Gravity's Rainbow hardback sought

[jd]

I think the jist of it was, I think, that lots of people have copies,
but not many people are selling copies, so the price you're paying for
it isn't necessarily going to increase over time, if you're getting it
as a collectible or whatnot...  artificial inflation if you will.  For
example, let's just say there's 5,000 people who desperately want a
first edition of GR, and there's only 4,000 copies, people willing to
sell their copy can charge whatever they want because odds are one of
those 5,000 people are willing to buy it...  not because it was
particularly hard to come by, made of anything valuable, or would have
any worth to anyone not particularly interested in Pynchon.  I
definitely see what you are saying but it made sense to me at the
time, and still sort of does.  Maybe I'm describing it wrong, and
maybe his knowledge of antiquarian books does not carry over to this
generation of mass-produced trade books.

On 8/24/06, John Carvill <JCarvill at algsoftware.com> wrote:
> Thanks for the replies folks.
>
> Very interesting debate about the value (perceived or otherwise) of GR first editions, etc. But basically I'm just after any old hardback, in fact I might be disinclined to actually use a first edition if I somehow got my hands on one.
>
> I did eventually find a hardback listed on Abebooks, in a shop in Germany, in 'like new' condition (at least I assume that's what 'wie neu' means?) and all for just under £14, including shipping. Bargain. Well, my credit card fairly flew out of my wallet! Having placed my order, I thought I'll just check the ISBN, see what edition I've bought and (hands up who's surprised) it turns out to've been a terrible mistake: I'd managed to order (at nearly double the UK high street bookshop price) the very same paperback edition whose falling apart prompted the quest for a hardback in the fist place. Doh. Luckily the seller admitted they'd wrongly listed it as hardback and refunded.
>
> So, my quest continues. Thanks for the tip on the 1973 Jonathan Cape, I'll look out for one of those.
>
> Cheers
> JC
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