1bluerx
I‘ve only recently began following and buying fine press releases, and one question I haven‘t seen discussed much is the preference between „Standard“ and „Numbered“ editions.
It‘s common for larger presses to release their books in these tiers, plus a Lettered edition.
From a price perspective, I see Standard and Numbered as the more comparable options - yet the Numbered (or Deluxe) edition is still usually around twice the cost or more.
So is it generally agreed on to always get the Numbered if possible? What is the main reason? Better Binding/Materials? Being Numbered itself? Exclusivity? Just FOMO ;) ?
Personally, I can‘t really justify the money for Numbered yet, but I would consider it for a few special titles.
It‘s common for larger presses to release their books in these tiers, plus a Lettered edition.
From a price perspective, I see Standard and Numbered as the more comparable options - yet the Numbered (or Deluxe) edition is still usually around twice the cost or more.
So is it generally agreed on to always get the Numbered if possible? What is the main reason? Better Binding/Materials? Being Numbered itself? Exclusivity? Just FOMO ;) ?
Personally, I can‘t really justify the money for Numbered yet, but I would consider it for a few special titles.
3ensuen
>1 bluerx: The preference for the numbered or lettered in the tiering of standard/numbered/lettered is downstream of price discrimination efforts by the publisher to capture as much as the high end market as possible by putting nicer features on the nicer end of the range. (I understand they are also interested in the actual craft of making really high end books, but as a business robot - that falls outside my understanding)
At some point you’ll get a sense of “oh that paper and quarter leather isn’t worth it to me” or “I’d pay to get an extra set of illustrations from that artist”. For me the preference is fairly variable, if it’s a book I haven’t read before, I might get the base edition as a reading copy. If I was making many (many) multiples of my current income, I imagine I’d subscribe to the lettered tier at a couple presses.
The numbering thing is real in a very slight sense, but seemingly less drastic than what you would see in fine art or similar. Out of series (not numbered copies of a title w/ a limitation) copies of fine press books pop up fairly often and seem to go for equivalent prices.
At the risk of causing a flame war, I believe people terribly overweight edition sizes in how they evaluate a book. I have a couple books with a limitation of 5/10/26/etc and don’t feel a rarity or something radiate off of them. Really just a slight sadness that more people can’t experience them.
Institutions (library of congress and various universities with endowments targeting the collection of fine press books), will often take up the first few of a limitation for some presses - beyond a print of 50/100 most books tend to be fairly obtainable. There’s a bit of a balancing act for the publisher: trying to not miss out on potentials sales / trusting to not be stuck with spare copies / having an amount you can actually make / maintaining the perception of rarity.
One note here: I’d recommend trying to remember how you evaluated books before getting into fine press, and that while 200/300 dollars might be a bargain for some books - that’s actually still very expensive. Just try to keep in mind why that purchase over some other comparable item(s).
At some point you’ll get a sense of “oh that paper and quarter leather isn’t worth it to me” or “I’d pay to get an extra set of illustrations from that artist”. For me the preference is fairly variable, if it’s a book I haven’t read before, I might get the base edition as a reading copy. If I was making many (many) multiples of my current income, I imagine I’d subscribe to the lettered tier at a couple presses.
The numbering thing is real in a very slight sense, but seemingly less drastic than what you would see in fine art or similar. Out of series (not numbered copies of a title w/ a limitation) copies of fine press books pop up fairly often and seem to go for equivalent prices.
At the risk of causing a flame war, I believe people terribly overweight edition sizes in how they evaluate a book. I have a couple books with a limitation of 5/10/26/etc and don’t feel a rarity or something radiate off of them. Really just a slight sadness that more people can’t experience them.
Institutions (library of congress and various universities with endowments targeting the collection of fine press books), will often take up the first few of a limitation for some presses - beyond a print of 50/100 most books tend to be fairly obtainable. There’s a bit of a balancing act for the publisher: trying to not miss out on potentials sales / trusting to not be stuck with spare copies / having an amount you can actually make / maintaining the perception of rarity.
One note here: I’d recommend trying to remember how you evaluated books before getting into fine press, and that while 200/300 dollars might be a bargain for some books - that’s actually still very expensive. Just try to keep in mind why that purchase over some other comparable item(s).
4SF-72
>3 ensuen:
"At the risk of causing a flame war, I believe people terribly overweight edition sizes in how they evaluate a book. I have a couple books with a limitation of 5/10/26/etc and don’t feel a rarity or something radiate off of them. Really just a slight sadness that more people can’t experience them. "
That's exactly how I feel.
"At the risk of causing a flame war, I believe people terribly overweight edition sizes in how they evaluate a book. I have a couple books with a limitation of 5/10/26/etc and don’t feel a rarity or something radiate off of them. Really just a slight sadness that more people can’t experience them. "
That's exactly how I feel.
5SF-72
>1 bluerx:
I usually don't buy numbered editions (and have never bought lettered so far, I couldn't afford those I would have liked to have) unless I'm a big fan of the author and / or book and the edition really pleases me, too. In my case, it's about the cost for one (I do well, but I'm not rich and have to think about what I can afford). The other is that limitation isn't relevant to me - I don't enjoy a book more because fewer other people can have it. Add to it that a lot of the time the higher levels are leather-bound and I'm uncomfortable with leather - I much prefer a nice cloth-binding. So there are several factors to that choice.
I usually don't buy numbered editions (and have never bought lettered so far, I couldn't afford those I would have liked to have) unless I'm a big fan of the author and / or book and the edition really pleases me, too. In my case, it's about the cost for one (I do well, but I'm not rich and have to think about what I can afford). The other is that limitation isn't relevant to me - I don't enjoy a book more because fewer other people can have it. Add to it that a lot of the time the higher levels are leather-bound and I'm uncomfortable with leather - I much prefer a nice cloth-binding. So there are several factors to that choice.
6bluerx
>3 ensuen:
„ One note here: I’d recommend trying to remember how you evaluated books before getting into fine press, and that while 200/300 dollars might be a bargain for some books - that’s actually still very expensive. Just try to keep in mind why that purchase over some other comparable item(s).“
That‘s true. Any type of „collecting hobby“ really messes with your value perception after some time lol. Like 300 dollars is still a lot of money as you said.
„ One note here: I’d recommend trying to remember how you evaluated books before getting into fine press, and that while 200/300 dollars might be a bargain for some books - that’s actually still very expensive. Just try to keep in mind why that purchase over some other comparable item(s).“
That‘s true. Any type of „collecting hobby“ really messes with your value perception after some time lol. Like 300 dollars is still a lot of money as you said.
7bluerx
>5 SF-72:
Yeah I think that‘s exactly how I feel about it at the moment. I still like the limitation in numbers though, simply because I get the feeling of owning a unique item - although I feel like lots of other factors are more important.
Yeah I think that‘s exactly how I feel about it at the moment. I still like the limitation in numbers though, simply because I get the feeling of owning a unique item - although I feel like lots of other factors are more important.
8dlphcoracl
>1 bluerx:
Your eye and your heart will tell you when to purchase the Numbered (deluxe) edition rather than the Standard edition, assuming the price differential is not unreasonable.
Your eye and your heart will tell you when to purchase the Numbered (deluxe) edition rather than the Standard edition, assuming the price differential is not unreasonable.
9Dr.Fiddy
>8 dlphcoracl: “Your eye and your heart will tell you when to purchase the Numbered (deluxe) edition rather than the Standard edition, assuming the price differential is not unreasonable.”
Exactly 👍
Exactly 👍
11SDB2012
>10 SF-72: ain't that the truth!
I generally buy the mid-tier state for publishers with three tiers. The highest tier is too much for my wallet. The only time I've regretted not buying the highest state is St James Park Press 1984. I'm fortunate to have the standard. It is an amazing testament to the vision and commitment of James Freemantle. I think it was already fully reserved when I bought the standard and the price was a lot higher, but in hindsight, a steal.
I generally buy the mid-tier state for publishers with three tiers. The highest tier is too much for my wallet. The only time I've regretted not buying the highest state is St James Park Press 1984. I'm fortunate to have the standard. It is an amazing testament to the vision and commitment of James Freemantle. I think it was already fully reserved when I bought the standard and the price was a lot higher, but in hindsight, a steal.
