Daninsky's Collection

[TacomaDiver]

It does take the guess work out of the "how do I organize this?" question that I'm sure we have all asked ourselves many times.

[Daninsky]

Damn, man! What a beautiful set! I see the numbers on the bottom, but what is the basis of the organization? Is it chronological?

Question I have discussed at length with at least a half dozen Heinlein 'scholars' since this set was released five years ago.

Short answer after all that debate? No goddam basis whatsoever. Purely and utterly random. LOL

[Theli]

Damn, man! What a beautiful set! I see the numbers on the bottom, but what is the basis of the organization? Is it chronological?

[Daninsky]

Continuing on here, though eschewing any real semblance of order in the process, I am providing some photographs of The (numbered) Virginia Edition of the complete collection of Robert Heinlein's works. The rather glossy leather binding doesn't want to photograph well in my windowless library, but it'll have to do.

I was introduced to Heinlein at a rather young age, as my father roomed with RH's nephew his first year in college and had quite a collection of paperbacks when I was a lad.

[St. Troy]

We have one of every limited / trade edition we ever put out, as well as the magazine at this point...

If you ever have a break in where you find that nothing is missing but also find some random guy wandering around looking...that guy is me.

[slayn666]

Ah, so it's an issue of not having a copy of every version of a book you've done rather than not having a copy of any version at all.

[Dan Hocker]

I'm actually curious about this. Is there anything besides some of the earlier issues of the magazine that are proving stubborn?

We have one of every limited / trade edition we ever put out, as well as the magazine at this point. The real problem lies in the smaller projects. I think we're still missing about 5 lettered editions (all fairly early), and we basically don't have any of the Artist Editions pre 2010. I think we probably have everything else though.

[RonClinton]

Sounds in many ways familiar to my story. I've been doing this now for around 25 years as well -- closer to 30, I suppose, if I do the math. I didn't start seriously collecting/reading in the genre until my early 20s, starting with Dark Harvest and the like. Dark Harvest's novels, collections, and anthologies introduced me to different authors and the small-press scene, and then I picked up Cemetery Dance #2 brand-new on the newstands...and it all took off from there. My book database shows 2,745 (though, of course, not all are small-press horror) books in my collection currently, but I've probably had at least half that number again go through my hands as books were traded, sold off, etc.

30 years of bookhunting -- man, that's a heckuva long time when I see that number in black-and-white (even longer when I think as well about the teenage me and the casual trips made to my local used bookstore for some cheap reading pbs) ...but even still I can't think of many ways more rewarding to spend one's spare time and discretionary funds. The fruits of my labor surround me like old friends in the many barrister bookcases in my home office, and when I look at them, as I often do, they give me a sense of pleasure and comfort and of satisfaction of time well spent.

[Daninsky]

Do you collect by publisher then...I know you're attempting to complete the Centipede collection w/ a full run of their books...is that the case with the other several publishers you say you collect?

I collect by author and the degree of interest I have in reading the book...but I know those with the completist collector gene often collect by publisher, with the author(s) incidental, and shots of their full-run collections are always a lot of fun to see.

By the way, how long have you been collecting? That Centipede collection must've taken some time to accumulate...

I collect mainly by publisher, yes. Though I am not an obsessive completist with any single publisher other than Centipede. I buy everything Jerad does, bar none. With most of the others I collect, I purchase only books that appeal to me as a reader or (far less frequently) books that I strongly feel will appreciate in value. I try to limit my collecting to publisher because it imposes a reasonable restraint to keep me from going crazy and spending too much or buying more books than I have room for. I also buy individual books if they are recommended to me by a reliable source or if I have a personal connection to the author, editor, or publisher.

So I suppose I'm sort of a hybrid in terms of collector genes. But yes, there are about six publishers (Centipede, Subterranean, CD, Swan River, PS, and Thunderstorm) whose release updates I watch very carefully. There are probably another dozen or so that are on my radar, but from whom I only buy one or two books per year.

As far as book collecting in general, I have been going to great lengths to purchase certain authors or publishers for about 25 years now. I started back in high school, taking semi-regular road trips across my state with a very dear friend of mine, also an avid collector. We'd drive along the interstate over the course of a day or weekend and stop at all the bookstores on our map. I believe the first signed edition I procured this way was a signed Fritz Leiber (Bazaar of the Bizarre)published by Donald M Grant when I was about 17. As time went on, I started ranging further to conventions and swap meets and such.

Ebay was a life changer when it came along, as I suspect it was for most people here. Though it did snip a little bit of the fun out of those trips to Windy City Pulp and Paper.

Believe it or not, I've only been collecting Centipede for about two years. I am just, well, -quite- aggressive when it comes to my rare completist collecting. I hunt like mad and have a pretty vast network of reliable connections built up over the years to hassle daily about hits. Hahahaha. Persistence, luck, and a lot of negotiating.

[Theli]

I would not envy anyone trying to collect the entire CD library. There's some stuff even we can't get our hands on.

A collectors job can be rough and dirty, but someone's got to do it!

[mhatchett]

Glad I haven't been bitten by the completest bug LOL!

[slayn666]

I would not envy anyone trying to collect the entire CD library. There's some stuff even we can't get our hands on.

I'm actually curious about this. Is there anything besides some of the earlier issues of the magazine that are proving stubborn?

[Dan Hocker]

Do you collect by publisher then...I know you're attempting to complete the Centipede collection w/ a full run of their books...is that the case with the other several publishers you say you collect?

I collect by author and the degree of interest I have in reading the book...but I know those with the completist collector gene often collect by publisher, with the author(s) incidental, and shots of their full-run collections are always a lot of fun to see.

By the way, how long have you been collecting? That Centipede collection must've taken some time to accumulate...

I would not envy anyone trying to collect the entire CD library. There's some stuff even we can't get our hands on.

[RonClinton]

Do you collect by publisher then...I know you're attempting to complete the Centipede collection w/ a full run of their books...is that the case with the other several publishers you say you collect?

I collect by author and the degree of interest I have in reading the book...but I know those with the completist collector gene often collect by publisher, with the author(s) incidental, and shots of their full-run collections are always a lot of fun to see.

By the way, how long have you been collecting? That Centipede collection must've taken some time to accumulate...

[Theli]

It's a good start! I'm a big fan of the Fangoria book, I have the regular s/l. CD's leather bound lettered copies were truly something to behold. I wish I'd been able to order some while they were being produced.