If you’re collecting every first edition of a popular, prolific writer’s books, chances are you may have to settle for a less-than-ideal copy of famous or (as in this case) hard-to-find titles.
Vance, Jack (as Alan Wade). Isle of Peril. Mystery House, 1957. First edition hardback, an Ex-Library copy with most of the usual flaws (pocket removal, old style dust jacket protector, etc.), otherwise a Good+ copy with wear to bottom boards, bumping at head and heel, black marks along top and bottom board edges due to an old-style dust jacket protector, a long, thin crease to spine, etc., in a Good only dust jacket with long (5″) now-closed tear across top third of dust jacket front, wrapping across spine and along to back panel, where it turns into a crease, held in place by the old style dust jacket protector, spine fading, and a wide variety of small lesser nicks, stains, etc.; a very well worn Ex-Library copy, but both book and jacket are essentially intact. Mystery novel. Hewett, A6.a. Cunningham, B.42. Currey, page 499. Stephenson-Payne/Benson, Jack Vance: A Fantastic Imagination (2nd revised Edition), B36. Hubin, page 408. Later republished as Bird Isle. In my experience, this is the hardest of Vance’s first edition novels to find. Bought off eBay for $32, and even in this condition, copies usually go for over $100.
