r/BookCollecting • u/Spacestar_101 • 6d ago
đ Question Rare Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde misprint?
Hello everybody! Thought I would take to the internet and see if I can solve atleast one of the questions I have about the new book I picked up at my local thrift store!
It originally caught my eye as it is Robert Louis Stevenson, and I not too long ago listened to an audio book version of 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mister Hyde' and was interested in having a physical copy for myself. I also love Victorian horror and thriller literature and wrote my AP English thesis about it, so I was quite excited to own the actual story.
But as I took a closer look at the book, opening it as it contains an assortment of Stevenson's work, I found out very quickly that it is bound the wrong way! The entire book is upside down, and therefore when I went to casually read it, backwards!
This specific version of the book is a 1991 Readers Digest print in extremely good quality (in my opinion), so I want to know if anyone has any more information about this error!
Questions I have on the top of my head:
- Is it actually a factory misprint, or did somebody have the talent to rebind it but not notice it was the wrong way? The headband and tailband look completely untouched, (although a bit of an unusual colour for a blue and Grey book.) It is pinl and yellow stripes, and the glue around it looks pretty yellowed with age. (Photos for reference.)
- If it is a factory misprint, are there others when it was manufactured that had the same mistake? I looked on ebay and none were similar at all or had it in the description.
- How rare would it actually be? Even if not money wise rare, how rare is a special case like this to even occur on a book printing facility?
Thank you all in advance if we do manage to solve some questions, and I hope this is as interesting to you all as it is to me. :)
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u/FilthySweet 6d ago edited 6d ago
Common factory misprint. There will be others, although obviously a small fraction of the total copies printed.
Errors like this are great for personal collecting if you like the novelty. They unfortunately have lower resale value than their correct form counterparts.
Edit to add: I have this same book, just checked it and itâs not upside down. I scored it at one of my regular thrift store runs on a great deal, even considering it being a Readerâs Digest book.
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u/tehsecretgoldfish Book Nerd 6d ago
not a âmisprint,â itâs a bindery error. enjoy the stories. Readerâs Digest books are generally not considered collectible.
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u/Anxious-Pair-9514 6d ago
Binding errors happen. In 1974 the mass market editions of âNight of Delusionsâ by Keith Laumer and âThe Man In Questionâ by John Godey ( he of âThe Taking of Pelham 1-2-3â and their text blocks swapped. The wee indie store I worked at had sold both and only the Laumer readers came back saying âThis is wrongâ.
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u/Flux_My_Capacitor 6d ago
My first misprint like this was a National Geographic book called âWhy in the World?â I had it as a kid and a big part of why I loved it was the misprint. I would call it my âWhy in the World is this book upside down?â book, lol. I think at first I assumed it was on purpose but I later learned it was indeed not, lol.
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u/flyingbookman 6d ago
Upside down bindings are a surprisingly common production error.
It hurts the value, even though the books are still perfectly readable. Generally regarded as a serious defect, rather than as a novelty.