6 Collectible Books from Easton Press and Why They're Collectible
Easton Press is a publisher specializing in handsome, full leather editions of much of the world’s most respected literature, including classics, poetry and art books. Constructed of fine materials using old school bookbinding techniques, featuring hubbed spines, 22KT Gold accenting, acid-neutral papers, and satin ribbon bookmarkers, they found a niche with book lovers and — no offense to Easton Press — library stylists. Since 1975, they’ve been issuing volume after volume of these literary standouts on a mostly subscription basis. Most titles were part of a series, now numbering 19, with a minimum of 2 titles in some single author series, to over 200 in the Library of Military History. Many titles claimed a spot in multiple series. Many titles resurfaced, with variant covers and/or added embellishments, as special editions.
A great number of these books found their way to the secondary market, where there is a lively trade among buyers and sellers. So, to say there is an ample supply of pre-owned Easton Press titles available to the book scout would be an understatement.
With literally thousands upon thousands of Easton Press books on the secondary market, you would think their value to collectors would be minimal, right? To some extent, that’s true. But there are some titles that are perennial favorites and, so far, have always met with a willing buyer proffering a respectable price. In this post, I’ll feature 6 of these titles. I’ll highlight the noteworthy features of the edition by Easton Press and/or the features of the work itself that enhance its collectability. Let’s get started.
1. Citizen Soldiers, Stephen E. Ambrose, Signed First Edition
Stephen Ambrose was a historian and presidential biographer who made his mark on the American literary establishment with his book, Undaunted Courage, about the Lewis & Clark expedition of 1804. He possessed the uncommon ability to relate historical events with all their complexities and nuances, in
a manner that the layperson could absorb, understand and appreciate. His career and writings were not without controversy, but in a New York Times review of his last book, To America: Personal Reflections of an Historian, a semi-memoir, William Everdell states:
“Despite not being a great historian, he reached an important lay audience without endorsing its every prejudice or sacrificing the profession's standards of scholarship. He may have deserved less than he got from his audience, but he certainly deserved better from some of his envious peers.” [1]
Citizen Soldiers, Ambrose’s 1997 account of the WWII battles fought in northwest Europe from D-Day to the end of the war, was on the New York Times bestseller list in both hardcover and paperback during the same week. Ambrose interviewed dozens of surviving soldiers in writing the book.
Easton Press published the work as a Signed First Edition in 1997 with a limited run of 1000 numbered copies. Included with the book was a Certificate of Authenticity, also signed and dated by Stephen Ambrose. The book is bound in green leather with a gold accented border on front and back covers. Included with the text are multiple archival photos of World War II operations in Europe. As a point of reference, a copy of the Easton Press edition sold on eBay, June 20th, for $129.
[1] Everdell, William R., Personal History,17 November 2002, p. 51 [https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/17/books/personal-history.html]
2. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury, Signed Modern Classic
Ray Bradbury was an American author and screenwriter whose work spanned several genres, including science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mystery fiction. He was one of the best-known writers of the 20th and
21st century, earning many awards for his work, including a 2007 special citation from the Pulitzer Prize committee for “his distinguished, prolific and deeply influential career as an unmatched author of science fiction and fantasy.” [1] In a tribute to Bradbury after his death, the New York Times called him “the writer most responsible for bringing modern science fiction into the literary mainstream.” [2]
Fahrenheit 451, published in 1953, and considered by many to be one of Bradbury’s best works, is a dystopian novel where a future society outlaws books and burns any subsequently found. The novel garnered the American Academy of Arts and Letters award in 1954, the Prometheus Hall of Fame award in 1984, and a “Retro” Hugo Award in 2004 for a Best Novel. The novel inspired a Francois Truffaut film in 1966, a BBC Radio dramatization in 1982, and prompted Bradbury to publish a stage play version in 1979.
With such a sterling resume, Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is an obvious candidate for the collectible books canon, and Easton Press took note. Published in 1998, EP issued Fahrenheit 451 as a Signed Modern Classic, handsomely bound in full black leather with gold accented borders and boards. Illustrated by Joseph Mugnaini, the book includes a Certificate of Authenticity signed and dated by Ray Bradbury and Collector’s Notes. As a point of reference, as of June 17th, the average sale price of this edition on eBay was $316.
[1] The 2007 Pulitzer Prize Winners: Special Awards and Citations, 02 November 2013, [https://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-year/2007]
[2] Jonas, Gerald. Ray Bradbury, Master of Science Fiction, Dies at 91. The New York Times. 05 June 2012. [https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/07/books/ray-bradbury-popularizer-of-science-fiction-dies-at-91.html]
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3. Dune, Frank Herbert, Limited Memorial Edition
Frank Herbert was a man of many talents. Not only was he a world-renown science fiction author, but he did stints as a photographer in World War II, a newspaper journalist for West Coast publications in the 1950s, a book reviewer, ecological consultant and lecturer. He began his career as a novelist in 1955 with the serial publication of Under Pressure in the magazine Astounding Science Fiction, later issued as a book by Doubleday, The Dragon in the Sea. The story concerned the environment and predicted worldwide conflicts over oil consumption and production.
Malcolm Edwards in the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction wrote:
Much of Herbert's work makes difficult reading. His ideas were genuinely developed concepts, not merely decorative notions, but they were sometimes embodied in excessively complicated plots and articulated in prose which did n
ot always match the level of thinking [...] His best novels, however, were the work of a speculative intellect with few rivals in modern science fiction.[1]
Dune, published in 1965, earned the distinction of becoming the best-selling science fiction novel of all time. The many hats Herbert had worn in his career strongly influenced the story of Dune — a saga of an interstellar society in the distant future where control of the planet Arrakis, the only source of a much coveted “spice” (drug), necessary for space navigation, is fought over by the competing factions of the society. Herbert examines how politics, religion, ecology, technology and human emotion play a part in the human conflict over control of the “spice”.
Dune tied with Roger Zelazny's This Immortal for the Hugo Award in 1966, and won the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel. Dune is, in the opinion of some critics, the best science fiction book ever written. Translated into dozens of languages, the novel has sold almost 20 million copies.
Easton Press published their first edition of Dune in 1987 as a Masterpiece of Science Fiction title, richly bound in full Maroon leather with a gold gilt accented “fremen” motif on front and back covers. The Memorial edition featured personal memories and thoughts on Herbert, by various authors, submitted to the publisher shortly after his death. Included with the book is an insert of Collector’s Notes. As a point of reference, the average sale price of this edition on eBay as of June 25th is $105.
[1] Malcolm Edwards, "Herbert, Frank" in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, edited by John Clute and Peter Nicholls. London, Orbit, 1994. ISBN 1-85723-124-4 (p. 558–60).
4. Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Signed Modern Classic
Ken Kesey was practically a household name among the counterculture generation of the 1960s and 70s. An American novelist, short story writer, reporter and creative writing teacher at the University of Oregon, Kesey considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the Hippies of the 60s. Through his association with the Merry Pranksters — a group of friends and followers rejecting social norms and experimenting with psychoactive drugs — he rubbed shoulders with many of the iconic literary figures of the Beat Generation, such as Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg.
His cross-country bus trip with the Merry Pranksters — chronicled in Tom Wolfe’s 1968 award-winning novel The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test — cemented his reputation as a counterculture hero almost as much as his brilliant literary talent. In an interview with Robert K. Elder during a discussion of Kesey’s college years at Stanford, Kesey recalled, “I was too old to be a Beatnik, and too young to be a hippie.” [1]
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Kesey’s first successful novel published in 1962, was an instant hit and the basis for a stage play and film of the same name, winning 5 Academy Awards. The book germinated from Kesey’s experiences as an orderly on the night shift at the Menlo Park Veteran’s Hospital. He often took time to speak with the patients there and formed the opinion that, rather than being insane, they were misfits who didn’t fit into society. Cuckoo’s Nest tells the story of a rogue patient who disrupts the routine of the ward by encouraging the other patients to break the rules. He is in constant conflict with the Nurse who tries to enforce the rules. A free spirit, rather than a mental invalid, he has a positive influence on the self-worth of the other patients.
In 1999, Easton Press published the book as a Signed Limited Edition, bound in handsome, full black leather, accented with gold gilt borders and crests. This edition features beautiful illustrations by Kent Bash, a signed and dated Certificate of Authenticity, and Collector’s Notes. The most unusual aspect of this edition is Kesey’s elaborate signature, done up in Gel pen on the declaration page, and unique to every copy he signed. As a point of reference, the average sale price of this edition as of June 1st stands at $488.
[1] Elder, Robert K. Down on the peacock farm. Salon Magazine. 12 June 2009. [https://web.archive.org/web/20081201235830/http://archive. salon.com/people/feature/2001/11/16/kesey99/index1.html]
5. Frank McCourt, Angela’s Ashes, Signed Modern Classic
An Irish-American teacher and writer, whose parents were immigrants, Frank McCourt was born in New York City in 1930 and lived in Brooklyn. In the middle of the Great Depression in 1935, he and his family returned to Ireland, eventually settling in Limerick, his mother’s native city. His life as a child, beset by
tragedies, was a struggle to survive, according to McCourt. When he was 11, his father Malachy, an alcoholic, left the family — Frank, his mother, Angela, and his 3 siblings — to fend for themselves. Until he left again for America at 19, Frank and his brothers worked odd jobs and stole food to help feed the family.
After serving in the Korean War, McCourt attended New York University on the GI Bill, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in English in 1957. His teaching career began shortly thereafter. He taught at six schools between 1957 and 1967, all in Manhattan.
McCourt’s writing career launched spectacularly with the publication in 1996 of Angela’s Ashes, a memoir of his childhood in Brooklyn and Limerick, Ireland. It details the grinding poverty his family endured and the struggles with his father’s alcoholism and abandonment of the family. Although the work was not without controversy and accusations of exaggerated claims, the novel won the National Book Critics Circle award, and the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography in 1997. The book was the basis for a film of the same name in 1999. In 2017, a stage musical based on the book, opened at the Lime Tree Theatre in Limerick, with performances following at other theatre venues in Ireland. Responding to the claims of misrepresentation in the work, McCourt described the book “as a memoir, not an exact history” [1]
Easton Press published the book in 2003 as a Signed Modern Classic, beautifully bound in a blue-gray full leather treatment with gold gilt borders and crests on front and back covers. The author signed this edition on the declaration page, and on the signed and dated Certificate of Authenticity included with the book. As a point of reference, the average sale price of the book on eBay as of July 3rd stands at $87.
[1] Hannan, Gary. Yet another article relating to Gerry Hannan and Frank McCourt. Gerry Hannan The Truth. 28 July 2009. [http://gerryhannanthetruth.blogspot.com/2009/07/yet-another-article-relating-to-gerry.html]
6. Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut, Signed Modern Classic
Not unlilke Ken Kesey discussed earlier in this post, the counterculture generation of the 1960s and 70s saw Kurt Vonnegut as a hero of sorts. His anti-war sentiments and notoriety after the publication of Slaughterhouse Five resonated with the Vietnam War generation. Vonnegut was a prolific writer, publishing 14 novels, 3 short-story collections and five plays over a 50 year career.
Born in 1922 in Indianopolis, Indiana, Vonnegut was of German descent and the youngest child of a wealthy family. Growing up in the Great Depression, Vonnegut saw his family’s fortunes wane in a few years, emotionally scarring his mother, who later committed suicide.
Vonnegut discovered his talent for writing as co-editor of The Shortridge Echo, his Indianapolis high school newspaper of the same name. Later, he honed his writing chops as editor of The Cornell Daily Sun, the independent newspaper of the New York university where he studied in the early 1940s.
Vonnegut served in World War II and fought in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was captured by German troops and imprisoned in a slaughterhouse in the city of Dresden. He survived the firebombing of Dresden by Allied forces while hiding underground in a meat locker.
Slaughterhouse Five, Vonnegut’s sixth novel, published in 1969, was born out of his experiences in the war, especially the firebombing of Dresden. The story is told in a flash-forward manner, with several of the events in the plot's timeline revealed in the first few pages of the book. The science-fiction inspired plot concerns the life of Billy Pilgrim, an army chaplain in World War II, a survivor of the Dresden bombing, a time-traveler, an abductee for a time on an alien planet, and a victim of several life tragedies born out of his captivity in Dresden during the war. The anti-war novel expressed powerful sentiments against the futility and horror of war.
Slaughterhouse Five catapulted Vonnegut to literary fame and became a rallying cry for the generation opposed to the Vietnam War. The work immediately rose to the upper echelons of the New York Times bestseller list and stayed there for 16 weeks. Nominated for best novel Nebula and Hugo awards in 1970, and appearing in Time magazine’s list of 100 best English-language novels since 1923, Michael Crichton, writing in The New Republic says of Vonnegut’s work: "he writes about the most excruciatingly painful things. His novels have attacked our deepest fears of automation and the bomb, our deepest political guilts, our fiercest hatreds and loves. No one else writes books on these subjects; they are inaccessible to normal novelists." [1]
Easton Press issued the work as a Signed Modern Classic in 1998, nicely bound in full blue leather with gold gilt borders and crests. Vonnegut’s signature is on the declaration page. A Certificate of Authenticity, signed and dated by the author, accompanies the book, with an insert of Collector’s Notes. As a point of reference, the average sale price for this edition on eBay as of June 16th is $284.
[1] Shields, Charles J. And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut, a Life. Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 978-0-8050-8693-5. p. 254.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this short preview of just a few of Easton Press’ Collectible books. In over 40 years of publishing, they’ve produced some very fine editions of titles recognized by readers and scholars alike as exceptional examples of their genre. From my own experience buying and selling Easton Press books, I’ve discovered the Library of Military History, Masterpieces of Science Fiction and Signed Modern Classics series to be good hunting grounds for collectible EP books. If you’d like to know more about Easton Press titles, and which ones are considered collectible, you can find more info at Artunderwraps.