#AtoZChallenge: Editions

Adding to and amassing a book collection isn’t just about owning everything your favorite author has written or purchasing books you’ve read and loved; it’s also about filling your shelves with beautifully jacketed books, even if that means buying multiple copies of a novel. This installment of my #AtoZChallenge celebrates this behavior (E is for editions).

While most of my recent book purchases have not been alternative editions of books I already own, some of them have. I have a strange habit of adding two already-owned titles to my library for every new title I purchase (approximately). This is especially true of Barnes and Noble editions, because they are A) inexpensive and B) always available.

I’m also always on the lookout for editions that have been discontinued or are limited (aren’t we all?). While some of the time I encounter them unexpectedly, I love perusing antique book dealer websites and the like for those way-out-of-my-price-range books that I really have to have.

And – I’m adding this as a separate category because I think it is deserved – I’m forever ogling the Juniper Books catalog, website, and social media sites for a look at new book sets and personally customized libraries. If you aren’t familiar with Juniper Books (and you probably are even if you think otherwise), put visiting their website at the top of today’s to-do list. Many of the editions they craft are available elsewhere, like the cloth-bound Penguin classics, although you will definitely long for some of their custom designed sets (the Harry Potter sets especially).

I do have a preference between hardcover and paperback editions (hardcover), and I love a cloth-bound edition (I’ve yet to acquire a leather bound book) more than anything. I’ve always felt that classics (and all books to be honest) should be read in cloth hardcovers, but that has to do with my romantic sensibilities and not any holier-than-thou tendencies.

So without any further rambling which I am inclined to do on this topic, here is visual representation of the books I have multiple editions of. As I compiled these books to take this picture my thought was: I don’t have nearly enough. I do want to note that my Penguin Classics did not make it into this photo, because I have been quite good at acquiring titles of Penguin Classics that I don’t already own. I’ll have to change that…

Little Women Louisa May Alcott

The Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett

To Kill a Mockinbird Harper Lee

Northanger Abbey Jane Austen

Villette Charlotte Bronte

Pride and Prejudice  Jane Austen

Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte

Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte

The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne

Mansfield Park Jane Austen

Persuasion Jane Austen