Franklin Library "Limited Editions"

Hi, I'm hoping someone can clarify something for me. I have 55 Franklin Library editions. I've noticed that all of them published prior to 1979 state on the title page that they are "Limited Editions," but only a few after 1979 say anything of the kind. My questions are:

1) Were all Franklin Library books "limited editions," or were only the ones labeled as such limited editions?
2) How many books were the limited editions limited to? I've read somewhere that the Oxford University Press / FL liasion Dickens books were limited to 6500 copies each, but that sounds like a lot of copies for a limited edition -- Wikipedia suggests that true limited editions are fewer than 1000 copies. Was this just a marketing ploy on the part of FL, or should we consider the ones so labeled as true Limited Editions?
3) I don't believe any of my Easton Press books are labeled "Limited Editions" (I don't own any of the DLEs) but doesn't EP have a similar subscription model to what FL had, and so shouldn't most of their books be considered Limited Editions too?

Thank you!!

By definition, a "limited edition" is limited to a certain specified number of copies. If the Franklin Library marketed something as a "limited edition", but did not restrict the number, then they engaged in fraud.

Usually, such books will carry the notation: "#5 of 1000", or whatever.

Thank you both, that helps!

In Franklin's defense, many of their publications were issued based on subscription. Thus they were limited in that way and never showed up as price-clipped closeouts. I don't know about those marked 'limited edition' on the cover page, and I don't know what they intended by that label, but when I was buying from Franklin, most, if not all of their publications were limited to advance subscription.

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Franklin Library did business by subscription only and therefore would limit the number of volumes they would produce for any one series. Calls for subscriptions for the various series would go out through advertisement until Franklin Library was able to get enough subscribers lined up to produce the series at a profit. They would then produce the series, one volume per month and only for the subscribers. Series were never reproduced later for a new batch of subscribers. Therefore, it is in that sense that these books were limited editions. Franklin Library noted this in several ways. First, they would sometimes note it on the title pages. Second, they would note it in the series ID Blocks.

Franklin Library produced three types of books; 1) full leather bound, 2) ¼ bound leather with cloth covers, and 3) faux leather sometimes referred to as leatherette which is not leather at all. By in large, the majority of their series were done in full leather and a much smaller percent were done in ¼ leather and simulated (faux) leather.

Most all of their full leather series had ID blocks on one of their first few pages that identified the series. As an example, their series, The 100 Greatest Books of All Time which ran from the beginning of the company in 1974 to 1983 had a series specific ID Block that read, “This limited edition of (title of the book) is published exclusively for The Franklin Library collection The 100 Greatest Books of All Time”. Their series, The First Edition Society which ran from 1976 to 1981 had an ID Block that read, “This limited first edition of (title of book) by (author of the book) has been privately printed exclusively for members of The First Edition Society ”. Their series, The Signed First Edition Society which ran from 1984 to 2000 when the company closed had two different ID Blocks utilized. The earlier ID Block (1984-1991) read, “This limited first edition of (title of the book) has been privately printed, and personally signed by (author’s name) exclusively for members of The Signed First Edition Society”. The later ID Block (1991-2000) read, “This limited, leather bound edition has been privately printed and personally signed by the author exclusively for The Signed First Edition Society”. Accordingly, the “limited edition” terminology was used in their ID Blocks throughout the company’s 26 year history. Below are the full leather series that were produced that specifically said “limited edition” in the series ID Block:
The 100 Greatest Books of All Time
The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature
The Collector’s Library of The World’s Best Loved Books
The Collected Stories of the World’s Greatest Writers
The Greatest Books of the Twentieth Century
The First Edition Society
The Signed First Edition Society
The Signed Limited Edition (Referred to as the Signed 60 series)
The Pulitzer Prize Library
The Oxford Library of Charles Dickens (by Franklin Library)
The Oxford Reference Library (by Franklin Library)
The following full leather series did not mention “limited edition” specifically in the ID Block:
Great Books of the Western World
Pulitzer Prize Classics
The Oxford Library of the World’s Great Books (by Franklin Library)
The Franklin Library of Mystery Masterpieces
The Metropolitan Museum of Art at Home
The following series of full leather books did not have ID Blocks at all:
The 100 Greatest Books of All Time - Extension
The Heirloom Library of the World’s Greatest Books
Some, like the Franklin Library’s Oxford Library of Charles Dickens had an ID Block that mentioned the number of copies that the series was limited to which was 7500 copies in that particular case. In most cases, the ID Blocks did not mention the number of copies the series was limited to in its production.

As to the “A Limited Edition” found on the title pages. Some series had it and some did not. Of the 18 different series noted above, 8 of them had “A Limited Edition” on the title pages (although there might have been one or two volumes in a series where it was left off probably more to an oversight than anything else), 2 were first editions and stated so rather than a limited edition, 2 of the series did not say limited editions on the title page, but had the number of copies made incorporated into their ID Blocks. There were 6 series that did not mention limited edition on the title page and were not first editions.

As far as Easton Press is concerned, their business model is considerably different than Franklin Library’s model. An example is comparing the two flagship series the two companies produced. As noted above, Franklin Library’s The 100 Greatest Books of All Time series was offered only one time to those that had initially subscribed to the series. Easton Press’ counterpart series, The Greatest Books Ever Written has been offered since the early days of the company and is still being offered to anyone who so desires to join in. In that sense their offerings are not limited as they are on-going.

Thank you, Axatar, that is extremely helpful!

I'm currently in the process of collecting the Pulitzer Prize series and have noticed on Ebay there is one seller in particular (rare-book-cellar) who has numerous listings advertised as "1st edition 1st printing" that are priced about 10 times the average selling price for the book (usually from $275-295 for a book that sells for $25-30). The seller only includes one photo, which appears identical to photos in the much cheaper listings. I tried contacting the seller to inquire what makes their books "1st editions" as opposed to the rest for sale but have not heard back yet.

In trying to research this online, this forum is the only reference I can find to different editions of Franklin Library titles. I'm fairly certain this is a scam and this seller is simply jacking up the price to an extreme trying to target the very gullible, but I'm looking for confirmation since they are a "top-rated" seller and I am surprised they haven't received complaints in their feedback if this truly is their selling strategy.

Is there such a thing as a "1st edition 1st printing" of these books, or is my understanding correct that all the Franklin Library titles were limited editions?

> 9
You are correct. It's a scam intended to entrap the lazy or naive into overpaying for regular FL editions. It always amazes me when one actually sells for those prices.

This is such great information. My mother has given me her collection and all she recalls is they were Pulitzer winners. All of the books are dated between 1975 and 1980 and have silk moire end pages. There are 53 books. Do you happen to know where I can get a list of the books printed from the 2 Pulitzer collections you mentioned? Thanks.

>11 lilsismin: you can find a list here. http://www.eastonfranklinbooks.com/franklin-library-series/fl-pulitzer

>11 lilsismin: Sounds like you have the complete first set of 53. Here is the list for that set:

This is the first Pulitzer Prize set (53 titles) from the Franklin Library. It was printed between 1975-1980, and must be dated this way. Each book states “Pulitzer Prize 19xx” on the top of the title page, with the production year on the bottom of the page. This set was produced with colored Moire endpapers, the later set was marbled endpapers, and it included non-fiction titles.

1918 - His Family by Ernest Poole, navy blue leather with blue moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Steven H. Stroud, 1979 - Photos
1919 - The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington, green leather with green moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Roy Andersen, 1977 - Photos
1921 - The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, purple leather with pink moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Barnett Plotkin, 1976 - Photos
1922 - Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington, red leather with red moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Jim Campbell, 1979 - Photos
1923 - One of Ours by Willa Cather, brown leather with blue moiré endpapers, Illustrated by David Blossom, 1977 - Photos
1924 - The Able McLaughlins by Margaret Wilson, green leather with gold moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Dennis Luczak, 1977 - Photos
1925 - So Big by Edna Ferber, brown leather with red moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Howard Rogers, 1978 - Photos
1926 - Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis, brown leather with brown moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Ben F. Stahl, 1975 - Photos
1927 - Early Autumn by Louis Bromfield, brown leather with red moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Jerome Pinkney, 1977 - Photos
1928 - The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder, brown leather with light blue moiré endpapers, Illustrated by William Maughan, 1976 - Photos
1929 - Scarlet Sister Mary by Julia Peterkin, red leather with tan moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Charles Hamrick, 1978 - Photos
1930 - Laughing Boy by Oliver La Farge, red leather with red moiré endpapers, Illustrated by William Gregg, 1977 - Photos
1931 - Years of Grace by Margaret Barnes, brown leather with brown moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Ben S. Wahlberg, 1976 - Photos
1932 - The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck, brown leather with red moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Anthony Young Chen, 1975 - Photos
1933 - The Store by T. S. Stribling, red leather with tan moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Howard Rogers, 1977 - Photos
1934 - Lamb in His Bosom by Caroline Miller, brown leather with green moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Roland Descombes, 1978 - Photos
1935 - Now in November by Josephine Johnson, brown leather with tan moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Joseph Isom, 1976
1936 - Honey in the Horn by Harold L. Davis, tan leather with dark brown moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Uldis Klavins, 1977
1937 - Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, red leather with red moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Robert Reid, 1976
1938 - The Late George Apley by John P. Marquand, blue leather with mauve endpapers, Illustrated by Jeffrey W. Cornell, 1977
1939 - The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, green leather with green moiré endpapers, Illustrated by N C Wyeth, 1977
1940 - The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, red leather with tan moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Robert Heindel, 1975
1942 - In This Our Life by Ellen Glasgow, green leather with green moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Walter Rane, 1976
1943 - Dragon's Teeth by Upton Sinclair, black leather with gold moiré endpapers, Illustrated by James Sharpe, 1977
1944 - Journey in the Dark by Martin Flavin, red leather with gold moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Charles Hamrick, 1978
1945 - A Bell for Adano by John Hersey, red leather with tan moiré endpapers, Illustrated by John Thompson, 1978
1947 - All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren, brown leather with red moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Bernard Fuchs, 1976
1948 - Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener, green leather with green moiré endpapers, with the paintings of William Franklin Draper, 1975
1949 - Guard of Honor by James Gould Cozzens, grey leather with light blue moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Charles McVickers, 1978
1950 - The Way West by A. B. Guthrie, brown leather with brown moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Tony Eubanks, 1979
1951 - The Town by Conrad Richter, brown leather with brown moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Conrad Hack, 1978
1952 - The Caine Mutiny By Herman Wouk, blue leather with blue/grey moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Edward Vebell, 1978
1953 - The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, blue leather with grey moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Daniel Schwartz, 1975
1955 - A Fable by William Faulkner, red leather with olive green moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Robert J. Lee, 1976
1956 - Andersonville by MacKinlay Kantor, black leather with gold moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Joseph Smith, 1976
1958 - A Death In The Family by James Agee, black leather with red moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Ben F. Wohlberg, 1979
1959 – The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters by Robert Taylor, brown leather with brown moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Charles Hamrick, 1979
1960 – Advise and Consent by Allen Drury, blue leather with creme moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Franz Altschuler, 1976
1961 – To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, red leather with green moiré endpapers, Illustrated by David Millman, 1977
1962 – The Edge of Sadness by Edwin O’Connor, green leather with green moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Robert Heindel, 1978
1963 – The Reivers by William Faulkner, green leather with green moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Dick Brown, 1979
1965 – The Keepers Of The House by Shirley Ann Grau, dark blue/black leather with gold moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Muriel Wood, 1977
1966 - Collected Stories by Katherine Anne Porter, blue leather with blue moiré endpapers, Illustrated by George Jones, 1976
1967 - The Fixer by Bernard Malamud, green leather with green moiré endpapers, Illustrated b Frances Jetter, 1978
1968 - The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron, brown leather with red moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Kenneth Francis Dewey, 1976
1969 - House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday, red leather with red moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Bart Forbes, 1977
1970 - Collected Stories by Jean Stafford, brown leather with gold moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Barron Storey, 1979
1972 - Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner, red leather with red moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Kenneth Francis Dewey, 1978
1973 - The Optimists Daughter by Eudora Welty, brown leather with green moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Mitchell Hooks, 1978
1975 - The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, blue leather with blue moiré endpapers, with maps by Don Pitcher, 1979
1976 - Humboldt's Gift by Saul Bellow, green leather with green moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Alan Daniel, 1979
1978 - Elbow Room by James Alan McPherson, red leather with red moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Ben Wohlberg, 1980
1979 - The Stories of John Cheever, black leather with grey moiré endpapers, Illustrated by Mitchell Hooks, 1980

>12 HugoDumas: This says the 1st set did NOT use the silk moire endpapers.
>13 Wootle: You say the opposite

Not sure which it is. Can someone tell me the differences between the initial edition and any subsequent ones?

>14 BionicJim:
I have only one book from the Pulitzer Prize series, James Michener’s “Tales of the South Pacific.” It is dated 1975, says “Pulitzer Prize 1948” at the top of the title page, and has green moire endpapers. Maybe this will help.

I would be cautious about the date, though. Like Easton Press, Franklin’s dates do not always represent the latest printing.

>14 BionicJim: That list that HugoDumas posted is a combination of the two sets, it should not be relied upon to differentiate between the two. The second set included later releases, the first set only went through 1979.

I added links to the photo albums that I already have made, I'll try to add more as time permits.

>17 Wootle:
Thanks for the photos you’ve posted so far. I ordered a copy of House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday and hope it will arrive with red leather and red moiré endpapers. If not, I’ll post the differences.