Do you have any treasured books that are of first editions?
How and/or why did you come to acquire the particular book(s)? Do you ever consider selling them, or giving’em away to someone? Why/Why not? Also, if you’re into collecting (Fe.OA..!?), what are the elements that makes you want the very first editions? Do you tend to rather collect, than actually read them?
Yes. A whole bunch of Edgar Rice Burroughs books. These are the Bantam printings with the cool Frazetta covers.
No won’t sell them. In fact I don’t take them out of the plastic lined, airtight box. I figure someday my grandkids can sell them. If they don’t fall apart upon exposure to air.
My wife collects them more than me. I think she buys them more to have them than to read them, not only because she buys far more books in general than she ever reads but also because in many cases she’s already read the book.
As for where, you’d be surprised. eBay occasionally, as well as local auctions, estate saes and even garage sales. At a garage sale a couple of years ago, she picked up a first edition of Masters’ “Ther Sangamon” that was not only autographed but also separately inscribed to it’s recipient by the author. As I recall, she bought it at a garage sale for two or three dollars.
She also ocasionally buys from ABE Books http://www.abebooks.com/ and a mystery-oriented online bookseller called MurderInk http://www.murderink.com/Search.bok?category=Signed+Firsts
The Weekender collects Calif. Gold Rush books as well as pre-Gold Rush history and also Plains crossings book. I have a few first editions from the centennial (1948) from small specialty presses that are kinda rare. I read em frequently because they are so damn good. There is a good book out about bibliomania, something like 'The Gentle Obsession" that explains the various forms of collecting. Also talks about forgeries and book thefts. Wish I could remember the actual name but I borrowed it and actually returned it. 
Based on the descriptions, I collect “by content” on a particular subject. I’ll happily buy a paperback or second edition about the Gold Rush if that is what I can find rather than wait for only a first edition, though I know their value.
We have great bookstores here in the Bay Area, especially in Berkeley. What happens is that fairly well-heeled old University profs kick the bucket and their books end up at Black Oak Books, Moe’s or other outlets. They usually come in batches, so you have to be a frequent visitor and discerning shopper. I have gotten great deals at Black Oak. I passed on a book, though, published in Oakland CA in 1853 (!) that was a first-edition personal account of life in the Mines. It was flood-damaged but they wanted $95 for it. I still think it was a bargain for what it was, but I passed. So I ain’t completely obsessed.
My Dad has a first and probably only-edition autobiography by a guy who was callled Wrong Way Corrigan, who flew across the country the wrong way back in the 1930s. Not only is it a first edition, the author signed it to my Dad, who was nine years old when he got it at the 1939 World’s Fair at Treasure Island. I found the book laying around and told my Dad it was likely worth a lot of money. Cowboy that he is, he shrugged and put it in a drawer. It’ll probably end up in the dumps someday.
I knew a guy who collected that pulp fictiony stuff from the 50s and he was constantly finding first editions in small towns etc. and turning them around for big bux. He ended up at Serendipity Books, a landmark of book collecting in Berkeley. He taught me how to recognize first edition books. They really are treasures in hiding if you know to look for them and are willing to put the time into the search.
I have a first edition of Winnie the Pooh. I told a friend of mine (a few years ago) that I loved WtP and he sought it out. He got it from a little shop in England (an employee of the little shop ended up stealing his credit card info and heading to the Cayman Islands, racking up about $15,000 in fraudulent debt!). I wouldn’t sell it but will probably give it to my (future) kids someday. I have read the recent editions and, though the book is in excellent condition, I don’t want to hurt it by reading it. But I do look at it every now and then.
Despite the size of my library, I’ve never been into collecting books just to have them, or because of their age or printing. I buy books to read, and I can’t imagine having a book that I never took out of its protective box or cover! I do have a couple of older books that probably have some resale “value,” but I’d rather just enjoy them.
Redwolf
I only have 2 first editions. One is “Morgan’s Expose of Freemasonry”. Shortly after it was printed Morgan disappeared and was never seen again. The other is “The Silmarillion” by J.R.R. Tolkien a first edition, first printing. This printing had a mistake in the Biographicall material. It was immediately pulled from the shelves and replaced with the second printing with no mistakes. I just wanted them at the time. I wouldn’t sell them.
Ron
I’ve never understood it myself. I tend to choose a book because it has quaint engravings or a pretty binding. If it happens to be a first edition that’s nice, I suppose. If I could afford it, I suppose it would be nice to have some very old ones, however. I think my father has some first editions I’ll probably be given someday. He cares more about bindings, I think, though.
If a books rather fragile, I won’t read it. If the binding is strong and the cover is not brittle I will. I once had the misfortune of dropping a very old book and having the cover break, so I am a bit more picky about what I will and will not read now. However, I have a 1880’s set of Browining’s complete works and they’re in wonderful shape and not the least bit fragile.
Hey, I’ve got “The Silmarillion” too. I did not buy it because it was a first edition, but because I wanted to read it and couldn’t wait.
The only other one -I know of- is “Greyfriars Bobby”. I bought it because it was a first edition and was the most famous book about a Skye Terrier.
This is the only one I’ve purposely bought. I just buy lots of books because I like to read all the time.
I almost got a first edition of Angela’s Ashes last week on e-bay, but ended up with two hardback volumes(both Angela’s Ashes and the sequel 'Tis) for less than the shipping costs, and they are like brand new. (can you tell I’m excited about this?)
The number of like new, and first editions of HB books on there is amazing, and the prices are often amazing.