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| Dustjacket in protective sleeve |
Behold - a copy of The Wind In The Willows I purchased from eBay a few months back. A stock photo of the book - with a dustjacket - was used to advertise the tome, but the copy I received was without one. Upon studying the small print of the original listing, I noticed it said that the condition of books may vary and may not have dustjackets, which annoyed me as I'm of the opinion that photographs used to advertise an item should portray the actual one for sale. (Or at least one of a similar condition and appearance.)
Anyway, it was a nice little volume (see pic below), so rather than moan about things I decided to create my own dustjacket. I wanted to use the cover illustration originally used for this particular edition (Scribner's, 1960) so I scanned the dustjacket of a centenary edition (Atheneum, 2008) and used computer technology to remove any references to its anniversary status from the cover and inside jacket notes. The cover I scanned was from a different-sized book so it wasn't quite so straightforward as it sounds, but with a bit of trial and error I eventually produced a result I was happy with.
So, being proud of my handiwork, I thought I'd share it with you here so that you can all tell me how creative and multi-talented I am. Obviously you don't have to mean it, I just like to read paeans of praise exalting me to the heavens. Doesn't everybody?
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| The book as I received it |
11 comments:
Upon studying the small print of the original listing, I
noticed it said that the condition of books may vary and may not have
dustjackets, which annoyed me as I'm of the opinion that photographs
used to advertise an item should portray the actual one for sale.
(Or at least one of a similar condition and appearance.)
Either they don't have a scanner or the nerve to simply point and click a digital camera and use that jpeg for the purpose of selling said item on eBay. I've been through that before and know how sleazy that can be when they go by the mantra "You get what you paid for."
I think the problem, Chris, is that the seller is a book company that has multiple copies of various books and they just use the same photo for each copy of any particular book that they sell. In this instance, I don't think they're out to deceive anyone, it's just that they're taking the easy route which leads to a bit of confusion from the buyer's point of view.
However, there are people out there who misrepresent what they sell and yes, you're right, they are sleazy.
Kid, this is your other self speaking - you are cataclysmically creative and magnificently multi-talented. Yes you are, you know you are. (Time for your/my/our medicine.)
Take your medicine well!
And yes, at least these guys had "fine print" that spells it out for us. It's a sort of "buy at your own risk" sort of thing I'm sure. I recently had to change my password after the cyber attack that occurred with eBay recently, it amused me because for all this time (16 years) I've had the same password I had since I first signed on, and in all that time, nobody ever thought to hack my account with it (and since I can't use it anymore, it's "BuyIt", because I was a naive 20 year old).
I only put money into my account just before or just after I buy something on eBay, Chris. That way, even if I do get hacked, the chances are there'll be no money for anyone to steal.
Kid,your self-made cover looks totally professional - I wouldn't have a clue how to do it. The book looks slightly grubby and in need of a jacket (unless that's just the photo). Over the years I've sometimes had two copies of the same book but never multiple copies ! Back in february I bought a e-book called The Martian by Andy Weir which I really liked and a week later I saw the hardback version on sale in Tesco and bought that too and deleted the e-book. So that was a first - two versions of the same book where one was digital. But great as e-books are it shows that I'll always prefer the physical version if I can get it. I'm amazed you find room for all your stuff though, Kid !
The cloth binding is slightly grubby, Col, but the inside of the book is okay. The dustjacket finishes it off nicely. I always prefer 'actual' books and comics over digital versions and regard digital images as stop-gaps until I can obtain the 'real' thing. As for room for my stuff, I live in a big house with a big loft (or attic, if you prefer).
Just out of curiosity, what sort of paper did you use to print the dust jacket?
I just used superior high white copier paper, hence the protective sleeve. I may apply a coating of Libra-Seal to the actual cover when I can be bothered, but it looks the business at the moment.
Not a bad idea there. Nice it can be done.
Thanks, Chris.
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