatures
do happen, and well-meaning book sellers may not know they are offering fakes.
Fortunately, Donleavy's signature has not varied much over the years and it's
not hard to identify. Click here for a sample of a genuine
JPD signature.
Compiled by K. Anthony Ward - Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. - June 1994 - ISBN 1859281281
Good source to identify true first editions. Contains JPD books.
by R.B. Russell - The Tartarus Press, UK - ISBN 1872621951
Contains JPD books.
Links to Purchase New, In-print US Edition Donleavy Books
Links to Purchase New, In-print UK Edition Donleavy Books
Links to Purchase Used & Out-of-Print Donleavy Books
ABE (Advanced Book Exchange)
Antibook.com
BookFinder.com
Powels Books
Bibliofind
The Matthew Handscombe Collection (The Compendium and others I know have had very favorable transactions purchasing collectible books from Matthew. He will send a current price list upon request)
Links to Book Pricing Comparison Searches
Links to Online Book Auctions
Helpful General Book Trade Links
Bookwire (a division of Bowker, Inc. who publishes the Books In Print directories)
Links to Primary Information on Book Collecting
A Primer on Book Collecting
Rare Books On the Web: a list of resources
This first edition (1955) paperback needed protection and its rarity demanded a fine leather box to house it. The box was, of course constructed of acid free binder's board and covered with vegetable tanned Nigerian goatskin then decorated with 23K gold. The inner case is lined with silk moire.
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