Who else collects more than one copy of 'special' books?

I have several books that I found extremely hard to find here in NZ, so when I was looking I often ended up buying spares - for some 'just in case' situation.

I have multiple copies of:

The Chronicles of Kencyrath by PC Hodgell

A Wind in Cairo by Judith Tarr (this was the book that started it all)

Grey Mane of Morning by Joy Chant

The Secret Country books by Pamela Dean

The Phoenix Legacy trilogy by MK Wren

In the end, I decided to have spares of these hard to find books in case I came across someone else who had struggled, maybe I could help out and generate some good karma :)

What books do you have multiples of and why?

I have multiples of some Robin McKinley books and some Diane Duane books because I read the originals so much that either they did or were going to fall apart (but I haven't thrown out my originals!).

I have duplicates of most of my John Scalzi books because all of my hardback and trade paperback copies are signed, so I got mass market copies for everyday reading (and if I feel like lending them out to anyone, although that is generally a mistake if I ever want to get them back *sigh*).

I don't keep duplicates myself but we do have some if my kids need a copy for their own collections. For example we have 3 complete sets of the Harry Potter books - mine, and one for each of them. My husband has a few duplicates among his car books. He insists he needs them but I'm not sure why.

I really only collect multiple copies of books in different languages. I have the third Lord of the Rings book in French as well as other books such as Notre Dame de Paris and The Phantom of the Opera. I have the English editions of those books too. I also have multiple copies of are some of the Harry Potter books. I have all the books in American, books 1, 6, and 7 in English, and books 1-4 in French.

I keep multiple copies of Raymond Feist's Magician and Frank Herberts's Dune (touchstone not working). Usually fine hardback copies and paperback reading copies.

I have duplicates of most of my books, I buy them HB for my collection and then PB to read.

The only duplicates I have are mistakes; books I bought in charity shops, forgetting I already owned the title in question.

I collect copies of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. I'm not a big collector. I usually get pre-owned copies, mostly paperbacks from the 70s or 80s.

I also keep a couple of spares for The Outsiders because I like lending it out.

Now these folks are collectors! http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/collecting/collectors/collectors.htm

I collect different editions of favorite authors for the cover art. And I used to be a huge Star Wars fan in my teens (my teens were in the 80's by the way) and I could never pass up a copy of The Empire Strikes Back if it was in the bargain bin. :) I felt like I was "rescuing" the book.

I have paperback and hardbacks of all my favorite books. Sometimes the paperbacks get a little worn from lending them out, so often I'll get a new paperback but I can't get rid of the old paperback. If I ever see any of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time books on a bargain table, I feel compelled to buy them as well.

I have bought the first four Dark Tower books again because they have new forewords etc by Stephen King and new covers. I also have the old edition of The Stand and the unabridged copy which I read together so I could pick out all the new bits properly.

I have three copies of Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons because I liked the artwork.

I often replace favourites that are getting worn out but I still keep the worn out copy.

I tend to buy the hard book copies of my favorite authors even though I initially bought the PB to read. The HBs are displayed on the "good bookcases" where house guests have access to them, while the PBs tend to end up in media boxes or on shelving in the closets.

I also will buy the same book in a different language as a way to keep in practice or improve my skill in reading other languages.

And, yes I have to admit there have been a few times when I bought the same book twice, which is why I'm now trying to catalog my entire collection (book, e-book, and audio) so I don't have duplicates I don't need or want.

I tend to buy the hard book copies of my favorite authors even though I initially bought the PB to read. The HBs are displayed on the "good bookcases" where house guests have access to them, while the PBs tend to end up in media boxes or on shelving in the closets.

I also will buy the same book in a different language as a way to keep in practice or improve my skill in reading other languages.

And, yes I have to admit there have been a few times when I bought the same book twice, which is why I'm now trying to catalog my entire collection (book, e-book, and audio) so I don't have duplicates I don't need or want.

I have 4 copies of Lord of the Rings and 3 copies of The Hobbit. I have boxed sets, paperbacks (reading copies), and hardcovers. I bought the hardcover set with Alan Lee's artwork. Like Kassyunne, I sometimes buy a book, get it home, and discover another copy. Thank heavens for Librarything that tells me I have a duplicate copy while I still have the sales receipt and can return it!

I too buy the hard copies for..well, for what I don't really know. But I read the soft cover books while the others looks all prettiful.
I have "special" copies of all the Harry Potter books, Eragon and Eldest as well as box sets of Lord of the Rings. I will be working my way to "special" copies of the Outlander series next.

I have two copies of Lord of the Rings (mine and my husband's, technically), and two of The Curse of Chalion - I got the second one because I liked the cover illustration so much better, but it's a trade PB, so I can't give up my hardcover, either.

And I have both US and French editions of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

I've got an old boxed set of Narnia books and a one volume omnibus, two separate trade sets of the Lord of the Rings, one with slip covers and the other with pull out maps, and a hard-cover library-bound paperback sized copy of Silverthorn as well as the regular paperback. The later amused me particularly, as my paperback is in awful shape, but I didn't want it to be the only volume in hardcover.

I've got a bunch of Tolkien stuff in Swedish as well as in English, which isn't that strange. I got both the old and the new translation of Lord of the Rings, so those are in triplicate.

The most annoying duplicates must be Ray Bradbury - The Silver Locusts / The Martian Chronicles, and Anne McCaffrey - Dragonseye / Red Star Rising.

The same books, but with different titles...

bitter_ suite can you read French? At least I know I'm not alone in buying books in foreign languages for a favorite author. Since I do have several foreign language copies for Stephen King as I mentioned previously in another post sometime ago. I can't read a word of any of the foreign langauges with the exception of couse for the British versions. I would like to get copies of his books in every foreign langauge he has been printed in. I too have mutliple copies of THE HOBBIT , LOTR , EMMA , WUTHERING HEIGHTS , hey there must be something wrong with the touchtones because whenever I put in LOTR in comes back and says Dork Tower LOTR Special Dork Tower I'm not familiar with that one. I also have mutliple copies of Anne Rice's Interview With The Vampire Queen Of The Damned, The Vampire Lestat, Violin one copy is taller than the other, T. H. White's The Once And Future King ,
I have multiple copies of almost every Stephen King book that includes both Paper back and Hard back. Ruth Rendell Agatha Christie's N Or M ,
The Myster Of The Blue Train , Murder On The Orient Express , and that doesn't even count some Autograhed Copies of books I own. I bought two coies of Anne Rice's The Witching Hour one was Signed and the other one is for reading. This also goes for Stephen King too. I also collect Tabitha King and own several different copies and different heights too no less of The Trap , Playing Like A GIRL hey the touchtone for Playing Like A Girl came out in red, what's up with that? I own too many other
books to list here without first looking up to see what other books I have multiple for at home.

Librairanwannabe

bitter_ suite can you read French? At least I know I'm not alone in buying books in foreign languages for a favorite author. Since I do have several foreign language copies for Stephen King as I mentioned previously in another post sometime ago. I can't read a word of any of the foreign langauges with the exception of couse for the British versions. I would like to get copies of his books in every foreign langauge he has been printed in. I too have mutliple copies of THE HOBBIT , LOTR , EMMA , WUTHERING HEIGHTS , hey there must be something wrong with the touchtones because whenever I put in LOTR in comes back and says Dork Tower LOTR Special Dork Tower I'm not familiar with that one. I also have mutliple copies of Anne Rice's Interview With The Vampire Queen Of The Damned, The Vampire Lestat, Violin one copy is taller than the other, T. H. White's The Once And Future King ,
I have multiple copies of almost every Stephen King book that includes both Paper back and Hard back. Ruth Rendell Agatha Christie's N Or M ,
The Myster Of The Blue Train , Murder On The Orient Express , and that doesn't even count some Autograhed Copies of books I own. I bought two coies of Anne Rice's The Witching Hour one was Signed and the other one is for reading. This also goes for Stephen King too. I also collect Tabitha King and own several different copies and different heights too no less of The Trap , Playing Like A GIRL hey the touchtone for Playing Like A Girl came out in red, what's up with that? I own too many other
books to list here without first looking up to see what other books I have multiple for at home.

Librairanwannabe

bitter_ suite can you read French? At least I know I'm not alone in buying books in foreign languages for a favorite author. Since I do have several foreign language copies for Stephen King as I mentioned previously in another post sometime ago. I can't read a word of any of the foreign langauges with the exception of couse for the British versions. I would like to get copies of his books in every foreign langauge he has been printed in. I too have mutliple copies of THE HOBBIT , LOTR , EMMA , WUTHERING HEIGHTS , hey there must be something wrong with the touchtones because whenever I put in LOTR in comes back and says Dork Tower LOTR Special Dork Tower I'm not familiar with that one. I also have mutliple copies of Anne Rice's Interview With The Vampire Queen Of The Damned, The Vampire Lestat, Violin one copy is taller than the other, T. H. White's The Once And Future King ,
I have multiple copies of almost every Stephen King book that includes both Paper back and Hard back. Ruth Rendell Agatha Christie's N Or M ,
The Myster Of The Blue Train , Murder On The Orient Express , and that doesn't even count some Autograhed Copies of books I own. I bought two coies of Anne Rice's The Witching Hour one was Signed and the other one is for reading. This also goes for Stephen King too. I also collect Tabitha King and own several different copies and different heights too no less of The Trap , Playing Like A GIRL hey the touchtone for Playing Like A Girl came out in red, what's up with that? I own too many other
books to list here without first looking up to see what other books I have multiple for at home.

Librairanwannabe

bitter_ suite can you read French? At least I know I'm not alone in buying books in foreign languages for a favorite author. Since I do have several foreign language copies for Stephen King as I mentioned previously in another post sometime ago. I can't read a word of any of the foreign langauges with the exception of couse for the British versions. I would like to get copies of his books in every foreign langauge he has been printed in. I too have mutliple copies of THE HOBBIT , LOTR , EMMA , WUTHERING HEIGHTS , hey there must be something wrong with the touchtones because whenever I put in LOTR in comes back and says Dork Tower LOTR Special Dork Tower I'm not familiar with that one. I also have mutliple copies of Anne Rice's Interview With The Vampire Queen Of The Damned, The Vampire Lestat, Violin one copy is taller than the other, T. H. White's The Once And Future King ,
I have multiple copies of almost every Stephen King book that includes both Paper back and Hard back. Ruth Rendell Agatha Christie's N Or M ,
The Myster Of The Blue Train , Murder On The Orient Express , and that doesn't even count some Autograhed Copies of books I own. I bought two coies of Anne Rice's The Witching Hour one was Signed and the other one is for reading. This also goes for Stephen King too. I also collect Tabitha King and own several different copies and different heights too no less of The Trap , Playing Like A GIRL hey the touchtone for Playing Like A Girl came out in red, what's up with that? I own too many other
books to list here without first looking up to see what other books I have multiple for at home.

Librairanwannabe

bitter_ suite can you read French? At least I know I'm not alone in buying books in foreign languages for a favorite author. Since I do have several foreign language copies for Stephen King as I mentioned previously in another post sometime ago. I can't read a word of any of the foreign langauges with the exception of couse for the British versions. I would like to get copies of his books in every foreign langauge he has been printed in. I too have mutliple copies of THE HOBBIT , LOTR , EMMA , WUTHERING HEIGHTS , hey there must be something wrong with the touchtones because whenever I put in LOTR in comes back and says Dork Tower LOTR Special Dork Tower I'm not familiar with that one. I also have mutliple copies of Anne Rice's Interview With The Vampire Queen Of The Damned, The Vampire Lestat, Violin one copy is taller than the other, T. H. White's The Once And Future King ,
I have multiple copies of almost every Stephen King book that includes both Paper back and Hard back. Ruth Rendell Agatha Christie's N Or M ,
The Myster Of The Blue Train , Murder On The Orient Express , and that doesn't even count some Autograhed Copies of books I own. I bought two coies of Anne Rice's The Witching Hour one was Signed and the other one is for reading. This also goes for Stephen King too. I also collect Tabitha King and own several different copies and different heights too no less of The Trap , Playing Like A GIRL hey the touchtone for Playing Like A Girl came out in red, what's up with that? I own too many other
books to list here without first looking up to see what other books I have multiple for at home.

Librairanwannabe

Yes, I can read French. I was a French major in college, and I studied abroad there for a semester. Most of the French books I have were picked up while I was in France.

My wife is a huge Stephen King fan and her goal is to collect all of his books, which she has nearly done. I purchase her all the new books which helps me get her first editions but also whenver I go to places like book sales, yard sales, stores like Goodwill, etc. I pick up any copies of Stephen King that she doesn't have.

I also like to buy old copies of book I have, especially the classics. The older the better.

I collect multiple editions of anything by Cornell Woolrich; usually I'll have a first edition, then a later hardback, a Ballantine paperback from the '80s, and any recent trade paperback edition. The books sit at the head of my bed as my prize spot in my library. Woolrich is a wonderful, dark obsession. I'm very proud to be the current holder of the most Woolrich volumes on LibraryThing!

I also have multiple copies of The Lord of the Rings, including a German translation, and multi copies of various books by Robert E. Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Well, Stardust (Gaiman) was published in (at least) 3 diff. formats - we own at least 3. Multiple editions of Tolkien LoTR and the Hobbit. Multiple copies of Neverwhere. One reason i got onto LT was to have an catalog so i wouldn't buy books i already owned. I love Emma Bull..but didn't really need 2 copies of Bone Dance. Sometimes..esp w/ longish books that i like, i'll but the paperback edition when it comes out to read..oh in the bath or other places where i wouldn't like a "nice" copy destroyed. (Though my wife insists that UNC should rescind my MLS degree anyway due to my cavalier treatment of books..)
bob

I need a copy of Bone Dance! Actually, I have LOTR in the original Ballantine boxed set, but it's gotten a little dog-eared, so I picked up an omnibus set from the SFBC. Same for my Prydain Chronicles set by Lloyd Alexander. For many years, Elizabeth Goudge's The Little White Horse wasn't in print at all, so when it came out again, I got a couple of copies--one to read instead of my well-worn 1940's copy and one to share with students at my elementary schools! And I've had to replace my 70's era Georgette Heyer books as they have started to fall apart. I've also had the problem of occasionally picking up books that were already on my TBR pile. I also keep duplicates of some professional books that I am likely to lend out to clients or students.

Oh, and I do have two copies of Godstalk by P. C. Hodgell. I have my original much-loved paperback, but when the other books began to be reprinted and then the new ones started coming out, I got them all in hardback, and had to get a hardback copy to match. But I can't bring myself to give up the paperback copy.

I have lots of Tolkien's books in duplicates and even triplicates.

>>>>>>>>> Re: 31
I just found a boxed set of the Lord of the Rings - trade paperback, in a slipcase for $7.99 at Borders! Have a looksee to see if your store carries them :)

i have a lot of duplicates, but i normally end up giving them away--i buy the paperback first to kind of test it out and if i really love it i go and buy the hardcover, then give away my paperback...i guess i'm not as weird as i thought!

also sometimes i buy different copies of books because of different cover art, but mostly just with the classics

Most of my duplicates are mistakes I buy at library sales etc. when I'm not sure if I already own it - especially for prolific authors like Andre Norton or Mercedes Lackey. (I just found out about LT's 'palmthing' to have my list at my fingertips -- I hope it works.) I usually keep both copies only if one looks like it might be a collectible someday. I also buy better-condition duplicates or hardcovers of much-loved and over-read favorites sometimes but only if I come across them cheap. My boxed set duplicates of The Lord of the Rings was a Christmas gift because my originals were disintegrating -- I probably wouldn't have splurged for myself.

My funniest duplicate resulted from my daughter borrowing The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley for the umpteenth time and then losing it. I immediately got a new one and refused to share it ever again. The original finally turned up in a box in her car trunk, so now we each have our own copy with no hard feelings.

I've just picked up a Science Fiction Book club edition of the Old Kingdom Trilogy in hard cover via Bookmooch. I do have the mass-market paperback set, but it's nice to have this one volume as well.

I have bought UK and US editions of the same book, but mostly duplicates are unintentional or to replace worn reading copies. Two exceptions off the top of my head are the various printings of Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess' Stardust and The Tough Guide to Fantasyland. Whenever I order from the UK I add a copy of The Unadulterated Cat to the order. Then I have spares to give as gifts.

Ooh, me, me - I do that! #36, I've also got several books in US & UK editions (dating from when I was travelling in my gap year - I had a sudden urge to read Douglas Adams's The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul, which then led to various of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett re-readings).

But besides those, I've got just UK duplicate copies of quite a few books I love - The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy series, several different Neil Gaiman things that overlap, 2 copies of everything by Jane Austen (1 nice copy and 1 that I can batter) and 2 copies of Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell because the 2nd had additional short stories I couldn't find elsewhere...

I've also got a couple of books in French and English - but the only ones I've actually completed reading in French are the first two Harry Potters (nice, easy, _simple_ French!) - I just don't have the patience to spend half a day reading one chapter most of the time!

Ooh, incidently, hallo everyone, I'm new to this group!

i don't have any spere copies myself, but my mum does (well mostly did) and i have been really happy about that since i got them, especially one seriei where i found the last 44 books in a box set (for sometthing like 12£) but you couldn't buy the first three books enywhere, but luckily she had extras 8i have since red them about 14 times.

I have hardback and paperback copies of some of my favorites like Gone With the Wind, The Little Women and The Thorn Birds. There is new edition of The Thorn Birds that I'm am considering picking up because the cover is awfully nifty, lol!
I'm also considering picking up new editions of Diana Gabalon's The Fiery Cross and A Breath of Snow and Ashes because I have the trade paperback and the hardback and I'd really love the mass market editions to match the others on my shelf... I just haven't gotten around to it because that sounds like a crazy reason.

I don't think that's crazy at all especially since I have multiple copies of some Stephen King books in Paperback just because they keep coming out with brand new different Art work for the covers. Now, my own family thinks that is Crazy but I'm used to it since I can't convince them to see it my way. I also collect Stephen King's book in different languages too. My family thinks this is crazy as well since I can't read any other Foreign languages with the possible exception of course of the British English. I have a couple of King's books from England and the British Art work on the covers is a lot nicer than the American versions.

Personally, I say if you want to buy the mass market editions of some of your favorite books to go along with the hardback and paperback versions my advice is to go ahead and do it. I tell my family that I could be spending my money $$$$ on worse things than books with different covers on them or very expensive Signed, Numbered Limited Editions. They should be grateful I don't spend it on cigarettes, drugs
or alcohol.

Beatles1964

I own 5 different editions of my favorite book, Shardik, and would likely buy any other editions I come across.

I'd also like to get a complete set of the Malazan Book of the Fallen in both HC and MMPB (I currently only but the MMPBs), but my wife thinks I'm being ridiculous. :)

I buy multiple copies of really hard to find books, sometimes, so that I can loan one out without risk of losing it forever.

Helcura, you loan out books? What do you require as security for their return, first born offspring? (Well, maybe that wouldn't hasten return.) I find it very hard to lend books unless they are ones I would be willing to give away anyway since lending a book frequently is giving it away. But if I get a book to give away, I generally just go ahead and wrap it for a holiday.

I get books I really love in hardcovers but then I give away the paperback copies. We have multiples of only a very few titles. Some classics that my kids are likely to need for school; I keep my copy and an old reading copy if we happen upon them. I started doing that after my son marked up my hardcover copy of The Mayor of Casterbridge 'cause the teacher told them they "had to." I do have two copies of a favorite book that is somewhat rare, Nine Princes in Amber, because I first bought a pretty ratty but still pricey copy only to find a copy in somewhat better condition soon after. I've been meaning to get the ratty copy rebound or sell it or do something with it but I haven't gotten around to it and it cost me too much to be willing to give it away.

I do loan out books, but only those I can replace easily. Sometimes I'm just so excited by a book that I have to try to turn someone else on to it. For security - the pound of chocolate closest to your heart. :-)

I have a copy of Shardik that I have been meaning to getting around to eventually reading like so other many books I own. It sounds like it would be a good book. Hey, saltmanz can you tell me something about the book without giving away too much of the plot about what happens.

Beatles1964

Oh yes! Tolkien. Having worn out multiple copies of his books I have multiple copies of each, especially the Lord of the Rings (I think it's four copies for certain, but I think there might be a fifth hiding on the shelf.

Does collecting multiple editions/editors count as well?
If so, then there's the Annotated Hobbit, the new Verlyn Flieger edited version of Tolkien On Faerie Stories, etc. I tend to class those as separate books, simply because they have somewhat different content.

Normally I do it when I read something in paperback and like it so much I want to have it in hardcover, too (that also makes it easier to loan out the paperback). Most recent one like that was Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami.

I have multiple editions of many books - mostly it comes from buying variations of cover art but sometimes it's to explore differences in editing - especially true of my Moorcock collection. It's interesting to read the same book published by many different publishers in different times - for some books there are significant versions where the story intent is altered.

~bluesalamanders~ I also have lots of Robin McKinley particularly Blue Sword now numbering at 7 copies. I also have lots of Enid Blyton duplicates to and recently found I have 2 copied of Wolves of Willoughby Chase and 4 Nightbirds in Nantucket.