First Edition Library

Would anyone be interested in a group dedicated to the great facsimiles published by the First Edition Library of Shelton Connecticut in the early 90s?These are true facsimiles in every detail of mostly great American authors with the original text,bindings,dust jackets and issued with a well made cloth slipcase with jacket art.I am not an expert but I think they did about 117 titles mainly 20th century books.They did about 90 books in regular series then about 10 pulp detective novels,13 sci-fi titles,and 14 of Ian Fleming Bond novels.These are no longer in print but are available on second hand markets.I follow LibraryThings group discussions and have never seen them mentioned.Even though they would appeal to any book lovers who cant afford real first editions.Thanks John

Hi John,

Indeed I never heard about it, maybe you can educate me ? Do you own some of them and can post a few pictures with a quick review ?

A cursory glance at abebook listings was not very helpful to explain why facsimiles of paperbacks can fetch such high prices (at least the Bonds).

Thanks,
Gob.

I have 28 of these, the sci fi and 20th century titles. I do not think there are enough titles here to warrant a group. They are mentioned occasionally in the Easton Press group. While neat books, they are not fine press.

https://www.librarything.com/catalog/sdawson&tag=First%2BEdition%2BLibrary

Only three titles were paperbacks as the original first were -Lolita,Tropic of Cancer,and Ulysses.they are some of the highest in price.Ebay is the best place to find good pics,I am new at this and it would take me awhile to post some shelfies.Search ebay for First Edition Library other keywords are slipcase-FEL-first facsimile.I own just about every one except for a few titles and I do not own the Bond books they seem to get the highest price.Most others can be had for about $20 to $80 dollars US.For Whom the Bell Tolls was their introductory offer and they are easy to find cheap.Nice books with sewn text block,cloth and buckram bindings,acid free paper is the only difference from the true originals.They did Fitzgerald,Hemingway,Faulkner,Capote,Stienbeck,Twain,Sinclair Lewis,HarperLee,Bradbury,Vonnegut,Chandler,Hammit,Ellison,Baldwin,Wolfe,Mailer,Wharton,McCullers,Asimov,and all many others.Check them out they are really nice.It seems like not many people are familiar with them.

I did not know where to post because I am new here.I agree they are not fine press,but they are a hell of a lot nicer than 99% of any new trade edition on the market, for a reasonable price.

>5 johnferrell:

I agree they are nice books, and worth collecting--modulo the overly expensive Bond books.

On my books I have noticed that the dust jackets tend to scratch or rub easily. Have you noticed this?

Shawn

These books are amazing; if only the Easton Press would RE-RELEASE THEM!

yes some of the slipcases seem to be a little tight,especially the books with black jackets like To kill a Mockingbird and On the Road ect...

I am a big fan of the FEL facsimiles. I have all 111 original books in the library with slipcases and laid-in description cards. There are not 112 as mistakenly reported; the title "The Last Four Months: How the West was Won" by Frederick Maurice is not one of the published titles included in the FEL. I wrote to Stan Shelly as well as Henry Reath, who had the series published, to confirm this. I also have an interview with Henry Reath from 1991 where he explains the story behind the series. I'd be happy to email it to anyone interested.

I wish some publishing house would continue this idea because not only do you get great literature to read in a book printed with acid-free paper that will last, but you get, in most all cases, great dust jacket art.

Let me know if anyone is interested in taking this further.

Thanks,
Brian

I possess a mere 5 volumes, but these books are beautiful in their own right and worth collecting. I'm sure I don't have the mindset of the true collector, but holding these, as opposed to a frayed, crumbling, "very good" 1st, is more appealing to me, at least in theory. I'm not sure why I didn't put more effort into continuing with the subscription back when it was live, especially before the copyright issues hit them.

>9 bvanlent:
You wouldn't happen to have a list of titles?

I believe this site lists them all, but I'm no authority: http://firsteditionlibraryfel.blogspot.com/2010/10/printed-series.html.