![[The] Silmarillion; book-collecting minutiae](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi7NXZeS-e6C3roxz2c7UWFEcUEINpMfgDkihMCeoVgjBGA-K9_wE7HmJ0J5LSIJqNm8fDVUqJ5HOvdvgIHgPctu9xPEx_CjPUqrXJEyd5Q-ftA4tlo6NhRx3V9JZl-IBbGvIvBQVjE9GFyKMqd_JrWwkLEqMMbhG2m3Q3FQuyhnjhlhdpebGxovD9adS1H=s456)
The Silmarillion — Clowes Intermediate Second State (1977)
 |
It is hoped the ‘intermediate’ tag given to this variant—a personal label of long-standing use—still serves its intended purpose: to convey the ‘in-between’ nature of this particular Clowes variant in the larger family of WILLIAM CLOWES & SONS printed copies of The Silmarillion. The Clowes Intermediate Second State is a marked ‘first impression’ with second state text; not to be confused with the Clowes First State (Paper Binding Variant), previously discussed here. In fact, the first collectable copy of The Silmarillion that I acquired and recorded (in 2002) is an example of the Clowes Intermediate Second State variant.
Variant (mis)identification.
[CLICK TO ENLARGE]
For the Clowes First State (Cloth Binding Variant) I provided the above description (in cataloguing style) of variant points. While I did not provide this detail for the Clowes First State (Paper Binding Variant), the description would have been identical, except with ‘paper-covered’ (for cloth-covered) boards. With the Clowes Intermediate Second State there are several points of difference.
Second state (text).
Paper-covered boards.
Top page-edge not dyed.
No headband.
 |
Regardless, if one accepts that errors were corrected—during printing (pre-publication)—over time, then clearly the presence of all first edition errors, cited by Hammond & Anderson, suggests the earliest textual state. This variant is not a textual first state, therefore claims of printing priority over any textual first state copy, by any printer, is problematic. Additionally, the implied destination market (non-UK)—which, again, is highly debatable based on jacket pricing only—now looks of questionable importance. In fact, this Clowes variant—with Ulmo italics error (p. 352) corrected, paper-covered boards, and un-dyed pages (and no headbands)—sits closer to the Clowes Book Club variant, rather than the Clowes First State.
See also:
One theory is that this variant is perhaps the real second impression, with the copyright-page marked ‘second impression’—the Clowes Second Impression variant—being the (non-existent) third impression (both copyright statements in error) i.e. an unmarked or “missing” impression. This would still require the non-cloth board covering and absence of other features to be explained. Another, perhaps more plausible, explanation, accounting for both the paper-covered boards and the unpriced jacket, is that the Clowes Intermediate Second State was for distribution and sale through book clubs.
 |
| Mock-up (FAKE) third impression copyright page |
The practise of distributing unaltered trade copies—as opposed to those carrying a book club imprint—to book clubs is clearly described by Hammond & Anderson, in Descriptive Bibliography, in respect to several later volumes of The History of Middle-earth. And while I do not believe this practise was allowed (under book club regulations) in 1977, when GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN (GA&U) was the publisher, it is still worth mentioning to illustrate the point. A point that seems to have been largely forgotten or overlooked.
In 1988, with The Return of the Shadow (A26a), UNWIN HYMAN (UH) distributed (or ‘sold’) trade copies—although possibly later impressions—‘without alteration’ to book clubs. In 1989, with The Treason of Isengard (A27a), UH distributed first impression trade copies to book clubs ‘except with no price printed on the dust-jacket[s]’; this practise continued into the 1990s with The War of the Ring (1990) and the HARPERCOLLINS published Sauron Defeated (1992).[†] These examples clearly show that books in unpriced jackets are not always export (non-UK distributed) copies; on the contrary, these books (in these examples) were for distribution within the UK via book clubs. This is worth noting.
In 1977, under book club regulations, trade copies—those bearing GA&U's binding, title-page, etc—could be distributed to book clubs under certain conditions; notably ‘in the exceptional cases where there proves to be an inadequate supply of such copies bearing the book club imprint’. This could be up to 20% of the original book club order.[1][‡] Could this provide an explanation for the Clowes Intermediate Second State variant? Hammond & Anderson's two statements, regarding ‘blocks of 50,000 copies’ and ‘75,000 for book club[s]’, might also be considered at this point.
It is plausible that BOOK CLUB ASSOCIATES' (BCA) order was initially for only 50,000 book club copies, to be printed by CLOWES; but as perceived demand (pre-orders) grew this was increased to 75,000, with the extra 25,000 print order given to UNWIN BROTHERS. Alternatively, BCA's order may, as Hammond & Anderson imply, have been 75,000 from the outset and the division of labour pre-planned. However, the latter seems unlikely given that the UNWIN BROTHERS book club impression is not a second state variant (as explained below).
Perhaps UNWIN BROTHERS were not in a position to supply copies in time to meet BCA's distribution requirements at publication and, to bridge the gap, trade copies were requested (urgently) under the regulations. CLOWES were in the position to provide these and proceeded to bind GA&U sheets in a manner similar to the—(in this hypothesis) already printed—BCA edition i.e. with paper-covered boards, no dyed page-edge, no headband. This could have been as many as 10,000 copies. This (or similar) is possible, but highly speculative. As stated previously, the rationale for the use of multiple printers for the printing of The Silmarillion, in 1977, was to mitigate against possible industrial action; whether this did or did not transpire, at for example UNWIN BROTHERS, is unclear.
 |
| Clowes Hybrid Book Club — BCA binding / GA&U sheets |
I have an interesting ‘hybrid’ GA&U/BCA example which I believe illustrates the degree of overlap in printing and binding processes taking place at this time. This ‘Clowes Hybrid Book Club’ copy (S.141) has GA&U sheets (second state text) but BCA paper-covered boards and a BCA jacket. Perhaps a quirk copy, but evidence that printing and casing-in, of both GA&U trade copies and BCA's book club copies, was likely being executed sequentially at CLOWES; standard thinking would presume book club (BCA) copies to have been ‘run on’.
It is also worth briefly mentioning at this point the status of the UNWIN BROTHERS printed BCA impression: the Unwin Brothers Book Club variant.[§] As mentioned previously (see end of Clowes Book Club post), CLOWES sent a file copy of The Silmarillion to BCA on 26th August 1977; the Ulmo (p. 352) error is corrected i.e. the text is second state. So, by late August CLOWES were printing—or beginning to print—second state (text) copies; this would include the Clowes Intermediate Second State. And while it is important to consider divergent printing timelines, in respect to textual variation and correction, between different printing sites, it is important to note that the Unwin Brothers Book Club variant exhibits further textual corrections and is in fact a third state (text) variant; it therefore likely postdates the printing of both Clowes Book Club and Clowes Intermediate Second State variants. This perhaps sheds a little more light on the complicated series of printing steps that took place at this time and reveals the more complicated reality behind Hammond & Anderson's 75,000 book club figure.
Returning to the topic (and variant) at hand, whether the printing and binding of the Clowes Intermediate Second State occurred after the Clowes Book Club variant, as I tentatively suggest, is unclear. The book club hypothesis (or version of) provides one explanation for why the Clowes Intermediate Second State variant might exist; a better explanation, I think, than it being another export variant, but one lacking several defining trade features. It is an inconvenient truth that distribution cannot be ascertained by jacket pricing only. As I have argued previously, while the topic of export books is an important one, unequivocal claims of export printing priority belie a more complicated, nuanced, and interesting printing story in the regard to The Silmarillion in 1977. For a lengthier discussion of printing priority, in respect to the three (identified) second state text variants, including the Clowes Intermediate Second State, see also Clowes Book Club.
 |
Is the Clowes Intermediate Second State a book club variant? Was it planned and intentional i.e. an issue, in the strictest bibliographical sense? Is it in any way useful to refer to it as an export copy? Possibly, no, and (in my opinion) no. For now, it is simply another variant to add to the growing list of variant copies printed and bound by WILLAM CLOWES & SONS.
NOTES:
† It is not immediately clear why book club regulations were not being adhered to at this date/time.
‡ One would, admittedly, expect to find this dilemma at publication or post-publication, not in the planned pre-publication stage of manufacturing of copies. The regulations clearly imply the use of already bound trade copies.
§ I will post a separate full write-up for the Unwin Brothers Book Club variant in due course.
REFERENCES:
1. THE MONOPOLIES AND MERGERS COMMISSION. Book Club Associates and Leisure Circle.
A Report on the merger situation. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, [Presented
to Parliament] January 1988, p. 57.
Also on SILMARILLION MINUTIAE
❆ Proof of Typesetting: Fรซanรกro[.] and Ulmo's Troublesome Italics 
.jpeg)
Comments
Post a Comment