Jackets Required
Reading Too: A Guide
to Identifying Fake
Dustjackets by Jessica
Mulley of The Virtual
Bookshelf
First editions, in fine condition, of modern
classics such as F Scott
Fitzgerald's The Great
Gatsby (New York, 1925)
or Dashiell Hammett's
The Maltese Falcon (New
York/London, 1930) can
sell for tens of thousands
of pounds. Some
collected books rarely
appear on the market
in genuinely fine condition
and, when they do, the
premium will be significant.
The level of that
premium will be determined,
almost entirely, on
condition. A small nick
on a single page can
have a startling affect
on value - reducing
the price that collectors
are prepared to pay
by as much as half.
The absence of
an original dust jacket
however can have an
even greater effect,
knocking as much as
95 per cent off the
value of the book. For
instance, in Guide to
First Edition Prices,
R B Russell estimates
a jacketed first edition
of The Maltese Falcon
at £15,000. The
same book, in the same
condition, but without
a dust jacket is valued
at £500. The celebrated
book collectors, Allen
and Patricia Ahearn,
quote the rule of the
thumb that the absence
of a dust jacket on
fiction firsts from
the early part of the
20th century reduces
the value by 75 per
cent. More recent
fiction firsts can generally
be considered almost
without value to the
collector unless in
a pristine dust jacket.
Reputable
booksellers from time
to time fit jacketless
books with facsimiles
for genuine and legitimate
reasons. Although
such copies have no
collectable value, they
do serve a practical
purpose in much the
same way as the original
jacket would have done
- enhancing the appearance
of the book, protecting
it from dust and damage
and possibility increasing
its saleability: some
collectors may prefer
to have a facsimile
unless and until they
have the opportunity
and the means to acquire
the real thing. Reputable
booksellers will of
course identify facsimiles
as such. Here at the
Virtual Bookshelf, when
fitting facsimile dust
jackets, we print "facsimile
dust jacket fitted by
The Virtual Bookshelf"
followed by the year
on underside of each
one and place a small
label with the same
message on the inside
front flap. Even
so, we check with every
potential buyer that
they are aware that
the jacket is a reproduction.
Other reputable
dealers will have similar
practices.
Given
the dramatic difference
between the prices that
can be realised for
collectable books with
their original dust
jacket and those without,
it is unsurprising that
some unscrupulous individuals
will fit fake dust jackets
and attempt to pass
them off as genuine.
Equally, it possible
that an honest but inexperienced
dealer may legitimately
acquire a first edition
which has been fitted
with a facsimile but
may fail to spot it
and hence sell it on
as the genuine article.
However the misrepresentation
has come about, the
wise book collector
will want to determine
the status of the dust
jacket before making
a significant purchase.
The
first step should be
a visual inspection
of the jacket. Carefully
remove the jacket from
the book and remove
any protective sleeve
that may have been fitted.
Examine the underside
closely. A dust jacket
that is 50 or more years
old is unlikely to be
uniformly bright. While
looking at the underside,
inspect the spine area
and edges in particular.
Even a few handlings
can cause uneven folds
or creasing around the
spine which can be emphasised
by long-term shelving.
If the underside looks
fresh and crisp or the
jacket resists curving
over the spine you may
be looking at a fake.
Next,
inspect the printed
surface of the jacket.
Look for any apparent
creases, chips or tears.
Gently and lightly
run a very clean finger
over the affected area.
On an original
jacket you will be able
to feel any imperfections
in the paper. On a fake,
although the impression
of any damage is likely
to have been reproduced,
the finish is likely
to be smooth. Similarly,
examine the outer side
for any apparent printing
flaws, again running
a clean, dry finger
over the area. Most
printing flaws have
one of three causes
- an imperfection in
the original paper,
a variation in the amount
of ink applied to a
particular area or a
foreign body coming
between the roller and
the paper. In each of
these three circumstances
you should be able to
feel the imperfection
as well as see it if
the dust jacket is an
original.
Few
books will survive the
shelving and re-shelving
that takes place over
the years without suffering
any indentations to
the edges of the jacket,
particularly on the
lower edge and at the
head of the spine, so
pay particular attention
to these areas. Perfection
should be questioned.
Exercise particular
caution if the jacket
appears slightly smaller
than the book itself
as some disreputable
sellers will cut down
the edges on fakes to
remove the reproduced
flaws.
The
next step is to look
at the book itself.
Does it look like a
volume that has been
protected by a jacket
for much of its life?
Fading to a cloth
spine, or soiled or
stained boards suggest
that the book has been
exposed, especially
if there are no markings
consistent with such
flaws on the jacket
itself. Pay careful
attention to the upper
text block edge. Is
it dusty, or dirty,
or faded? One
might expect the upper
edges of the inside
of the dust jacket to
be similarly affected
if the two have always
been together. Then
look at the ends of
the spine of the book.
If the spine tips
are rubbed or bumped,
it is unlikely that
spine tips of the dust
jacket would be perfect.
Inconsistencies
between the condition
of the book and the
jacket should never
be taken as conclusive
proof of a fake jacket:
it may be a genuine
jacket from another
copy. It is nevertheless
a useful indicator.
It
is also worth comparing
the colouring of the
dust jacket to a known
original, if one is
available. Even
the best operators,
using professional,
well-calibrated scanners,
have difficultly in
matching colours precisely
and in some cases the
precise ink colours
are no longer available.
Colour copies,
effectively photographs,
are harder to spot through
visual comparisons.
On
occasion a little research
can help. The first
step is to ascertain
whether the first edition
in question was actually
issued with a dust jacket.
Experts argue
over the precise date
of the earliest jackets
but they are known to
have been used as far
back as the1830. Very
few books however were
issued with dust jackets
in the 19th century
and surviving examples
are extremely rare.
Dust jackets were
briefly popular in the
first decade of the
20th century but the
austerity brought on
by the first world war
made them impractical.
Dust jackets did
not become commonplace
until the inter-war
years.
It
is also worth checking
any relevant points
of issue against a reliable
reference work. Author
bibliographies (usually
available from your
local library or through
the inter-library loan
scheme) often give details
of original dust jackets
as well as the volume
itself. For the most
collectable books a
general reference work
such as the Ahearns'
Collected Books may
suffice. Returning
to the example of Fitzgerald's
The Great Gatsby, we
learn from Collected
Books that a first state
dust jacket should carry
a lower case 'j' in
'jay Gatsby' on the
14th line of the blurb
but that on most copies
the printer's error
has been hand-corrected
or over-stamped with
a capital 'J'. Such
alterations should be
easy to see and feel
on an original but probably
only seen on a fake.
Of course, if
there's no lower case
'j', you are not looking
at a first state jacket
at all.
If,
after all your inspections
and research - and careful
quizzing of the seller
- you still have doubts,
splash out a tenner
or so on a hand-held
microscope. 30x
magnification is more
than enough. Modern
day printing tends to
shoot - or 'jet'- ink
onto paper. Solid areas
of 'jetted' ink appear
relatively uniform under
the microscope. In
contrast, the majority
of dust jackets from
the early part of the
20th century will have
be produced by offset
lithography which involves
pressing the ink onto
the surface of the paper,
using a certain amount
of pressure. As
a result the ink is
pushed to the edges
of the colour area where
it gathers more thickly.
Single colour areas
printed by offset lithography
therefore appear to
have more strongly defined
edges than those produced
digitally. Similarly
the heavier patches
of ink at the edges
are less pronounced
on later colour copies.
Take a few moments to
examine some older jackets
at home and compare
them to modern digital
printing and you'll
soon get the hang of
it.
|