Generally speaking, if a un curso de milagros pdf has been signed by the author or the illustrator then this will add some value to your book, but don’t get too excited. If no one has ever heard of the author or no one wants to read the book then a signature can mean absolutely nothing. Further to this, contemporary authors are known for their book junkets when their latest novel is released. This means they sign many copies of their books at public events in an effort to promote sales. This makes their signature fairly common and adds little to the market value of the book.
Also be careful of the printed signature because this is not the same as a penned signature. A printed signature is one that is printed in every copy of the book using the same process as printing the text. A penned signature is added to the book personally by the author after publication. A printed signature is worth nothing, whereas a penned signature can add value. I will also make note here of inscriptions by authors. An inscription generally has more wording than just a signature and can add a little more value. Where inscriptions can really affect the value of a book is when they have been presented to an important associate, friend or family member. These inscribed book copies are often referred to as presentation or association copies and they can often demand a high price.
NB: Signatures can be a tricky thing to authenticate, particularly if the authors signature is a squiggle and resembles nothing like their name. Do your homework and try and authenticate the signature. There are websites, like TomFolio, that archive scans of author’s signatures just for this purpose, so take the time to check them out.
First Edition
The term ‘edition’ as taken directly from The ABC for Book Collectors(Carter, 1997, p84)refers to “…all copies of a book printed at any time or times from one setting-up of type without substantial change.” Usually, information about editions is included on the copyright page of the book. In cases where this information is not provided you will need to do further research to determine whether a book is a first edition or not. First editions are one of the most collectable types of book and therefore their market value in fine condition can be at a premium. Though, as with all items on this list, just because a book is a first edition doesn’t make it valuable, as there has to be demand for it at the same time. I will also note here the importance of limited editions. This term is used for editions where there is a limitation statement. A limitation statement usually gives the total number of copies and then assigns an individual number to each specific copy (e.g. No 53 of 1000). Limited editions can in some cases derive a high value.
First Book
A first edition of an author’s first book will generally be worth more than their subsequent books. The underlying reasoning here is that in most cases the print run of an author’s first book is general quite small in comparison to the print runs of their later works. The perfect example of this is J.K. Rowling. The first installment of her Harry Potter series only had a print run of 500, whereas the last in her series had a print run of around 12 million. Needless to say first edition copies of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone are valued in the tens of thousands, whereas a first edition Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows carries little value unless signed by Rowling herself.