3664 Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc by Mark Twain

Joan of Arc Limited to 800 copies at $260.

So it has been quite a while since I purchased an EP title. And I have been known to buy many DLE's in the past. Now here I am ... a huge fan of Twain ... and ... we'll i pulled the trigger.

I have most of the EP Twain Clamshell DLE's. And I love them all.

Here's my 'semi-issue'. Am I the only one noticing that EP is going cheeper and cheeper with their DLE's?

I mean ... when I saw this post letting us know there is a new Twain DLE (and thank you >1 Wootle: for your post notification!!!) ... I was super excited (because I have missed out on a few and have been sad ever since).

However, after seeing the size of this book ... 5 3/8 x 7 7/8 ... I got quickly underwhelmed.

For the last few years i've noticed EP's DLE's have gotten smaller and smaller (especially the clamshell offerings). One of the last ones I bought was Around the World in 80 days and it feels like a cheap barnes and noble kids size book. Which of course makes the illustrations and the text super small. Around the world is 5 1/4 x 7 3/4

So this new Twain title is a hair larger then Around the World ...

But here are the sizes of the other current EP Clamshell DLE offerings ...

Jules Verne ... Around the world in 80 days ... 5 ¼” x 7 ¾”

Jules Verne ... The Castle of the Carpathians ... 4 3/4" x 7 1/4"

Thomas Fuller ... The Historie of the Holy Warre ... 7" x 11 1/4"

Mark Twain ... The Innocents Abroad ... 5 3/4" x 8 3/4"

Mark Twain ... Roughing It ... 5 3/4" x 8 3/4”

Jules Verne ... The Voyages and Adventures of Captain Hatteras ... 5 ¼” x 8”

... so again ... is it me or is an absolute joke that all of those are tiny-ish ... and Verne - Castle of the Carpathians ???!!!! why not try and make it 3" x 6" ... then you can fit it in your pocket!!! I mean ... cell phones are almost the same size!!!

If anyone is still reading this far and is interested ... here are the older sizes of the EP Twain DLE Clamshells ... for comparison of the size drop over the last years ...

Mark Twain ... A Connecticut yankee In King Arthur's Court ... 6 1/2" x 9"

Mark Twain ... The Prince and the Pauper ... 6 1/2" x 9"

Mark Twain ... The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ... 6 1/4" x 8 1/2"

Mark Twain ... The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ... 6 1/2" x 8 1/2"

Mark Twain ... Pudd'nHead Wilson ... 5 3/4" x 8 3/4"

Mark Twain ... The Diaries of Adam and Eve ... 5 1/2" x 8 1/2"

... I assume the reason ... is cost cutting? I have all the above Twain's listed in this second group (except for the Adam and Eve ... which I opted for the collectors edition because it is so slim on text/content) ... and they are awesome in my opinion!!!

But the new batches getting smaller is really disappointing.

Here's to hoping this latest Twain offering is still worth $250. But It might just be a return.

Sorry for the extremely long post. Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy!!!

I do not have the time to do this, but, if you truly want evidence that this is EP cheapening their offerings, I would suggest finding out what size the original books were.

It's been many years, but I actually owned a first of Tom Sawyer. I do believe the reproduction is sized properly in comparison. Astropi provided a photo of the first edition Prince and the Pauper, which I included in the album, and it looks to be approximately the size that EP produced. Not definitive evidence, but I think you should do a little investigation and find the original sizes for the above titles. I do know that Verne firsts are fairly small. I have looked at them on eBay enough times, I think that EP has them correct. Maybe not to the millimetre, but close.

>2 thisGuy33: I've noticed that the dimensions listed on Easton Press' webpages are not always accurate. For instance, the DLE "Life of Davy Crockett" is still listed as being 5" x 7 1/4" but that isn't accurate (I know, because I bought the book). It is actually 5" x 7.75" sans slipcase. With slipcase it is approximately 8 1/4" tall. In other words, the described book height is off by as much as an inch.

>2 thisGuy33:
Here is an abe.com listing for the 1896 edition specifying the size to be 5.25x7.75. I suspect that EP’s reproductions are very close to the original size.

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=14424256622&cm_sp=snippet-...

>2 thisGuy33: I honestly don't know. To be fair, people have been complaining about DLEs for years, literally. I remember the announcement of the very first DLE - a facsimile of the Kelmscott Chaucer, and sure enough some people complained. Everyone's a critic, but that said, it certainly seems like there are less DLEs released.

That all said, let's keep in mind we are in a pandemic time. It doesn't sound so bad by reading articles such as this
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/09/17/arts/how-book-industry-is-weathering-covi...
But EP, FS, etc are super-niche so hard to say how they're affected.

>3 Wootle: >5 jroger1: Ya know … I am of simple mind obviously … because it did not once cross my mind that the ‘size’ of the book was actually part of the ‘reproduction’ process.

When I see these books listed as ‘accurate reproductions’ … I assume that to mean the content both text/translation as well as illustration re-prints.

I guess I should do more research before I naively post something.

I suppose after hunting down several EP DLE’s that I really liked early on (that I had missed out on because I was late to the ‘interested in books’ game) … I assumed this was just the standard set in the ‘early’ days of EP releases. So now when I get more recent offerings and the leather is less “leathery’ in both touch and smell … and the size is smaller …

I just thought it was all a cost saving factor.

But it does make sense if the originals were of similar size … that that would be part of their reproduction consideration.

Thank you for enlightening me!!!

>4 Betelgeuse: I too have noticed the dimension listings to often be slightly off … but usually not much more then a quarter inch.

>6 astropi: as for the complaining about DLE’s … I agree, I’ve seen much complaining over the last year or two. But I do think much of it is justified. Especially the quality control. I have experienced much of it myself (having to return/exchange many titles).

In regards to this post … I was not complaining in the least … just more curious of others thought on the subject of size.

>7 thisGuy33:

And now you know why some of the folks here have started chasing after the original copies that EP is reproducing, too. Sometimes one can find equally interesting options.

Also, paper used to be expensive, so large sizing and large margins were once considered a luxury, so really old books tend to be smaller than our modern expectations.

I’ve learned some new things reading this thread about reproductions!

As much as I admire many of the illustrations in the original editions of Twain, Verne, and others, it is hard for me to part with $200-$400 for them. Not being a publisher myself, I don’t really know all the costs of production, but the materials can’t account for the prices, as EP is able to sell its Greatest Books and Reader’s Choice series for $50-$100.

>10 jroger1: I am in agreement and have been selling my smaller DLEs on eBay. Going forward I suspect I will only keep the beautiful Routledge set (Hugo, Dumas) in my library. I think some of the Greatest books and Famous editions are a better value.

>8 treereader: … I agree with >9 GOBOGIE: … I’ve gained a new and expanded direction of thinking in regards to reproductions. I do love finding a nice ‘original’ version of something however … I do enjoy the pristine new feel and smell of repro versions. And it’s much harder to find originals up to my standard of what I consider something I would enjoy holding and reading.

>10 jroger1: They are a bit pricy for sure. And there is a bit of price gouging (in my opinion). But I assume they push that limit based on there are only a few publishers releasing these types of books at similar quality.

>11 HugoDumas: I too have been gathering some DLE’s up for future sales. But there are definitely some I will never part with.

>12 thisGuy33:

I prefer to buy new copies of things from EP instead of originals, as well. After all, EP is still in business and those ancient publishers are not. The newness is nice, too, of course.

For those who have not collected this gem, as per the pull-down quantity selection of choosing between 1 thru 10 to add to cart, there are at present only 2 remaining in stock. Of course one expects this volume to have a quick turn around with the next batch for purchase.

https://www.eastonpress.com/deluxe-editions/mark-twains-personal-recollections-o...

I received this book as a gift for my birthday. It is a gem and I cant wait to read it after I finish Frankenstein and Martian.

I have a copy, too, and it's a beauty. A great read, too!

I haven't had much experience with EP DLEs. But I do have their DLE facsimile of the two volume Limited Editions Club Salome by Oscar Wilde. (The original from the '30s is hard to find in very good condition.) Based on resources I've seen, it is a faithful facsimile reproduction except that the bindings are leather.
The Folio Society occasionally does facsimiles as well.
It is a fairly painstaking process to make a decent facsimile starting with finding an original in good enough shape and then carefully photographing and then comparing each page (especially illustration pages) to the original while not damaging the original.
So these should command a premium price.