Fragile and/or Rare LEC Titles

Would welcome discussion on the topic of LECs titles that are both:

a. hard to find in NF condition
b. desirable titles

Original slipcases included! There is nothing like finding an LEC and it's slipcase in as close to "as issued" pristine condition as possible.

What's been your experience? I've been collecting LECs over the last 25 years. I have all but one of the pre-Shiff year's (Macy, Cardovan, etc) titles, and 14 titles to go from the Shiff years.

To prime the pump: In my experience some of the most notoriusly difficult titles to find in decent shape are:

1. Moby Dick (sheep-skin is a no-no, fragile slipcase).
2. Rip Van Winkle
3. Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
4. Tales of Soldiers and Civilians (Chemise and Slipcase)
5. Book of the Dead (Slipcase) - arguable on title desireability
6. Pride & Prejudice (same slipcase design as Moby Dick)

There are more than a handful of other titles that I will leave it to the rest of the Group to list. Get detailed on the defects, or those special finds - post pictures.

Thanks for reading and responding.

The reason for the slipcase for The Book of the Dead being hard to get in decent shape is that very thin wood veneer which does not wear well; it chips readily. It was a nice idea, but methinks it did not pan out.

I have also found Vathek to be difficult to find in a decent slipcase & chemise. Many copies up for sale have neither, and others have a severely damaged case/chemise. My copy, for example, has a slipcase that is barely together and the chemise is hanging on.

The same can be said of the Rubaiyat. A copy of either of these in Fine condition (book & slipcase + chemise) would be worth a substantial premium.

I have also found that the slipcase for The Shaving of Shagpat to be fragile and somewhat difficult to find in decent shape. That black, shiny paper used for several of the LEC slipcases is horribly fragile.

>1 Sport1963:

I didn't find Book of the Dead with intact slipcase that hard to find, but I got my copy years ago.

I would add Sinbad. I think it was kdweber who said he got a fine copy, but I've never seen one where the spine wasn't severely sunned. Praise of Folly is also somewhat hard to fine in Fine condition. Slipcases for Essays of Emerson and Paradise Lost seem decently hard to find. Plato's Republic -- difficult to find both books and slipcase in Fine condition and also get the ML. Also it had a lower than usual limitation. I hear the Pope Iliad/Odyssey are difficult to find in Fine condition, but I'm fine with my mildly beat up copies.

Far Away and Long Ago's unique horsehair binding can be difficult to find in intact condition.

>1 Sport1963: Moby Dick is difficult for many reasons, poor dye due to the war, a real limitation of ~1000 (hard to keep up membership during the war). I have a VG+ copy (faded spine) in a NF slipcase with the monthly letter and announcement.
I gave up finding a really nice copy of Rip Van Winkle and bought a cheap copy.
I've never seen an LEC copy of Decline and Fall that I would consider buying.
Tales of Soldiers and Civilians is another case of a reduced limitation (~1000 copies). My copy has a VG (faded spine) book with a VG chemise and VG slipcase.
The Book of the Dead slipcase is indeed fragile, my book is in mint condition but the slipcase is only VG+.

>2 Glacierman: Vathek and the Rubaiyat have the chemise and slipcase which will get you a near pristine book if your copy came with intact examples. My books are Fine but with only VG or VG+ chemises and slipcases. These defects don't really bother me.
I see I'm not alone in having a Shaving of Shagpat with lots of little defects to the slipcase.

>3 MobyRichard: My second copy of Sinbad was only NF, the spine still had good color but was lightly faded otherwise the book and slipcase were great. My copy of Emerson was missing its slipcase while my copy of Paradise Lost had a slipcase that was missing the back panel. These are large and very heavy books and the original slipcases are crap as well as being plain and uninteresting. I'm much happier with the velour lined cloth covered slipcases I made for them. They protect the books better and are much stronger than the original slipcases. My Pope Iliad/Odyssey have faded spines and while the original slipcases are in pretty good condition (VG) they are unmatching pieces of junk that are next in line to get new slipcases.

Call of the Wild's flannel binding and slipcase were hard to find without moth holes. When I finally found a pristine example, I had to have a solander box built to protect it.

On the whole many of the earliest LECs are difficult to find with a slipcase, and for the most part, were poorly made. It's not surprising so many people tossed them. Again, I am happier with well made replacements. However, even a poor intact slipcase provides quite a bit of protection to the book(s). Unfortunately, they did not protect the spine which is were one finds most of the problems.

I couldn’t find Snow Country without a sunned spine yet.
And this copy of the Pope odyssey is the only fine one for a long time I‘ve seen: https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30746063005&searchurl=so...
(No connection to the seller except for that I‘ve bought from him previously)

>4 WildcatJF: WildcatJF: The box and accompanying DJ are also difficult to find intact for Far Away and Long Ago. In addition, because of the weight of the binding and its size, you rarely come across a copy that has not suffered from the text block/spine separation. This is due to gravity's effects after many decades of the book being traditionally shelved. Like the skin on my face, it sags (damn you, gravity). Those copies that have been stored horizontally will be much less likely to suffer the separation phenomena, and be in better shape.

>2 Glacierman: Glacierman: I have VG+/NF copies of Vathek, Rubaiyat, Burton's Kasidah and Shagpat - slipcases and chemises. I'll take some photos and post those up as examples.

> 3 MobyRichard: You are spot on re Sinbad. Pinocchio is also problematic as far as slipcase and spine fading.

>5 kdweber: kdweber: I will post up some photos of my copy of Moby Dick. It took me 20 years, but I found a pretty decent set.

Burton’s Thousand Nights and a Night can be difficult to find with slipcases and book spines in NF shape too. I’ve had to settle on a just a VG Erasmus.

Cooper’s The Prairie is also difficult. I’ve yet to come across a copy that does not have spine fading problems.

Dust Jackets: finding those intact, and not damaged by the sun or light, or in some cases just finding them at all can be a challenge. And some, like the John Austen illustrated sets along with Agnes Miller Parker's The Faerie Queene are beautiful works of art in and of themselves.

>5 kdweber:
>7 Sport1963:

Sport1963, How decent is 'pretty decent?'

I bought a a spine-free copy of Moby Dick for cheap and got a Starr Bookworks rebind -- harmatan black goatskin and silver lettering to spine and front board. Unimaginative on my part, but they look damn classy.

>8 MobyRichard: VG+ slipcase, Fine text block and boards but spine is brown because the color has completely faded. I shelf my LECs with the spines facing in so the slipcase looks pretty good with the marbled paper but I'm sure your rebind looks better. I was going to go that route but had a hard time finding a cheap copy with a perfect text block. When this copy came around I grabbed it because it was pretty nice, I liked the original slipcase and as a bonus it had the monthly letter & announcement.

>8 MobyRichard: MobyRichard

Links below to pics will give you an idea of "pretty decent" - as close to near fine on the books as I have come across. Slipcase is VG.

https://i.postimg.cc/QM9YMXNM/LEC-MD1.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/brtqHXRY/LEC-MD2.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/DZTXJT3h/LEC-MD3.jpg

>2 Glacierman: Glacierman - A couple of pics of my LEC "minis" w/ slipcases and chemises - the books are all NF - have graded the SCs and chemises as VG. Rubaiyat, Vathek and The Kasidah:

https://i.postimg.cc/sXcrWwLg/LEC-minis1.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/L5G24h7t/LEC-minis2.jpg

>10 Sport1963:

Better than decent I'd say!

>7 Sport1963: RE: Vathek & Rubaiyat - Yes, my copies of the books are fine, its just the enclosures that are pitiful. Both books are VG+ to Fine. The enclosures are just crappy and are, in my experience, next to impossible to find in decent shape, let alone Fine.

>5 kdweber: RE: Book of the Dead - My situation is similar to yours in that the books are Fine but the slipcase is much less. It did suffer a bit in the mail, however. I've patched it up as best I may for now. Didn't return it because the books are in excellent shape and the slipcase is unusual, if a bit beaten up.

The slipcase on my copy of Vathek is taped together, but the chemise is fine; since the slipcase has no labeling and is just shiny black paper, I may have that re-made of sturdier materials. I have no slipcase for the Kasidah and the leather is sunned, but in good condition structurally. I spent many years before I could get a Fine copy of All Men Are Brothers.

As with most others, my Decline and Fall and Moby-Dick have not held up well at all.

>14 Django6924: Django6924: I am right there with you on All Men Are Brothers. My book and its chemise are NF, but the slipcase is only G+. Intact but not where I would like it to be. I have a feeling a Fine copy like yours will fetch >$500.

>15 Sport1963:

$500? That's a little high I think. I think the current price is inflated but some LECs do that from time to time before coming back down (think Xenophon). Also auction prices for LECs are usually way lower than retail. I got my Very Good copy (with complete but broken box) for $60. Unfortunately I was unshelving Volume 1 and the cover got caught. Ripped right off.

I've had a devil of a time finding original slipcases in NF to F condition of the following titles:
- the Bruce Rogers' Shakespeare set (many of the sets don't have slipcases)
- Confessions of an English Opium Eater
- The Temptation of St. Anthony

Other books that were hard for me to find in NF to Fine shape (i.e., if you have a Fine desireable LEC book, it may well be worth 2x or more what a VG copy would be worth to a serious collector):
- The Way of All Flesh
- Montaigne's Essays
- The Canterbury Tales (1946 single vol)

>17 Sport1963: RE: The Temptation of St. Anthony. Yeah, that slipcase is another crappy one. Mine is Good at best although the book is Fine. Again, the covering paper is less than sturdy, to be kind. It could use a re-covering methinks.

>18 Glacierman: Another Fine copy here with a flaking slipcase. That glossy blue paper does not wear well. I touched up my copy with blue enamel hobby paint so it wouldn't look so bad on the shelf.

>18 Glacierman:
>19 kdweber:

I just skipped the slipcase entirely :p. Not an LEC best.

My St. Anthony slipcase is intact, but the blue has worn off the edges and a few other places from very minimal handling.

Still, it's in much better shape than my LEC Moll Flanders, where the copper leaf has mostly peeled off displaying a most unlovely cardboard. This copper foil was a disaster, as I don't think I've seen any pristine slipcases.

There’s a Decline and Fall for sale on AbeBooks right now that’s the best I’ve seen by some distance. Different Drummer Books. Not clear if there’s a slipcase though. Bookplates. 350 USD. No affiliation, of course.

>22 GusLogan:
No affiliation either but I can heartily endorse Different Drummer Books as I myself have purchased from them multiple times in the past. If I remember correctly, they were in fact my source for both my LEC Decline and Fall as well as my Shakespeare set. Well packed, honest, accurate in descriptions, and easy to deal with.

>22 GusLogan:

Always dicey. You gotta keep in mind that the spines are going to go on decaying. Not much you can do to preserve poor quality leather. (sheepskin? I forget).

>24 MobyRichard:
Certainly. But if someone’s looking to buy as nice a copy as possible I figured they may appreciate the tip.

>24 MobyRichard:

True, poor quality leather will continue to deteriorate under poor conditions; but what about if well maintained? I never believed any copy of the LEC Moby-Dick could be found without poor quality spines, but seeing (to quote Carl Denham) is believing, and I did see in person and pictures posted on this site of a set with As New spines and slipcase.

At any rate, I do appreciate these notices, and if I didn't already have a set (with deteriorated spines!) I would have been tempted.

>2 Glacierman:
Having recently gone for a string of non-bargains I just rather enthusiastically paid 99 USD for what looks like a Fine Rubaiyat in a Fine slipcase and glassine! Here’s hoping my luck holds.

>27 GusLogan: Nice find. The key is the fine slipcase/chemise which protects the binding from the sun. It's hard to find a chemise with perfect hinges.

>28 kdweber:
I'm sure the situation is the same with Vathek. This was my very first Limited Editions Club, acquired in 1968 in Fine condition. In the time I've owned it, and I pride myself on the way I treat my books, the slipcase has cracks and the chemise hinges are both cracked (the glassine is pristine, though).

>29 Django6924: That ghastly shiny black paper they used for those chemises & slipcases is godawful. It disintegrates readily over time and use.

>29 Django6924: and of course The Kasidah to complete the set

I agree with >30 Glacierman: that those chemises and slip cases are pretty ugly but they did do a good job of protecting the books. All three of mine are in Fine condition but I had one split seam in the Rubaiyat chemise, two spit seams in the Vathek chemise while the Kasidah chemise and slipcase were held together by rubberbands which I replaced with a nice cloth bound velour lined chemise and slipcase.

One to add to this list - the 1947 Mutiny on the Bounty (which I see rarely, maybe because most copies have disintegrated?):

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mutiny-on-the-Bounty-by-Nordhoff-Hall-Limited-Editions-...

(No affiliation, just for illustration - I for one wouldn’t buy this copy!)

>32 GusLogan: Guess I'll stick with my HP edition.