Good morning!

A quick introduction before I get down to my questions I'm new to D&D, having bizarrely not been  "cool" enough--or perhaps just being too young--to play back in the early 90's. Now, however, my wife has gotten interested in the game and so I finally have a chance to get into it! I'm also on Dragonsfoot forums under the same name, new to that board as well.

I'm an archivist at heart, less a collector--it pains me to consider that some excellent but rare book might some day be unable to be found, so I spend a lot of my spare time hunting texts down and then scanning high-quality, archival copies of them; if I'm certain of the fonts used (which is rare), then sometimes I'll sit down and make a perfect OCRed version--but I prefer to make scans that are as close as possible to the original. A dream for the future is to set up a little book-binding shop so that I could re-print said books and then bind them beautifully.

So, I'm looking for the "hardiest" editions of 1st ed. AD&D. I was particularly intrigued by this description of the Monster Manual:

"About the publishing of this print (the first hardback RPG manual ever printed), again from Gygax: "It was no problem finding a printer that could do a stitched binding and school-book cover material, as I wanted the AD&D volumes to be as nearly indestructible as could be managed.  Later on the Blumes changed that to save a nickel or two on each copy printed... as if we weren't making enough as it was. (Acaeum note: this occurred with the Fourth Beta print).  Crown Books wanted me to write a special introductory game book exclusively for them, but that was a no-go.  Simon & Schuster contacted me about book trade distribution, but they were going to take a year to set it up, so I wasn't too thrilled.  Then I got a phone call from Mildred Marmur, then the VP of Sub-Rights Licensing at Random House.  They flew me out to NYC the next week and were ready to begin distribution in a month's time.  As the remainder of the deal I negotiated assured TSR cash flow and other great benefits, I signed my name up there in their offices on the second day of our meetings.  Having Millie as an advocate was a lot of help in cutting a great deal for TSR.  Both of her sons were D&Ders!"

I have subsequently sought out a pre-fourth beta copy, but I'd like to know--does this hold true for books as well? Once I've scanned what I have, I'd still like to use it And if I'm to pass these books on to future children, I'd like to buy the ones that are bound "the best."

Cheers, and thanks for the great service that this site provides!

-Feliks

*laughs*

[edit] Ah, I see where my writing wasn't clear--when I write that I want to set up a shop, I mean a workshop, in the same way that people have personal workshops in their garages for mechanical projects, etc. I want to buy or build the things necessary to print and bind lovely books, at home, for me, from the list of books that I hold important or rare.

Sorry, no--obviously I can't sell or share any scans that I make: *I* just want to have archived copies of books that I've bought so that I could print them, just for myself. Usually I'll put my source copy on the shelf somewhere and use the printed version if I have it's a text that's going to be used a frequently/used up. Although I suppose I could get in trouble if I give a printed copy to my kids, technically.

This being said, I'm happy to never speak of this again on the forums if it's verboten, especially if the site is hosted in the US.

However, regarding editions and my buying them--do you have any recommendations?

It seems from the info listed here that:

1. Monster Manuals pre 4th printing Alpha are the best made due to the paper, as stated above;
2. DMG 1st printing is the "hardiest," with its textblock is stitched 5/8" apart vs 1" in other versions--however, revised 6th edition is appealing due to the revisions, and at least the book is stitched vs. glued as in 7 onward;
3. the player's handbook is the big mystery--I don't know anything about the binding quality of the different editions. Does anyone have any insight?

Thanks! Sorry if this isn't the place or even the site to post about such things, but I chose it because people here seem to be the most knowledgeable about the technical, physical, aspects of the books.

Cheers,

-Feliks