1976 Starwars book question

I own a copy of this book, however its at my parents house so I can't check for myself.

I'm 99% sure that nowhere in this book is the title "a new hope" or "Episode 4" printed. Am I remembering right, or was this book called either/both?

 

Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker. Printed Dec. 1976, it was the novelization to the movie which came out a year later. Lucas, in the intro to the ANH novelization, states that this was the books original title.

 

Having checked my aging, orange-paged copy, you got a point there. It goes my the name Star Wars: From the Advantures of Luke Skywalker.

It also has George Lucas as author, but that was just for publicity-sales reasons. Alan Foster penned it, apparently.

Yep, doesn't say Episode 4: A New Hope, but perhaps it does when the opening prologues slants across the screen?

 

LFL's official statement is that Episode IV: A New Hope was added for the April 10, 1981 rerelease.

This is based on the fact that the special-effects elements for the revised title crawl were dated from October through December 1980.

But, everyone's correct. There was no "Episode IV" or "A New Hope" contained in the novellization for the movie, Star Wars (1977). At that time, the movie Star Wars (1977) was simply "Star Wars."

 

And if your copy has the words 'First Edition: December 1976' on the copyright page, then you own the very first Star Wars mass market collectable. (Temporary crossover to collecting thread). According to 'A Universe of Star War Collectables' by Stuart W. Wells III the first PB, Dec 1976, Bantam Publishing 26061-9, Ralph McQuarrie cover is worth 90 USD (US Dollars) mint.
A First Edition Trade Hardcover, Oct 1977, with the John Berkey cover and 16 pages of color photos is worth 100 USD. If it is a first it says ' Hardbound Ballentine Books Editionctober 1977/First Edition: December 1976' in two lines on the copyright page.

I have the paperback, but it is not mint. (Been in the bookcase for years before I knew what I had, alas).

 

2ndQuest - the First ESB edition PB was Ballantine-DelRay #28392-9, out in May 1980 and had a cover by Roger Kastel. Same source as I quoted above says 15USD if mint. It's really only the First editions of the original Star Wars PB and HC that are worth a lot, and then only if mint.

 

Funny you mention it, Laj. I just bought a May 1980 paperback copy of ESB off my school library twenty minutes ago. In fact, I'm typing this from a computer in the school library.

The cover art is by that Roger Kastel guy and it was published by Del Rey/Ballantine, (in the upper left hand corner of the cover it says "Del Rey Ballantine/29209/$2.25"), but I don't know about that number you showed. I looked, and I can't find it anywhere on the cover or in the book. What is that number? Is that the ISBN number?

I would qualify the book as being in "pretty good" or "fair" condition, but not "mint". There are some wrinkles on the cover, (the spine is fine, though), especially the corners. Also, the first page inside the book, (it says "FACE TO FACE WITH DEATH" and has a couple paragraphs from the Battle of Hoth scene), has a big red stamp on it with info about the used book store where the previous owner, (who donated it to the library recently, along with a significant EU collection), got it. Finally, the very last page, (one of those blank endpapers or whatever), has been torn out.

I got it for myself and wouldn't be selling it or anything, but, out of curiousity, do you know if it's worth anything?

 

Rogue - I am going by the 1st edition of ANH that I have and the Collecting book listed above for this answer. Look on the copyright page and see if it says something like 'First edition:May 1980'. Also check the ISBN number. The collecting book says the # on the first edition of ANH is #26061-9. The ISBN on mine is 0-345-26061-9-150.
The Collecting book says the # for ESB is 28392-9, so I would expect the ISBN on the first edition to be ??-???-28392-9-???
(?=don't know). The later edition pb has the same cover, #29209-X, and came out in Aug 1980. The Collecting book gives a price of 15USD for the First PB, and I imagine that is if mint. Since you quoted the number 29209 on yours, it sounds like it is the later release, unfortunately.

 

Yeah, it's the August one.

I don't have it in front of me right now, but I remember an X in the ISBN code. I'm not really that disappointed. I only paid a doller for it, and I wasn't gonna sell it anyways. I just bought it for the cover art, really, since it is an edition I didn't have.

Not to mention, fifteen dollers doesn't go very far these days.