1Bibliophile-I
What year was the Heritage Press edition of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer printed? It’s the one with Norman Rockwell illustrations. Did it come with a Sandglass?
2Django6924
>1 Bibliophile-I:
As always with Heritage books, things are not always clearcut. My edition has a 1937 date and the Sandglass has the code 3A, indicating it was the third book in the first regular series of Heritage Club subscription issues "A" and the title page indicates it is "For the Members of the Heritage Club."
This is straightforward enough, but in Michael Bussacco's indispensable reference Heritage Press Catalog and Checklist, one finds that the Heritage PRESS issued Tom Sawyer as well. This was because in the early years, books would often be printed (usually with slight variations in covers and listed on the title page as "Heritage Press") with the intention of selling these to the general public through bookstores such as Brentano's. This was for purely economic reasons as it took a while to build a subscriber base of Heritage Club members.
The confusion comes from the fact that Mr. Bussacco shows the Heritage Press Tom Sawyer has a 1936 copyright date. The catalog also shows Heritage Press books to be sold to the public were The Scarlet Letter, copyright date 1935, whereas the Heritage Club edition 8A of this book has a copyright date of 1938. The third Heritage Press book in this first series is Manon Lescaut, copyright 1935, and the Heritage Club edition 9A has a 1938 copyright date.
Not sure of the reason for the discrepancies in dating, but it is apparent that all these books in the first series got into the hands of Club members and the general public between June 1937 and May 1938. As Tom Sawyer was the third book, that means it was issued in August, 1937.
As always with Heritage books, things are not always clearcut. My edition has a 1937 date and the Sandglass has the code 3A, indicating it was the third book in the first regular series of Heritage Club subscription issues "A" and the title page indicates it is "For the Members of the Heritage Club."
This is straightforward enough, but in Michael Bussacco's indispensable reference Heritage Press Catalog and Checklist, one finds that the Heritage PRESS issued Tom Sawyer as well. This was because in the early years, books would often be printed (usually with slight variations in covers and listed on the title page as "Heritage Press") with the intention of selling these to the general public through bookstores such as Brentano's. This was for purely economic reasons as it took a while to build a subscriber base of Heritage Club members.
The confusion comes from the fact that Mr. Bussacco shows the Heritage Press Tom Sawyer has a 1936 copyright date. The catalog also shows Heritage Press books to be sold to the public were The Scarlet Letter, copyright date 1935, whereas the Heritage Club edition 8A of this book has a copyright date of 1938. The third Heritage Press book in this first series is Manon Lescaut, copyright 1935, and the Heritage Club edition 9A has a 1938 copyright date.
Not sure of the reason for the discrepancies in dating, but it is apparent that all these books in the first series got into the hands of Club members and the general public between June 1937 and May 1938. As Tom Sawyer was the third book, that means it was issued in August, 1937.
3Bibliophile-I
>2 Django6924:, thanks. There is an edition at my local used bookstore. I’ll take a look at it today.
Join to post
