Posted 13 years ago
LISSA-D
(9 items)
I AM JUST WONDERING IF ANYONE KNOWS ANYTHING ABOUT THIS BOOK? IT WAS MY MOTHERS..MARKED PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES HANDWRITTEN 129 NO REAL COPYRIGHT DATE NEW YORK DOUBLE DAY, DORAN & CO INC BY MARGERY WILLIAMS ILLUSTRATED BY WILLIAM NICHOLSON
BEAUTIFUL PICS THE BOOK IS A BIT BEATEN UP AND SOME BROWN STAINING BUT NOT ON ANY OF THE PICS! THEY SEEM TO BE WATERCOLOR PICS
I ASSUME SHE GOT AT A BOOK SALE OF SOME KIND IT HAS A STICK ON SAYING STATE LIBRARY SALEM OREGON
ANY INFO WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED
This title was originally published in the England and in American in 1922. All copies of the First edition for both the UK and the US were printed in England. These First editions had the 1922 date on the title page. The UK edition was printed by Heinemann and the US edition was published by George H. Doran. At least three printings were done under the George H. Doran imprint before it merged with Doubleday to become Doubleday, Doran and Co. on the last day of 1927. Doubleday, Doran and Co. became just Doubleday and Company on the last day of 1945. So that means that your book was published between 1928 and 1945 since it was published by Doubleday, Doran and Co. At least two printings were done by Doubleday, Doran and Co. that used an earlier style cover that was similar to the First Edition cover. Sometime in the late 30's or early 40's the cover was changed to this more colorful image. The dust jacket art was the same as the cover art. In fine condition in the original dust jacket I would value this edition in the $400.00 to $750.00 range, but in the condition your book is in I would guess the value is more in the $20-$50 range. The problem with these early editions of The Velveteen Rabbit is that none after the First printing are dated in any way, and none mention anything about what is the printing of the book. This would not change for many years when Doubleday and Company reprinted the book in the 1960's started to number the printings of the book somewhere around the 5th Doubleday and Company printing. They did not take into account any of the earlier printings by George H. Doran and Co. or those by Doubleday, Doran and Company when they started their printing numbering scheme.
How funny I had posted that such a long time ago---but I had just contacted the State of Oregon library, this was their book way back when. The book has a handwritten number 129 on it 3rd picture above. One of the librarians had just written me back about it see below---Thank you so much for the amazing amount of info and the time you spent responding. This is such a great website for connecting with people who know their stuff!
02/18/2014 Hello Lissa –
Your copy of The Velveteen Rabbit may be very old, as this book was first published around 1922, I think. Many decades ago the Oregon State Library did collect children’s books. Our mission changed in the 1990’s and we have not had a collection of children’s books, except for a few books by Oregon authors, since that time. Our collection was given away to other libraries. Because this is such a popular book, and one that is still being published, many libraries will sell their older copies through their library re-sale shops.
I do not know what the hand written number means. I have asked two of library staff, who have been working at this library for 30 years, and they do not know, either. It could have been added by a later owner.
Best wishes-
Oregon State Library
I am glad that my information was of use. I would have no idea what the 129 on the copyright page might mean. It is probably something written by the library for their own reasons. I have been researching the history of this book for some time now, trying to get to the bottom of which printing came first. You will see a lot of misinformation about this book published on the internet, so don't believe everything you see, especially when it comes to prices. A quick Google search will show you that the information I gave you about the publisher is correct. The history of the publishers that printed this book is quite easy to find. I own quite a few copies of this title, published from 1922 to the 1980's that I bought trying to unravel the mystery of the book. I hope to someday write up the complete bibliography of this book, at least for the early years.