J.G. Ballard, Cocaine Nights. Washington, D.C.: Counterpoint, May 1998. Uncorrected bound galley proof. Paperback 20,9 x 13,5 cm. 336 pp.
A fine, super scarce galley proof. Uncorrected. Tight, clean, flawless.
Why collect proofs?
Ken Lopez makes a case for collecting proofs: 'While most collectors don't often have a chance to acquire the manuscripts of their favorite authors' books, they do have ready access to a preliminary state of the book that precedes the first published edition--that of the "uncorrected proof" or "advance reading copy."
'They're rare. Quantities of 200 or so are comparable to the issue size of the collectible limited editions being published by a number of small publishers around the country today. But those books virtually all go directly into the rare book market. Proofs, on the other hand, despite what sometimes seems like a glut of them, do tend to get put to the purposes for which they are designed: they are used, read, reviewed, and often wrecked or discarded. Of a print run of 200 copies, it is reasonable to suppose that the number that finally makes it into the rare book market for a collectible author will be, at the upper end, 50 copies or so. Even the glossy advance reading copies, printed in runs of 500 or more, and seemingly ubiquitous, will turn out to be limited to a couple of hundred that actually make it into book dealers' stocks and collectors' collections.'