As noted in our series of posts about First Editions (15-17 June 2009), the term First Edition means many different things to collectors and to booksellers, the traditional verities of ABC for Book Collectors and similar works notwithstanding. We saw in that series of posts some of the ludicrous paths down which the term First Edition can lead, given the respective interests of booksellers and book collectors.
Today, we examine in more detail one of those paths: the meaning of follow the flag with respect to definitions of First Edition.
Traditionally, there have been two competing definitions of the term follow the flag. One definition posits that, irrespective of where an author's book made its first appearance in book form, one might wish to collect only that edition that made its first appearance in book form in the author's country of birth. This definition has longed posed problems for many booksellers and book collectors. How does one follow the flag (in this definition) with an author like the Nobel Laureate Sir V. S. Naipaul, who was born in Trinidad (which admittedly has many charms, but is not a noted center of publishing) but who has spent most of his life in England (which is a center of publishing).
A competing definition of follow the flag suggests that one should collect editions that represent an author's first appearance in book form in the country where one lives. This definition makes collectors much happier, because they can collect First Editions that often are substantially less expensive than the true First Edition. A case in point is Thomas Keneally's well-received account of Oskar Shindler:
Keneally is Australian, so an Australian collector following the flag is most likely going to want the First Australian Edition (above left) for his or her collection. An American book collector following the flag likely would be more interested in the First American Edition (above right--notice the title change). Neither of the above is the true First Edition, which was published in London in 1982:
Collectors of ARCs (see our post of 25 October 2009) beg to differ altogether....
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