Book 23 HC Missing Tip-In Plate

ratlas · Post by **ratlas** » Thu May 19, 2011 6:24 -0700

I just received a copy of Bridge of Tears in the mail from Strand Books and when I went to check the tip-in plate I couldn't find it. Nothing has been torn out as far as I can tell. What's going on here?

pl212 · Post by **pl212** » Thu May 19, 2011 9:51 -0700

That was probably the same book I saw at the Strand store in NYC I mentioned it here on he forum a while ago.
that page is missing and it doesnt seem like it was torn out.
Do you happen to know if it was from NYC ?

ratlas · Post by **ratlas** » Thu May 19, 2011 10:35 -0700

Yep, straight from the store in NY.

pl212 · Post by **pl212** » Thu May 19, 2011 15:46 -0700

Haha!
Yep thats the one.

Thomas Froehling · Fri May 20, 2011 14:02 -0700

Does that HC have a dust jacket and an embossed linen cover? If so, it might be a extremly rare misprint...

The differences in appearance of HCs and TPB (library bindings included in the latter) are:
Dust cover: HC yes, TPB no
End paper : HC yes, TPB no
Embossed linen cover: HC yes, TPB no
Tip in plate: HC yes, TPB no.

Library Bindings do "just" have a trade paperback's content with a sturdy hard cover for use in libraries. For the Fantagraphics HCs, the tip in plate was simply glued in on the end paper, sometimes obscuring the art of it; sometimes, the glue did not seem to stick properly, so the tip in plate fell off....

Since Book 8, the tip in plate was part of the book as an extra page, so it would be really surprising to have an HC without it; hence the extreme rarity of said book....

I hope you're not too disappointed with it anyway...

ratlas · Post by **ratlas** » Fri May 20, 2011 17:30 -0700

Yes it does have the dustjacket which states the standard "Dark Horse Books Limited Edition" verbiage in the fold. And yes it does have the embossed linen cover. All indications are that it is one the limited HCs except for that one missing page. Thanks for the info!

ratlas · Post by **ratlas** » Sun May 22, 2011 20:52 -0700

If anyone is interested I may be willing to trade this strange copy for other HCs, perhaps a 2 for 1 or some such. PM me with inquiries.

Stan Sakai · Post by **Stan Sakai** » Sun May 22, 2011 21:15 -0700

I sign and sketch about 500 tip-ins for an edition of 350. The extras are for Artist Proofs, Publisher Proofs, and loss due to damage. In the same vein, the hard cover books are over printed as well. Sometimes there are more tip-ins than books, and sometimes the other way around.

If there are more tip-ins, the extras are usually just thrown away or forgotten in a drawer. If there are more books, the extras are given to people around the office or sometimes offered at a substantial discount. I remember Fantagraphics had a lot of remaindered copies of the Book 5 HC which they sold for $25.

ratlas · Post by **ratlas** » Mon May 23, 2011 4:27 -0700

Thanks, Stan!