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Fountainhead scams

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OismForever

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I am curious why you would say that.

I have what I presume to be a first edition that I picked up several years ago in a used book sale for $2. The errors that are mentioned in the ebay listing are also found in my copy. The only thing different is the seller spelled "Dominique" correctly in referring to the error on page 480. The error in the book is spelled as" "Domininque"

There is no listing of it being a second printing or anything in my copy - which is what makes me assume it might be a first.

The one thing that makes me wonder if it might not be a first edition is the fact that I do have a first edition of Isabel Patterson's The God Of The Machine which was published the same year. Under the copyright notice is the following wartime statement: "This complete copyright edition is produced in full compliance with the Government's regulations for conserving paper and other essential materials" - a very humorous statement I think considering all of the things talked about in the book with regard to wartime and government regulations.

No similar statement appears in my copy of The Fountainhead.

The God Of The Machine was published by G.P. Putnam's Sons. However, at the bottom of the page with the wartime statement it says "Manufactured In The United States Of America" Van Rees Press.

I know that during the war things such as paper for books and shellac for phonograph records was rationed according to a company's pre-war usage on a certain date. Thus there were some small record labels and book publishers who happened to have a big hit on their hands that gave them significantly larger than normal materials usage when the pre-war rationing benchmark was set. Thus the Gennett record label, which was killed off by the onset of the Depression, briefly reemerged during the war because the parent company continued to manufacture sound effects records for radio stations under the Gennett name up until 1941 and ended up being purchased and revived primarily because of its allowed quota of rationed shellac. I know that book publishers made arrangements with other publishers who happened to have a larger quota than they were able to use. Thus I have always wondered if there was some sort of similar arrangement with the Patterson book and that Van Reese Press ended up printing an edition because Putham's ran out of their paper quota while Van Resse had some extra to spare - and perhaps that is what the government regulation notice means with regard to it being a copyrighted work.

If that is what the notice means, then perhaps my edition could be a first edition and Bobbs-Merrill, the publisher of The Fountainhead printed it using their own paper quota. On the other hand, if that wartime statement appeared on all[/i] books published during the war, that would be strong grounds for me to doubt that it is a first edition.

Anyhow, if you have any specific knowledge why the ebay listing is a scam, I would be very interested in knowing. I am very capable of dating vintage 78 rpm records but dating vintage books beyond the obvious dates listed is not something I am educated on.

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Because a real first printing of The Fountainhead is smaller in size than the copy listed here and the one you purchased.

It says "First Edition" inside the cover page and does not contain those "errors"

Here is an example http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=160003586106

-Oism

I am curious why you would say that.

I have what I presume to be a first edition that I picked up several years ago in a used book sale for $2. The errors that are mentioned in the ebay listing are also found in my copy. The only thing different is the seller spelled "Dominique" correctly in referring to the error on page 480. The error in the book is spelled as" "Domininque"

There is no listing of it being a second printing or anything in my copy - which is what makes me assume it might be a first.

The one thing that makes me wonder if it might not be a first edition is the fact that I do have a first edition of Isabel Patterson's The God Of The Machine which was published the same year. Under the copyright notice is the following wartime statement: "This complete copyright edition is produced in full compliance with the Government's regulations for conserving paper and other essential materials" - a very humorous statement I think considering all of the things talked about in the book with regard to wartime and government regulations.

No similar statement appears in my copy of The Fountainhead.

The God Of The Machine was published by G.P. Putnam's Sons. However, at the bottom of the page with the wartime statement it says "Manufactured In The United States Of America" Van Rees Press.

I know that during the war things such as paper for books and shellac for phonograph records was rationed according to a company's pre-war usage on a certain date. Thus there were some small record labels and book publishers who happened to have a big hit on their hands that gave them significantly larger than normal materials usage when the pre-war rationing benchmark was set. Thus the Gennett record label, which was killed off by the onset of the Depression, briefly reemerged during the war because the parent company continued to manufacture sound effects records for radio stations under the Gennett name up until 1941 and ended up being purchased and revived primarily because of its allowed quota of rationed shellac. I know that book publishers made arrangements with other publishers who happened to have a larger quota than they were able to use. Thus I have always wondered if there was some sort of similar arrangement with the Patterson book and that Van Reese Press ended up printing an edition because Putham's ran out of their paper quota while Van Resse had some extra to spare - and perhaps that is what the government regulation notice means with regard to it being a copyrighted work.

If that is what the notice means, then perhaps my edition could be a first edition and Bobbs-Merrill, the publisher of The Fountainhead printed it using their own paper quota. On the other hand, if that wartime statement appeared on all[/i] books published during the war, that would be strong grounds for me to doubt that it is a first edition.

Anyhow, if you have any specific knowledge why the ebay listing is a scam, I would be very interested in knowing. I am very capable of dating vintage 78 rpm records but dating vintage books beyond the obvious dates listed is not something I am educated on.

Edited by OismForever
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Because a real first printing of The Fountainhead is smaller in size than the copy listed here and the one you purchased.

It says "First Edition" inside the cover page and does not contain those "errors"

Here is an example http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=160003586106

-Oism

Very interesting.

My copy has a red cover like the first one you linked to. And it also differs from the First Edition by the fact that the dedication to the architectural profession is also on the same page as the copyright notice.

I noticed that the First Edition also lists "The Cornwall Press" - because of the paper rationing I would suppose.

Do you know what the listing means by "Second Issue Green Cloth" ? What is the difference between an edition and an issue?

Any idea when my copy and the one in the first ebay listing was produced?

I am somewhat inclined to suspect that the false claim on the listing might not be so much of a scam as a reflection of the person's ignorance. I see all sorts of bizarre claims being made about very common and mostly worthless 78 rpms that people list on ebay - and I am sure the same is true for people who happen to find an old book and list it on ebay. I certainly figured that my copy was a First Edition so I am sure others would as easily make the same mistake.

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Very interesting.

My copy has a red cover like the first one you linked to. And it also differs from the First Edition by the fact that the dedication to the architectural profession is also on the same page as the copyright notice.

I noticed that the First Edition also lists "The Cornwall Press" - because of the paper rationing I would suppose.

Do you know what the listing means by "Second Issue Green Cloth" ? What is the difference between an edition and an issue?

Any idea when my copy and the one in the first ebay listing was produced?

I am somewhat inclined to suspect that the false claim on the listing might not be so much of a scam as a reflection of the person's ignorance. I see all sorts of bizarre claims being made about very common and mostly worthless 78 rpms that people list on ebay - and I am sure the same is true for people who happen to find an old book and list it on ebay. I certainly figured that my copy was a First Edition so I am sure others would as easily make the same mistake.

The first edition was done in red and in green cloth. They are from the same first printing run though, only differing in the color of binding.

Then came the larger one in Red, Green and Blue with the "errors" it is a second edition.

Any bookseller who knows their trade has the ability to find out this information. This particular seller goes out of his way to insist that this book is a first edition, first printing. If he did any research at all, he would know that it is false.

You are right though, there are a ton of auctions on ebay that also falsely make this claim. I wish there was a way to stop them. I am sure many people have paid way too much for a $10 copy of The Fountainhead.

--Oism

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