Friday 28 May 2010

Harlequin Reprints Part I

All three of the largest Canadian paperback publishers reprinted some of their titles. None of then were consistent in how they indicated a reprint but Harlequin Books was the least inconsistent. Harlequin had two basic ways they produced reprints. One was to print more copies of the title with the same series number or, in 20 instances, publish a new number, usually with a new cover. Here we'll look at some examples.

The first and second Harlequin reprints are numbers 5 and 6. Both first printings were in June 1949 and both reprints were July 1949. The reprints have only the new date and don't indicate that the book is a reprint. The third example is the second Harlequin to be reprinted with a new number and cover. The first printing of City for Conquest is November 1949, the second December 1951. By this time Harlequin was giving both dates in the reprint so even though a new number it was marked as a reprint.

Harlequin 5

Harlequin 6

Harlequin 23

Harlequin 144

2 comments:

  1. At the risk of appearing picky, isn't is odd that Wolf of the Mesas is shown in a landscape without mesas?

    I do like both covers of City for Conquest. Interesting that publishers so often felt it necessary to create new covers when reprinting something that was only a couple of years old. This certainly appeals to the collector in me.

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  2. Hadn't seen the mesa deficit.

    The new covers are indeed appealing for collectors. I like both these covers as well. That isn't always the case as we'll see. The first one is particularily good - it has aged well unlike many of these early ones.

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