US vs UK editions - do you prefer the edition produced in the author's home country?

[theenormityofitall]

Harry Potter? Never even saw one of those books.

[Tito_Villa]

John i'm interested to know which is your favourite of the Harry Potter novels?

[jhanic]

I prefer the Harry Potter books from the UK. They just seem more authentic.

As far as King goes, the words are the same in both the US and UK editions. I've never seen an example in a UK edition of any word or spelling changes.

John

[theenormityofitall]

Yeah, UTD is cool. But with Lisey's Story, it gets screwed up if you put a DJ protector on it. Neither one of the Duma Key's jackets do anything for me. Some woman from England I was corresponding with years ago, sent me a copy of the British edition of Everything's Eventual, and I remember thinking, wow, that's not what the UK art used to look like. But then I realized most of the UK versions I have of anything are almost all Laymon titles from the late 80's and early 90's.

[frik51]

This is one of my favorites:

[frik51]

The US Lisey's Story is a work of art. The final image is the actual cover, but the second photo shows the book without the cover.

[frik51]

[frik51]

What ones in the US did you think looked better than UK editions?

I'm only referring to the UK/US King HCs, as those are the only editions I buy - both of them. Way back in the eighties/nineties, King's UK publisher was on a roll resulting in some amazingly effective covers, much more so than their US counterparts.
Lately, however, King's US covers are better by far; the UK cover's up first:

[theenormityofitall]

Yeah, those are the ones I'm primarily referring to. I have a full run of Laymon HCs w/ lots of Headline HCs, and the older ones in particular have noticably tanned over time (and it hasn't been that long!). WH Allen was indeed another such publisher; I have a few of theirs as well that look just as bad as the Headlines. I suspect, given the choice, a buyer would rather have a whiter copy than a tanned copy, so if somehow someone was able to have whiter paper (maybe, like you, kept it relatively air-tight) it might be worth a bit more...though probably not much. As you said, it's just a typical/common feature of books from that publisher, not a defect.

Yeah, mine are literally pure white. I was shocked at how badly the Laymon books looked. I knew they used sub-par paper, but not that bad.

[RonClinton]

Yeah, lol the paper Headline used in the 90's was horrific. I bought a couple Headline HCs on eBay recently from R. Laymon, and the yellow "sides" looked like someone blew nicotine on them constantly for a couple years... I'm assuming even if you have books from then with all the yellowing, they would be worth virtually the same as mine? It's not the buyers fault....how could he know Headline (and I think WH Allen too) used such crappy paper?

Yeah, those are the ones I'm primarily referring to. I have a full run of Laymon HCs w/ lots of Headline HCs, and the older ones in particular have noticably tanned over time (and it hasn't been that long!). WH Allen was indeed another such publisher; I have a few of theirs as well that look just as bad as the Headlines. I suspect, given the choice, a buyer would rather have a whiter copy than a tanned copy, so if somehow someone was able to have whiter paper (maybe, like you, kept it relatively air-tight) it might be worth a bit more...though probably not much. As you said, it's just a typical/common feature of books from that publisher, not a defect.

[frik51]

What ones in the US did you think looked better than UK editions?

I'll post some of my US favorites once I'm back home again, late next week.

sk

[peteOcha]

I have some of the UK King paperbacks from the '80s, and the cover art is beyond horrible. They were going for a 'look' that would make all the books look similar in a display rack, and that involved lots of shiny gold foil and awful artwork.

The Hodder & Stoughton UK editions of King's books were just plain horrible, although I do own several (when you have no choice you take what you can). It's these I'm talking about:


Thankfully, their 2011 lineup has been redone and now looks like this: (much better IMO)

[theenormityofitall]

I have some of the UK King paperbacks from the '80s, and the cover art is beyond horrible. They were going for a 'look' that would make all the books look similar in a display rack, and that involved lots of shiny gold foil and awful artwork.

Hmmmm...don't know much about the 80's ones from Britain. I just know the Headline Laymon books from the late 80's and early 90's looked fantastic, and the Mylar cover just adds to the beauty.
But the only Grant edition I was missing concerning the DT books, was the first one (which everyone missed); I have it somewhere around here as a UK first edition trade paperback...the cover is kinds cheezy.

[theenormityofitall]

I don't really agree, but this did give me an idea for a new topic...

sk

What ones in the US did you think looked better than UK editions? Of course, it depends on both the publisher and author, but I always thought the Laymon and King UK DJs were much better looking than the US editions, but they're put together cheap, that's the only problem (and the yellowing..but I don't think that happens anymore).

[theenormityofitall]

Those are the two reasons I prefer UK HCs over US HCs, when given the choice. 'Course, the cheap paper that many of the UK publishers use tends to age/tan some, offsetting those two pluses a bit.

Yeah, lol the paper Headline used in the 90's was horrific. I bought a couple Headline HCs on eBay recently from R. Laymon, and the yellow "sides" looked like someone blew nicotine on them constantly for a couple years...no excuse for that! Lucky for me, all the signed Laymon HCs I bought way back then for about $50-55 bucks a piece, look like they were published yesterday since I kept them all sealed in plastic bags. I'm assuming even if you have books from then with all the yellowing, they would be worth virtually the same as mine? It's not the buyers fault....how could he know Headline (and I think WH Allen too) used such crappy paper?