I was wondering if anyone knew where I could purchase the "original" dustjacket for some of my books. I have a few that are in bad shape and being fanatical about my books I would like them to look like new.I was not sure if I should contact the publisher or the author and they may not even have any extra's. Anybody out there ever did this? I would appreciate any help in this matter.
Rennie

If all else fails, you might consider scanning the originals and then, using a "photoshop" program, do your own restoration.

Just a thought!

Cheers!

The way I do it. When I see a better copy of a title I have, I buy it and the sell the duplicate. You very rarely, if ever, see just jackets sold by themselves.

Good Luck,
Kevin

I have asked the same question and even inquired with publishers like L&L over buying just the dustjackets but have had no success other than rebuying the book. For years I threw away the dustjackets because a large portion of my library were limited edition books that come boxed without a dustjacket, so I wanted all the books to match. I should have just saved them..oh well.

You would think someone somewhere would have the dustjackets. I cannot believe the publishers print 1,000 books & exactly 1,000 dustjackets, but after reading the above posts I may be wrong.
Stanyon, I may give that a try just to see what it looks like.If it looks good I may start doiny many more.
Kevin, I have actually did that a couple of times, could become pricey though if the extras do not sell, even though magic books are a hot commodity..
George, would sure like to have gone through your garbage when you were into the discard the dustjacket stage...
Well I may do like you and call a few publishers, I imagine I wil be disappointed though.
Why do people like us who collect magic books become so crazy anyway ???

I think for publishers to make and keep extra dj's in inventory would be just a waste of money and space in their minds. They know they are moving to the next title and no need to keep surplus. When they dump their old book inventory, it's usually around ten cents on the dollar. Why would they produce and keep dj/s?

If you think it gets pricey buying a duplicates in order to upgrade, try Houdini books or pre-1850 conjuring books! I collect Houdini books and the longer you collect them, the more money the next one usually is. Either I buy because it's a significant upgrade or it's a different variation or edition.

I think the drive in magic book collecting(and most collecting)is passion. You start collecting something and it sets off a spark inside you. Sometimes it gets doused and sometimes it gets fanned.

Kevin ,
What I actually meant was that the publishers possibly had extras as I was not under the impression they print the exact amount of jackets for each book. And there would be no reason to dispose of them as they virtually take up no room. I would be more then happy to take the surplus off their hands as I could control the market on them as no one currently is doing that. The dustjacket market would be mine.

I am well aware of your Houdini collection as well as the value of what you are dealing in. Collecting is a blast and sure great when you find that hard to find item at a garage sale huh ?
Rennie

I have never heard of any publisher keeping extra dust jackets ever.
A collectable book with a dustjacket has a big added value because of exactly what you did ...people through them away.
Making your own would be good only to protect your investment in a book. This would not add any value to the book itself though.
Keeping the dustjacket is part of keeping the colelection in good shape.
Knowing what the original looks like will help you to not get taken as well.
Later,
Mobius

Gents:

A thought with a bibliographical angle: for books that go through many printings, dust jackets can vary with each printing. Case in point: Kellock's Houdini biography. I've seen at least 4 different dust jackets for it. Oftentimes folks "marry" the wrong dj with the book, which can create much confusion if a bibliographer is not careful.

Clay

Hey Rennie,

I'm not sure but I thnk Byron has some dustjackets. I know Youell used to buy books and throw away the DJs as soon as he opened them. When I told Bryon about this he said he was going to have to call Steven and chastise him for this.

I think either Byron or Mr. Hatch told me that for a majority of books, a good dj only added a few dollars to the vallue of the book. Of course there are some exceptions.

Dave

If you are missing a dj for a book that was published relatively recently, it wouldn't hurt to ask the publisher. Publishers don’t intentionally stock tons of extra dj’s, but sometimes there’s an overrun by the printer. In any case, as with the book itself, there are always a small, excess number of copies printed to account for spoilage, etc., which is what I think Rennie was getting at.

And yes, dealers like Byron Walker or Aladdin Books do occasionally have loose dj’s, though that’s not very common. For whatever reason, the Brits tossed their dj’s more often than the Yanks, at least in my experience. For example, dj’s for the American edition of Kellock’s Houdini bio are much easier to come by than for the U.K. edition.

When it comes to how much a dj adds to the value of a book, in some cases, a dj can add a huge amount of value, and this happens mostly with respect to books that are 80+ years old. In other cases, as Dave E. points out, a dj doesn’t add much value, and that happens with more modern books. Of course, there are exceptions to these “rules,” like with any other rule.

On short run books, such as most magic books, more dustjackets than books are printed. The printer sends the surplus dustjackets to the publisher, who may keep them, mount one on a piece of board, suitable for framing, or throw them away.

I have plenty of extra dustjackets for Sheherazade and Final Curtain, so if you need one, let me know.

There are some companies that sell reproduction or facsimile dust jackets or wrappers. A Google search will bring them up. But since they are not original they will not replace the value that an original dust jacket would offer.

But if you are just looking to improve the looks or protect a book then they might be suitable. Here's a couple of sites:

http://www.facsimiledustjackets.com/cgi-bin/fdj455
http://www.delapena.com/Dust_Jackets.html

Dave