Cover differences between early PB editions of UK Dragonquest

[Hans]

Last Sunday, July 2, the largest yearly Dutch second hand bookfair has been held again in the town of Dordrecht (near where I live). I go every year and thus this year, with glorious weather, I went again - the idea was to fill the empty backpack I took and to empty the full wallet The first I managed, the second (surprisingly) I did not (but there's an easy remedy to that called eBay).

Anyway, I managed to pick up a first edtion UK Dragonquest paperback, published by Sphere. Corgi didn't get to publish their Dragonquest until 1982, after Sphere did a new cover art edition with the Chris Achilleos cover art.

The cover art on the first editions was made by an artist called Eddie Jones. Hargreaves says it is used through the fourth printing but I think he missed one. I also got a fifth printing with it. The copyright page says: first 1974, reprinted 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979. That makes it a fifth printing I think.

So I had these two and suddenly realised they are subtly different, something I - and apparently not Matthew Hargreaves either - knew. It's not only that the cover is subtly different in the lettering on front, back and spine, but to my surprise the ISBN is actually different! Hargreaves lists the ISBN of the real first edition: 0-7221-5904-8. The fifth printing I have (silly me, I never checked it against Hargreaves, just glance at the cover and though OK, bought that one ) has the following ISBN: 0-7221-5973-0.
According Hargreaves' rules this actually would make it a new edition, not printing.

Here's the first edition back and front:

And this is the fifth printing back and front:

I know this is only of importance for the diehard collector or cover art collector but I thought it worth mentioning nonetheless. I, for one, love these little differences

[Greenrider Tresa]

Guess they realized that florescent green on the first one was too ugly!

[Becky]

While I agree that the green is strong on the top cover, it has detail that is lost on the lower cover picture. The bits of yellow that is on top of the green is much more noticeable on the top one than on the bottom.
Great info Hans, as usual!

[c_ris]

It looks worse in scan than it does in RL! (I have a copy of that cover too )

[Lady Maelin]

This is very interesting Hans, as I have noticed this kind of thing on two of my Ship Who Sang covers also(two different Hildebrant covers). The same subtle differences in the printing. I think I like the top one better, as it seems a little more artistic in coloring. I would have loved to go to a book sale like the one you discribe. To bad we don't have those kinds here.

[Hans]

I'm sure you would love it, Maelin. There are ver 150 bookselelrs/stalls and it is spread out in the old centre of oneof the oldest cities (technically the oldest city with its city charter given out mid 13th century) of the Holland part of The Netherlands.

I must say I repeatedly thought of you as I saw many cheap art books and many books on Van Gogh

[P'ter]

Hans: I take it your fourth printing date is a misprint?

[Hans]

Yes, P'ter, it is

For the record (because I'm going to correct it) one of my years said 1879 in stead of 1978

Thanks

[Cheryl]

It would be interesting to see the edition Hargreaves lists as the 5th printing with the new artwork on it --- it seems entirely possible that the publisher goofed and mislabeled that edition as a 5th instead of 6th, given the details that Hargreaves provided about it. And in which case, I think we can cut Hargreaves some slack for not finding out about it!

[Shalyn]

Why are the dragonriders carrying spears?

[Cheryl]

Perhaps it's the dragonback version of jousting?

[Becky]

Too funny, Cheryl!

[Lady Maelin]

Cheryl, you are so silly !!! Perhaps it just the Dragonriders telling there dragons where to go, you know "No, No Mnementh, it's this way"!!! ................

[Lady Maelin]

Hans, did you perhaps take any pictures of the Book Fair, I would love to see some of them if you did. Me and the hubby have decided if we ever get to come and see you, it would be in time to go to the book fair with you. But we would need a bigger plane to fly us home........... ..... if we did.

[P'ter]

1 difference is in the prices. From 40p to £1.25 for the UK market.

[edith]

thats a big price increase for 5 years. Mind you, since I've been buying new books- from about 15 (there aren't many new bookshops in my area) prices have gone up about £2 from £4.99 to £6.99
but thats a 312.5% increase!

[Hans]

Originally Posted by Lady Maelin

Hans, did you perhaps take any pictures of the Book Fair, I would love to see some of them if you did. Me and the hubby have decided if we ever get to come and see you, it would be in time to go to the book fair with you. But we would need a bigger plane to fly us home........... ..... if we did.

Eh, no, I didn't Maelin. I take as little as possible with me so to have the most room for books

[Lady Maelin]

Hans, I don't blame you for not taking your camera then, as we would have wanted to make room for all the books we could carry too. I wish we had those kinds of book fairs here, but I have never heard of any if we do have them. Have fun at the next one, and give us all who don't get to go with you a nice thought.

[Becky]

Seattle has the Antiquarian Book Fair in October every year. I've been to it several times. Found my signed White Dragon there actually! But there isn't much in the way of science fiction. There are loads of interesting antique books and maps and such tho. I love to go and look at them all. I think I'd have more fun at Hans' book fair tho from the sound of it.

[Lady Maelin]

Becky, you and me both!!! We could have a ball at a book fair like Hans and "J", have both just gone to.... lucky guys!!! I would even love to see your book fair, they sure have a lot of book stores up by you, but nothing down here that sounds that good, not that I have ever heard of anyways...Drat !!! Maybe I live in the baren book waste lands, and have never realized it ................

[Becky]

Maelin, Seattle does have loads of fabulous used book stores. But where I live now is THE barren book land. You've found lots of books in the stores near you. There's nothing here! Oh, there are about 4 used book stores but they are just so sad. They carry mostly paperback romance novels. Not to bad mouth romance novels, I used to read them myself, before I found Anne's books. But when you're used to going in and seeing ALL genres of books in a store finding mainly romances just makes you sad. ::huge sigh::
I miss being able to walk into a book store and checking the scifi first then mystery section and then whatever else I wanted to check. I'll get to Seattle now and again and go get a good dose of booking! But I need to do so soon, it's been way too long!

[Hans]

Gosh, beside the DQ paperback I didn't even tell you what I got at the fair...

• Nice, clean and cheap copy of the hardcover ed. of Legends with Runner of Pern
• Anne McCaffrey: Dragonquest
• Anne McCaffrey: To Ride Pegasus
• Anne McCaffrey: All the Weyrs of Pern
• Anne McCaffrey: Freedom's Challenge
• A nice copy of a book with an AMC short story I am sending to a friend
• Lackey and Emerson: Fortress of Frost and Fire (A Bard's Tale)
• Orson Scott Card: Songmaster
• Mercedes Lackey: Flights of Fantasy
• Katherine Kurtz: King Javan's Year
• Raymond E. Feist: Magician
• Tad Williams: The Dragonbone Chair

and several Dutch language history books, one of which a hardcover on the ferries that were operated in the province of Zeeland during centuries gone by that hold data on ancestors of my wife, two of whom operated ferries there.
I also bought my son two books, one with stories by a Dutch comedian and a signed copy of a famous Dutch Tour de France bike racer who is now a team manager of a TdF team.

And as said I spent only about a third of the money I took with me, so I ahd a good day

Must read mroe though because I still had about a handful paperbacks lying waiting to be read and about a dozen eBooks on the PDA, but those I'll save for the vacation

Originally Posted by Cheryl

It would be interesting to see the edition Hargreaves lists as the 5th printing with the new artwork on it --- it seems entirely possible that the publisher goofed and mislabeled that edition as a 5th instead of 6th, given the details that Hargreaves provided about it. And in which case, I think we can cut Hargreaves some slack for not finding out about it!

I've got the 1980 printing. According to the inside cover, this is the sixth printing (First Sphere books edition: 1974; Reprinted 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980). This has got the Chris Achileos cover, with the writing matching the contemporary Sphere edition of "To Ride Pegasus":

The ISBN of this printing of Dragonquest is 0 7221 6004 6. This is different from both of the previous Sphere ISBNs.

[Hans]

Right,

Since Hargreaves mentions that his DQ with Achilleos covert art gives: first 1974, reprints in 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979 this means that in 1979 - while at the same time I have a DQ with Eddie Jones covertart that also mentions 1979 (5th printing), this all means that 1979 saw two printings first with the old and later with the new cover art, and that the reprint in 1979 is actually a 6th printing but obviosuly not counted like that by Sphere (because they considered it a reprint?).

The 1980 printing you mention with Achilleos art must then actually be a 7th printing.

Now to find out how many more there were between 1980 and 1982...