The First Edition (S.001): Book-List(s) and Cataloguing

In early 2001 I began recording books—those that I regarded as ‘collectable’—in a book-list; this, after years of simply collecting, but not recording. Rather perversely, I then went back and also created a pre-2001 book-list, where I retrospectively recorded books that... I hadn't previously recorded. 

This primary book-list is purely perfunctory: title, author, basic edition details; date of acquisition, price paid, and (book)seller. It is a simple chronological list; I'm guessing other book-collectors (might) do something similar. This basic format has remained, for the most part, unchanged (to date), although I do tend to record more bibliographical detail than is really necessary to identify a particular book (amongst my own books). I occasionally amend previous entries—recording further points of difference—when a second copy of a book is later acquired.

HarperCollins 1994 Pb

After about a year of list compiling I acquired my first collectable copy of The Silmarillion; previous to this I had several early HARPERCOLLINS paperback editions—my original 1994 reading-copy has since been cannibalised for a bookbinding project—but no hardback(s). For The Silmarillion this basic level of recording soon became quite inadequate; the bibliographical information noted would become progressively more detailed as more copies were acquired.

S.001

This first collectable copy (S.001) is currently recorded thus:

THE SILMARILLION 

(GA&U-Clowes 1977 Hb 1^st imp./ Paper boards) [Sunned sp.]

Of course, this doesn't record every single point. It doesn't need to. This is enough information—recorded in my primary book-list—to differentiate this from all other 1977 copies that I have. This copy was bought in 2002 from PEND BOOKS (of Whithorn) for £7. An unremarkable copy.

Although not stated, this is an example of what I refer to as the Clowes Intermediate Second State variant. The square bracket comment is one of the rare instances of condition being noted, only because an ‘upgrade’ copy was later acquired; a true duplicate in the collection, both copies being otherwise (bibliographically) identical. I've also experimented with devising a bibliographical code for each variant, but I'm not entirely convinced of the usefulness of this to me or anyone else.

I spend an unhealthy amount of time—like most book-collectors (I'd guess)—looking at other lists: booksellers' lists. Booksellers' catalogue/online listings are mostly formulaic, some idiosyncratic and more interesting; many harbour the paraphernalia of bibliographical description, some abbreviate to the point of being practically incomprehensible. Accurate and informative would be a good start; the best are amusing and entertaining. I'd suggest a bit of a dying art if ABEBOOKS (or similar) is your go-to book buying market. 

This is in no way an attempt to resurrect said art—this is for a different purpose, I'm not selling—but what might an imagined catalogue entry for S.001 look like?

TOLKIEN, J[OHN] R[ONALD] R[EUEL]. THE SILMARILLION. Edited by Christopher Tolkien [with the assistance of Guy Gavriel Kay]. George Allen & Unwin, London, 1977. First edition, first impression. ISBN 0 04 823139 8. Printed by William Clowes & Sons, 11 on 12 point Imprint type. Second state (text), Fëanor (p. 330) error present, Ulmo (p. 352) corrected. Octavo (size) hardback, pp. [1–2] 3–365 [366–368]. Case-binding, blue paper-covered boards, (top page-edge not dyed, no headband). Realms map p. [120+2] verso ([120+1] recto blank), foldout Beleriand map affixed to recto r.f.e.p. Unpriced dustjacket.

Possibly something like this? Accurate, perhaps a bit idiosyncratic; not funny. I've contemplated doing this for every single 1977 copy of The Silmarillion I have, but I'm not sure if I have the stamina or motivation to do so; I'd possibly be in danger of boring even myself. 

For previous discussion of the (very real) ‘imagined catalogue’ see Bibliographical Terminology: Excerpt from an Imagined Catalogue .