Old books or modern reprints?

[Morbid Hermit]

When buying books (which were written a long time ago), do you tend to prefer getting an old copy of the book, printed many years ago, or a more recent reprint?

 

Older books can sometimes have a certain aesthetic appeal, but more recent reprints of the same book often have additional information like a foreward or annotations. Some find that such things enchance their appreciation of the book, whilst other people prefer to do without such additions. Or do you think the only important thing is the story itself, not the edition?

[Kylie]

Ooh, good topic!

 

I've recently become much more interested in cover art on books, so I will usually put in a little more thought and effort when choosing a book. For example, I've recently been buying a lot of books online, where there are usually multiple editions available of the same book. I don't mind paying a couple of dollars extra for a better cover.

 

One example is my recent acquisition of Fight Club. The only edition I could find in Australia had a hideous cover, so I bought a much nicer version from the Book Depository, and it worked out much cheaper too! I would, of course, prefer to support my local booksellers, but I will always put myself first!

 

I like a lot of older cover artwork as well, which is just as well because I buy a lot of secondhand books. I recently bought two new lovely editions of Animal Farm and 1984. I will be passing on my old copy of Animal Farm because it has a pretty ordinary cover, but I very much like the cover of my original 1984 so now I'll have two editions.

 

Things like additional information and introductions don't generally sway me in buying a book, unless it's an older text in which I feel I need the extra info. I always check out various editions of Shakespeare's texts and Dante's Divine Comedy, because they're the type of books I want extra information for.

 

If anything, I would try to avoid buying books with author interviews and reading questions at the end. It usually just makes me feel like I've got further to read before I can start the next book (because even though I won't be interested in reading all the extra info, I'll do it just because it's there and I won't feel as though I've completed the book otherwise! )

[BookJumper]

I don't mind paying a couple of dollars extra for a better cover.

Ditto that. For example, I am waiting to read C.S. Friedman's The Coldfire Trilogy until I can afford to get the original trade paperback from the States, as the current UK edition simply repels me. Even so, I'll have to buy them used but so long as they don't look it, I'm fine with that.

 

If, for whatever reason, the better artwork is an impossibility, I'll be unaccountably irked. I recently completed my set of Jasper Fforde books and I had to choose between an edition of First Among Sequels which matched the others or the updated one - a whole chunk of footnotes was missing from the first edition and, when they came to print the second, they changed cover art and texture all together. I did the rational thing and bought the complete and uncut version, but I cannot pretend that the sight of that book interrupting my nice sequence doesn't annoy me.

 

As for notes, introductions, commentaries etc., it all depends. For older works I always strive to get the most comprehensive and well explicated texts our there; in my experience these are usually the Longman Annotated Poets for verse (their edition of Paradise Lost is, for example, magnificent) and the Arden Shakespeare for the Bard's works (they're the only ones to present readers with all three variant texts of Hamlet in two snazzy companion volumes, for instance).

 

If, however, I need to make a choice between completeness and commentary, I'll choose the former. Some time ago I necessitated to acquire Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Lectures and Notes on Shakespeare, and a choice had to be made between thoroughly commented selections from Coleridge's Lectures, or a facsimile of the Lectures with no commentary whatsoever - I chose the latter, because I'd rather go to the library for criticism than for missing bits of text.

 

Having put an emphasis on niceness of cover and completeness of edition... mmm. I do like old books when they're whole and reasonably sturdy (I do not see the point of collectibles you can't read because they're so fragile), however they're often out of my reach economically, and when they're not I'm put off my second-hand shops' heinous habit of pencilling in the price on the first page.

 

In short, I usually look specifically for the prettiest and most up-to-date edition available, although if I stumble across an old book that meets my specifications and I can afford, I'll lay claim to that as well.

[Nollaig]

Ditto that. For example, I am waiting to read C.S. Friedman's The Coldfire Trilogy until I can afford to get the original trade paperback from the States, as the current UK edition simply repels me. Even so, I'll have to buy them used but so long as they don't look it, I'm fine with that.

 

Is that the set I have, or a different set?

 

This is a great topic.

 

My level of fussiness varies depending on much I love the book or author. Like BookJumper, I spent more on a certain set of paperback Coldfire books because of the artwork, and I'm very pleased with them.

 

I have other books from the same author or series in different styles and amn't bothered by it.

 

I like to go both ways with older books - I want a new edition with notes and information and I also want a very old copy as I collect old books.

 

Dorian Gray, arguably my favourite book - I have my college Norton edition which is ugly but informative, I have the leatherbound Penguin collectible which I recieved as a very thoughtful present, and I also have an illustrated hardback edition from 1925 which I'm afraid to open. I like to have a bit of everything - notes, aestethics and sheer class.

[BookJumper]

Is that the set I have, or a different set?

The set I want is the set you have you've got great taste!

[Nollaig]

Awwwhh bless. If I come into a lotto win or inheritance anytime soon I'll buy you a set

[busy91]

Reprints and only because older books have fonts that are difficult to read. I am not concerned with artwork or anything as such, just the story.

[BookJumper]

Awwwhh bless. If I come into a lotto win or inheritance anytime soon I'll buy you a set

Awww thank you, that's so sweet it makes sense in a way, as your enthusiasm is the reason I want to read them in the first place...!

[Nollaig]

Hehe it's a shame you can't get them soon, I'm going reading them this Christmas. I've only read the first one, and the guy who told me about them said it's not the best of the three.

 

Actually back on topic with this - the reason I had such a struggle with choosing which Coldfire set I originally wanted is because there's a range from gaudy-90's-sci-fi through to modern Garth Nix style covers. With regard to old books or modern reprints, if I get a reprint, I want one that stays true to the character of the original book if possible, like actually retaining any of the original artwork.

[Scarlette]

I'm a cover art snob - I won't even try to deny it! - and extra bits like author information, pretexts and such don't really enhance a story for me in any way. If I have a choice between two editions, I choose the more aesthetically pleasing. I suppose it's the collector in me. *shrugs*