The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy; The Restaurant at the End of the Universe; Life the Universe and Everything; So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish; Mostly Harmless - The complete set of the frustratingly inaccurately named trilogy -
Douglas Adams
1979 - Arthur Barker Limited x3, London - First Editions
Well, not much to say here, the complete trilogy of five books, with Hitch Hiker’s Guide in unclipped first issue dust jacket. You could ‘OK Google’ to find out more, or years ago use Babel fish to translate into whatever language you wanted to, or wait a few years and take them to Mars with you, courtesy of SpaceX or... well, without the Guide, you would not..
The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - ‘This planet has – or rather had – a problem, which was this: most of the people on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn’t the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy’.
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe - If you’ve done six impossible things this morning, why not round it off with breakfast at Milliways, the Restaurant at the end of the Universe? Which is exactly what the crew of the Heart of Gold plan to do. There’s just the small matter of escaping the Vogons, avoiding being taken to the most totally evil world in the Galaxy and teaching a space ship how to make a proper cup of tea. And did anyone actually make a reservation?
Life the Universe and Everything - After a series of events which have involved Arthur Dent being alternately blown up and insulted in more bizarre regions of the Galaxy that he has ever dreamt existed, he finds himself stranded on Prehistoric Earth. Luckily an amazing rescue by Ford Prefect and a time eddy, cleverly disguised as a sofa, lands them in the middle of Lords two days before the world is due to end. It’s just not cricket…
So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish - There is a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. It’s not an easy thing to do and Arthur Dent thinks he’s the only human who’s been able to master this nifty little trick – until he meets Fenchurch, the girl of his dreams. Fenchurch knows how the world could be made a good and happy place. Unfortunately she’s forgotten. Convinced that the secret lies within God’s Final Message to His Creation they go in search of it. And in a dramatic break with tradition – actually find it…
Mostly Harmless - Arthur Dent hadn't had a day as bad as this since the Earth had been blown up. Depressed and alone, Arthur finally settles on the small planet Lamuella and becomes a sandwich maker. Looking forward to a quiet life, his plans are thrown awry by the unexpected arrival of his daughter. There’s nothing worse than a frustrated teenager with a copy of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in their hands. When she runs away – Arthur goes after her determined to save her from the horrors of the universe. After all – he’s encountered most of them before…
***
Douglas Adams, chicken-shed cleaner, body guard, Pink Floyd guitarist (once), ‘a brief mutually non-beneficial involvement with the Monty Python Team’, and then after writing the radio series which became these books, was script editor for Doctor Who, a cult figure in fantasy fiction heaven who tragically died at the age of 49.
***
And now for an utter digression, the first edition points and publishing history, which we don’t recommend you spend time with, after all, you have the books to read and read again, but this is a fabulous way to put off doing anything actually important, procrastinate, it’s fun. To quote the great man ‘I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by’.
Hitch Hiker's Guide - It was originally claimed that the true first edition first issue dust jacket for Hitch Hiker’s Guide was without price and with blue rear panel without text, although holding true to all that is false, there have been rumours to prove this otherwise, and it is now commonly accepted that what you have here is the first issue dust jacket with a price of £4.95 to the front flap and a white rear panel with promotional blurb for ‘Capricorn One’. This jacket is scarcer than it’s price less (not priceless) blue panelled counterpart.
Also.... Pan Books did issue a paperback edition [12th October 1979], which precedes the hardcover and is said to have been an afterthought because it had proved to be so hugely popular, and under pressure from libraries, who insisted it just wouldn’t do. There is talk of ‘a paperback with wrappers’, though none have come forward with first-hand knowledge of this phenomenon, though they know someone who swears he met a person at a very good party waving a copy in one of his many hands.
Restaurant at the End of the Universe - This is definitely the true first edition with a hard back. Oh all right, this was also issued by Pan Books in paperback first, and in the same action taken with Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, librarians are also suspected of having been involved in this dastardly act. But, wait for it... there were two states of the dust jacket the first (dare we suggest it) state is without price, the second state has ‘price in UK only £5.50 net’ printed to the lower corner of the front flap. We are suggesting this order, because over the years the general sort of consensus more or less is that the first three books were all issued in this way. But each to his own planet, this particular copy is the our first state without a printed price on the dust jacket. Mmmm, there is also a later Book Club edition, which may look similar but can be identified as different by the BCA logo to the spine of both the dust jacket and the book. That is all for now.
Life the Universe and Everything - First Edition - Not to be confused with the equally scarce 1985 reissue (which helpfully states ‘Reissued 1985’ on the copyright page) and by the far the most elusive of the Hitchhiker’s … series, in matching first edition dust jacket without any blurb promoting ‘Life the Universe and Everything’ to the rear panel. The publisher is said to have taken a group of librarians to a very nice lunch by way of apologising for his oversight with the first book and apparently signed a napkin condemning almost the entire hardcover print run to the indignity of being stamped, numbered, catalogued, and consigned to dark shelves lost to all but those proficient in the Dewy Decimal System. Several cartons managed to escape and the books are now in only the best private collections, where they sip parched martinis and sneer at ‘ex-library’ copies.
So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish - Now it gets easier, this is clearly the first edition with number line 9 to 1 on the copyright page.
Mostly Harmless - Simple - ‘First Published 1992’ to copyright page, with no mention of any later dates or publications.
That’s it. Now for the specs -
Five octavo volumes (book size 22.3x14.5cm, Harmless 24.1x16.2cm), pp. 159 [1]; 187 [1]; 162 [2]; 191 [1]; [16] 219 [5]. Guide - in publisher’s navy cloth, spine lettered in gilt, dust jacket priced ‘£4.95 net’ to lower corner of front flap; Restaurant - green cloth, spine lettered in gilt, dust jacket without price as published, but not price-clipped; Life - navy cloth, spine lettered in silver, dust jacket price-clipped to lower corner of front flap; Fish - black cloth, spine lettered in silver, dust jacket priced ‘£6.95 net U.K. only’ to lower corner of front flap; Harmless - grey cloth, spine lettered in silver, dust jacket priced ‘UK £12.99 CDN $19.99’ to lower corner of front flap. Condition: Guide - fine but for very faint foxing to upper edge, in very good jacket, the front panel is bright and clean, very little of the usual sunning to spine, two marks to the rear panel, which can be traced around the spine to the front panel and are caused by tape residue from a previously taped protective wrapper (foolish, foolish......).., and possible trimming to outer edges of flaps. Restaurant - fine but for a little bumping to upper corners, in fine dust jacket. Life - small spot to upper edge and offsetting to front endpapers else fine, very good price-clipped dust jacket, some toning to white spine and upper edge . Fish - fine in near fine jacket, with minor wrinkles to top edge of rear panel. Harmless - fine, yellowing of cheap paper stock, in near fine dust jacket with some small grazes to front panel, possibly caused by meteorites. Ref: 111975 Price: HK$ 18,000
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe - If you’ve done six impossible things this morning, why not round it off with breakfast at Milliways, the Restaurant at the end of the Universe? Which is exactly what the crew of the Heart of Gold plan to do. There’s just the small matter of escaping the Vogons, avoiding being taken to the most totally evil world in the Galaxy and teaching a space ship how to make a proper cup of tea. And did anyone actually make a reservation?
Life the Universe and Everything - After a series of events which have involved Arthur Dent being alternately blown up and insulted in more bizarre regions of the Galaxy that he has ever dreamt existed, he finds himself stranded on Prehistoric Earth. Luckily an amazing rescue by Ford Prefect and a time eddy, cleverly disguised as a sofa, lands them in the middle of Lords two days before the world is due to end. It’s just not cricket…
So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish - There is a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. It’s not an easy thing to do and Arthur Dent thinks he’s the only human who’s been able to master this nifty little trick – until he meets Fenchurch, the girl of his dreams. Fenchurch knows how the world could be made a good and happy place. Unfortunately she’s forgotten. Convinced that the secret lies within God’s Final Message to His Creation they go in search of it. And in a dramatic break with tradition – actually find it…
Mostly Harmless - Arthur Dent hadn't had a day as bad as this since the Earth had been blown up. Depressed and alone, Arthur finally settles on the small planet Lamuella and becomes a sandwich maker. Looking forward to a quiet life, his plans are thrown awry by the unexpected arrival of his daughter. There’s nothing worse than a frustrated teenager with a copy of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in their hands. When she runs away – Arthur goes after her determined to save her from the horrors of the universe. After all – he’s encountered most of them before…
***
Douglas Adams, chicken-shed cleaner, body guard, Pink Floyd guitarist (once), ‘a brief mutually non-beneficial involvement with the Monty Python Team’, and then after writing the radio series which became these books, was script editor for Doctor Who, a cult figure in fantasy fiction heaven who tragically died at the age of 49.
***
And now for an utter digression, the first edition points and publishing history, which we don’t recommend you spend time with, after all, you have the books to read and read again, but this is a fabulous way to put off doing anything actually important, procrastinate, it’s fun. To quote the great man ‘I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by’.
Hitch Hiker's Guide - It was originally claimed that the true first edition first issue dust jacket for Hitch Hiker’s Guide was without price and with blue rear panel without text, although holding true to all that is false, there have been rumours to prove this otherwise, and it is now commonly accepted that what you have here is the first issue dust jacket with a price of £4.95 to the front flap and a white rear panel with promotional blurb for ‘Capricorn One’. This jacket is scarcer than it’s price less (not priceless) blue panelled counterpart.
Also.... Pan Books did issue a paperback edition [12th October 1979], which precedes the hardcover and is said to have been an afterthought because it had proved to be so hugely popular, and under pressure from libraries, who insisted it just wouldn’t do. There is talk of ‘a paperback with wrappers’, though none have come forward with first-hand knowledge of this phenomenon, though they know someone who swears he met a person at a very good party waving a copy in one of his many hands.
Restaurant at the End of the Universe - This is definitely the true first edition with a hard back. Oh all right, this was also issued by Pan Books in paperback first, and in the same action taken with Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, librarians are also suspected of having been involved in this dastardly act. But, wait for it... there were two states of the dust jacket the first (dare we suggest it) state is without price, the second state has ‘price in UK only £5.50 net’ printed to the lower corner of the front flap. We are suggesting this order, because over the years the general sort of consensus more or less is that the first three books were all issued in this way. But each to his own planet, this particular copy is the our first state without a printed price on the dust jacket. Mmmm, there is also a later Book Club edition, which may look similar but can be identified as different by the BCA logo to the spine of both the dust jacket and the book. That is all for now.
Life the Universe and Everything - First Edition - Not to be confused with the equally scarce 1985 reissue (which helpfully states ‘Reissued 1985’ on the copyright page) and by the far the most elusive of the Hitchhiker’s … series, in matching first edition dust jacket without any blurb promoting ‘Life the Universe and Everything’ to the rear panel. The publisher is said to have taken a group of librarians to a very nice lunch by way of apologising for his oversight with the first book and apparently signed a napkin condemning almost the entire hardcover print run to the indignity of being stamped, numbered, catalogued, and consigned to dark shelves lost to all but those proficient in the Dewy Decimal System. Several cartons managed to escape and the books are now in only the best private collections, where they sip parched martinis and sneer at ‘ex-library’ copies.
So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish - Now it gets easier, this is clearly the first edition with number line 9 to 1 on the copyright page.
Mostly Harmless - Simple - ‘First Published 1992’ to copyright page, with no mention of any later dates or publications.
That’s it. Now for the specs -
Five octavo volumes (book size 22.3x14.5cm, Harmless 24.1x16.2cm), pp. 159 [1]; 187 [1]; 162 [2]; 191 [1]; [16] 219 [5]. Guide - in publisher’s navy cloth, spine lettered in gilt, dust jacket priced ‘£4.95 net’ to lower corner of front flap; Restaurant - green cloth, spine lettered in gilt, dust jacket without price as published, but not price-clipped; Life - navy cloth, spine lettered in silver, dust jacket price-clipped to lower corner of front flap; Fish - black cloth, spine lettered in silver, dust jacket priced ‘£6.95 net U.K. only’ to lower corner of front flap; Harmless - grey cloth, spine lettered in silver, dust jacket priced ‘UK £12.99 CDN $19.99’ to lower corner of front flap. Condition: Guide - fine but for very faint foxing to upper edge, in very good jacket, the front panel is bright and clean, very little of the usual sunning to spine, two marks to the rear panel, which can be traced around the spine to the front panel and are caused by tape residue from a previously taped protective wrapper (foolish, foolish......).., and possible trimming to outer edges of flaps. Restaurant - fine but for a little bumping to upper corners, in fine dust jacket. Life - small spot to upper edge and offsetting to front endpapers else fine, very good price-clipped dust jacket, some toning to white spine and upper edge . Fish - fine in near fine jacket, with minor wrinkles to top edge of rear panel. Harmless - fine, yellowing of cheap paper stock, in near fine dust jacket with some small grazes to front panel, possibly caused by meteorites. Ref: 111975 Price: HK$ 18,000