First Edition Books: For Authors Only

Posted on April 6, 2017 by Danny

D/J Front – For Authors Only 1st Ed

For Authors Only and Other Gloomy Essays is one of my favorite books by Kenneth Roberts. The reader gets a clear picture of Roberts’ sense of humor and quick wit, and his views on a variety of matters (like British mystery novels). For any fan of Roberts, his For Authors Only is a must-read to get a full picture of Roberts the man and his writing style. (The first edition was published in 1935 (MCMXXXV).)

As is normally the case, I tend to find Kenneth Roberts books in the least likely places. Today, while in Half Price Books, I found a 1st Edition copy of For Authors Only. I already have a copy of this book, but the book I found today is in pristine condition. More so, the dust jacket is in near perfect condition with no visible tears and only one small area of slight fading. The gold and blue colors are vibrant and beautiful, protected by a dust jacket cover.

The cover boards and spine are also in near perfect condition. Typically, I find Roberts books that are showing considerable wear; however, today’s find is as if it has not seen the light of day. The cover has no wear or tear (with only a small area of bubbling), and the embossing is nearly intact.

Considering the condition of this book, I am quite impressed with my find. I only paid $7, and after some brief research, the book is worth well more than that (on abebooks.com, I found a book of in a condition less than what I have, and unsigned, at $185). So, moral of the story – search your bargain book stores!

Below is a collection of photos I’ve taken of the dust jacket (primarily) and the front/back boards.

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Filed under: For Authors Only, K. R. First-Edition Books | Tagged: , , , | Leave a comment »

First Edition Books: The Seventh Sense

Posted on November 27, 2014 by Danny

Kenneth Roberts’ first book on water dowsing was Henry Gross and His Dowsing Rod; he quickly followed with a sequel titled The Seventh Sense (1953). According to Jack Bales, Henry Gross was given charitable reviews primarily because of Roberts’ reputation as a novelist; however, reviews for The Seventh Sense were not as favorable (Bales, 1993, 100). Noted in The Seventh Sense is Roberts’ hostile tone toward those who disagree with him regarding water dowsing. Roberts takes a rather ad hominem approach to discrediting his critics’ views which dimmed his reputation in the eyes of his colleagues.

Below are pictures of the first-edition of The Seventh Sense. Though not one of Roberts’ most popular works, it is a nice collection piece for those who seek to collect all of Roberts’ books.

Front of Dust Jacket - The Seventh Sense

Title Page - The Seventh Sense

Copyright Info - The Seventh Sense

"Hollis, N.H. / The water supply of this school flows from veins dowsed on a map in Kennebunkport by Henry Gross & Kenneth Roberts November 7, 1951 proved in Hollis November 8, 1951 / Henry Hills / Denton Lates / Irving Simonds / Beryl Orde / Arthur Davis"

“Hollis, N.H. / The water supply of this school flows from veins dowsed on a map in Kennebunkport by Henry Gross & Kenneth Roberts November 7, 1951 proved in Hollis November 8, 1951 / Henry Hills / Denton Lates / Irving Simonds / Beryl Orde / Arthur Davis”

Filed under: K. R. First-Edition Books, The Seventh Sense | Leave a comment »

Kenneth Roberts First-Edition Books

Posted on August 7, 2014 by Danny

For many book collectors, first-edition books are sought after with the passion and energy of a pirate searching for buried treasure. Almost any first-edition will do (particularly for those books that are extremely rare), but if the book’s binding is still tight, the hinges intact, and the original dust jacket (and slipcase if applicable) is present, then the find is just that much better. For the novice book collectors (like me), though, being able to know what particular first-editions look like (especially the true first-editions) can be difficult.

I’ve sought after Kenneth Roberts’ first-edition books for the longest time, but have only recently been able to actually purchase some of them. As I posted back in July, I was able to find a first-edition of March to Quebec as well as the limited, 2 volume edition of Oliver Wiswell (without slipcase). For my anniversary, I was able to find (and purchase!) three more first-edition Kenneth Roberts books that I’ve been unable to find up to this point. Now that my Kenneth Roberts collection has improved with the recent first-edition purchases, I figured that a new series on this website is in order. Hence, the first post on Kenneth Roberts First-Edition Books.

This series will be devoted to providing pictures of what particular first-editions look like (particularly the dust jacket) and what the copyright page looks like as well (not all “first-editions” are true first-editions). Jack Bales has provided two helpful articles written in the 1990s that are devoted to Roberts’ first-edition books; I will be referencing these articles to help supplement anything that I am able to find.

Lastly, I have also purchased Mark York‘s Patriot on the Kennebec: Major Reuben Colburn, Benedict Arnold and the March to Quebec, 1775. Mark is a frequent visitor and commenter on this site, and I look forward to reading this work.  I’ll be providing a review of this book in an upcoming post as well.

Filed under: K. R. First-Edition Books, March to Quebec, Oliver Wiswell | Tagged: , , , | 1 Comment »

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