I've been thinking of buying a set of Avon hardcovers, but they seem to have come out in two different versions.

In 1997, Avon produced hardcover editions of The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, The October Country, Dandelion Wine, and Something Wicked This Way Comes. But if I'm going to splash out on these five books, I'd like the editions to match exactly, and there seem to be two versions: those with full front cover illustrations, and those with a detail of the illustration in a frame in the middle of the cover. I think the ones with the full cover pictures are more attractive, but it may be easier to seek out the more recent versions. So my question is: Which version is more recent?

Even the HarperCollins site isn't clear - for one book, they have one version of the cover, and for the next one I looked up, they have the other cover style. The normally useful ISFDB database also doesn't help.

I looked on Abebooks, but I'm still not sure I've solved it. A number of the full artwork versions were offered, and some suppliers gave a 1999 date for these (full artwork) versions, which suggests that they are the later reprints.

Another clue is the National Book Award medallion, which suggests an issue date of at least 2000, since that's when Ray won the award. But I've seen both full artwork and framed artwork books with this sticker or medal.

Nothing much turns on this, because I'm absolutely sure the covers are the only difference. But if I'm going to buy all five eventually, it would be cool if they matched.

The books with the full cover illustrations came later. Also, the books with the smaller illustrations framed on the cover will be the only ones that can be true firsts: the ones to state, on the reverse of the title page, "FIRST EDITION", with a number line commencing with the number "1", denoting that it is the first printing of the Avon editions. (However, the Avon editions went into later printings, even before the covers were changed.)

Ray told me he preferred the later versions with the full cover illustrations. I laughed and jokingly told Ray that it was just a plot to get a completist collector like me to buy the same book twice. Then we BOTH laughed!

Thanks, Richard!

I'm not hung up on getting the first editions, as long as all the books match. After all, the true first editions came out decades earlier. For what it's worth, I also prefer the ones with full illustrations.

Personally, I love the William Morrow Imprint/full color versions and recommend those. One feature of them I appreciate is the embossed (perhaps not the right word?) signature of Ray Bradbury on the fronts of the hardcover of each book. It's a cool feature which I'm not sure publishers still practice, and I suspect it is not done at all after an author has died. Sometimes the signature is filled with reflective ink or as with these Bradbury editions just impressed.
Happy book hunting.

quote:

Originally posted by Richard:
I laughed and jokingly told Ray that it was just a plot to get a completist collector like me to buy the same book twice. Then we BOTH laughed!

The same thing happened to me when they came out the "The Pippin Apples of the Sun" (as jkt called them). Ray made them do it over because the apples were supposed to be golden! I told him I had to buy both! We enjoyed a chuckle.

Well, I received my copy of Something Wicked This Way Comes today, so I can finally answer my own question.

The book is the variation with the full cover artwork, and on the copyright page it says "First published by Avon Books in 1999, reprinted by William Morrow in 2001." It has the embossed signature and the National Book Award roundel on the dust jacket.

Avon and William Morrow are of course both imprints of the HarperCollins group.

So I confirm what Richard and Linnl said above. The Avon editions must then be the earlier ones, with the artwork in a box on the cover.

This fills a surprising gap in my collection. Something Wicked is the only one of Ray's famous books of which I had no US edition—only an old Corgi paperback.

I'm happy with my book and the only thing I would have wanted different is the deckle edges. Don't like 'em.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: douglasSP,