[ModLib] Lord Jim Mystery

[Ron Holl]

John P: That's a funny story!


John W: You have a couple new ones in your list, we should add these.


Here is a thread on this issue from 3+ years ago:

http://modernlib.com/MLMLArchives/dispthread.pl?id=1969


---- John Wolansky <jwol at fast.net> wrote: 
> My 1st Lord Jim is slightly oversized with a matching DJ, too.  I have a
> number of other volumes slightly larger than normal for the ‘30’s ML’s,
> including:
> 
>  
> 
> 8.2 Dreiser’s Sister Carrie from 1937
> 
> 68.3 Lawrence Women in Love from 1938
> 
> 88.3 Dos Passos 42nd from 1937 (no dj)
> 
> 191.2 Edmonds Rome Haul from 1938
> 
>  
> 
> And, you are aware of the two 1939 Blumenthal sized balloon cloth books like
> 54.3, Dinesen’s Seven Gothic Tales and 11.3, Stone’s Lust for Life, both
> from 1939.
> 
>  
> 
> Looks like the two 1939 books were leading into Blumenthal sized bindings.
> Who can say why the blip in sizes in 1937 and 1938.
> 
>  
> 
> I have another slight anomaly I attribute to production error.  Two copies
> of 8.1, De Maupassant’s Mademoiselle Fifi, one with catalog 1 is slightly
> oversized, nearly 1/8”, and the other, with catalog 5, is nearly 1/8”
> shorter!  I presumed the covers were simply miss cut.  The taller copy does
> have slightly taller pages, though, while the undersized copy has regular
> sized.
> 
>  
> 
> I have a copy or two in the Everyman’s Library series where the jacket had
> an unusual amount of creasing along the top edge.  When I unfolded the
> creases on the 1920’s dj’s, I discovered they were taller than the normal
> book size by nearly ¼”.  Again, I thought production errors.
> 
>  
> 
> John Wolansky
> 
>  
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: modlib-bounces at owu.edu [mailto:modlib-bounces at owu.edu] On Behalf Of
> JOHN PETERSON
> Sent: Sunday, April 05, 2009 8:37 PM
> To: For collectors of Modern Library books
> Subject: [ModLib] Lord Jim Mystery
> 
>  
> 
> A while back I found a strange book in an antique mall.  It was a copy of
> Wuthering Heights (#7 binding which dates to Fall, '32), which had a Lord
> Jim DJ (dating to Fall, '31).  The book was in terrible shape, but the DJ
> wasn't bad.  Because it was only $1, I bought it, thinking that I'd keep an
> eye out for a DJ-less Lord Jim of similar vintage.  Yesterday I found a
> pretty good FMLE Lord Jim (Spring '31, #6 binding) without a DJ for $5.  My
> self-congratulation turned to consternation when I matched the Conrad DJ to
> the book, and found that the book is almost 1/4" taller than the DJ!
> 
>  
> 
> My first thought was that the DJ had been defaced to fit the smaller Bronte
> title by some ruthless antique dealer, but close examination of the DJ
> indicates otherwise.  The green bands at the top and bottom of the DJ are
> exactly the same widths as those on my other balloon cloth DJs.  The only
> two other explanations I can think of are that a.) the FMLE Lord Jim is
> taller than some later printings, or b.) That my DJ was mistakenly put on
> the wrong book at the publishing house--although the DJ is a year older than
> the book it wrongly covered.
> 
>  
> 
> Any guesses as to what's going on here?  Anybody know how to stretch a 78
> y/o DJ?
> 
>  
> 
> John Peterson
>