This article needs additional citations for verification .(January 2017) |
Reader's Digest Condensed Books was a series of hardcover anthology collections, published by the American general interest monthly family magazine Reader's Digest and distributed by direct mail. Most volumes contained five (although a considerable minority consisted of three, four, or six) current best-selling novels and nonfiction books which were abridged (or "condensed") specifically for Reader's Digest. [1] [2] The series was published from 1950 until 1997, when it was renamed Reader's Digest Select Editions . [3] Frequently featured authors in the original series include Dick Francis (17 titles), Henry Denker (16 titles), Victoria Holt (15 titles) and Mary Higgins Clark (13 titles).
The series was popular; a 1987 New York Times article estimated annual sales of 10 million copies. [4] Despite this popularity, old copies are notoriously difficult to sell, [5] [6] and scholarly attention has been sparse. [7] [8]
For much of their publication schedule, the volumes were issued four times each year. Each year the company produced a Volume 1 (winter), Volume 2 (spring), Volume 3 (summer), and Volume 4 (autumn). In later years they added a Volumes 5, and then a Volume 6, going to a bi-monthly schedule by the early 1990s. The series was produced for 47 years (1950–1997), until being renamed Reader's Digest Select Editions . (Note: UK editions seem to have been somewhat different from US editions. Pre-1992 Canadian editions also contain different titles.)
Occasional books such as The Leopard (Summer 1960), The Days Were Too Short (Autumn 1960), and Papillon (Autumn 1970) were not published in English originally but were abridgments of translations. In some cases, advanced copies of the hardcover edition were printed in paperback form. In a few cases, new editions of older works ( Up from Slavery , published originally in 1901 (Autumn 1960), A Roving Commission: My Early Life , published originally in 1930 (Autumn 1951) or Goodbye Mr. Chips , published originally in 1934 (Summer 1961)) were also among the condensed selections.
Volume 1 – Spring
Volume 2 – Summer
| Volume 3 – Autumn
|
Volume 4 – Winter
Volume 5 – Spring
| Volume 6 – Summer
Volume 7 – Autumn
|
Volume 8 – Winter
| Volume 10 – Summer
|
Volume 12 – Winter
| Volume 14 – Summer
|
Volume 16 – Winter
| Volume 18 – Summer
|
Volume 20 – Winter
| Volume 22 – Summer
|
Volume 21 – Spring
| Volume 23 – Autumn
|
Volume 24 – Winter
| Volume 26 – Summer
|
Volume 28 – Winter
| Volume 30 – Summer
|
Volume 32 – Winter
| Volume 34 – Summer
Volume 35 – Autumn
|
Volume 36 – Winter
| Volume 38 – Summer
Volume 39 – Autumn
|
Volume 40 – Winter
| Volume 42 – Summer
Volume 43 – Autumn
|
Volume 44 – Winter
| Volume 46 – Summer
|
Volume 48 – Winter
| Volume 50 – Summer
|
Volume 52 – Winter
| Volume 54 – Summer
|
Volume 56 – Winter
| Volume 58 – Summer
|
Volume 60 – Winter
| Volume 62 – Summer
|
Volume 64 – Winter
| Volume 66 – Summer
|
Volume 68 – Winter
| Volume 70 – Summer
|
Volume 72 – Winter
| Volume 74 – Summer
|
Volume 76 – Winter
Volume 77 – Spring
| Volume 78 – Summer
|
Volume 80 – Winter
Volume 81 – Spring
| Volume 82 – Summer
|
Volume 84 – Winter
| Volume 86 – Summer
|
Volume 88 – Winter
| Volume 90 – Summer
|
Volume 92 – #1
Volume 93 – #2
| Volume 95 – #4
|
Volume 97 – #1
| Volume 100 – #4
Volume 101 – #5
|
Volume 102 – #1
Volume 103 – #2
| Volume 105 – #4
|
Volume 107 – #1
Volume 108 – #2
| Volume 110 – #4
|
Volume 112 – #1
| Volume 115 – #4
Volume 116 – #5
|
Volume 117 – #1
| Volume 120 – #4
|
Volume 122 – #1
Volume 123 – #2
| Volume 125 – #4
|
Volume 127 – #1
Volume 129 – M
| Volume 130 – #3
|
Volume 133 – #1
| Volume 136 – #3
|
Volume 139 – #1
| Volume 142 – #3
|
Volume 145 – #1
| Volume 148 – #3
|
Volume 151 – #1
| Volume 154 – #3
Volume 156 – #5
|
Volume 157 – #1
| Volume 160 – #3
|
Volume 163 – #1
| Volume 166 – #3
Volume 168 – #5
|
Volume 169 – #1
Volume 170 – #2
| Volume 172 – #3
|
Volume 175 – #1
| Volume 178 – #3
|
Volume 181 – #1
Volume 183 – M
| Volume 184 – #3
|
Volume 187 – #1
| Volume 190 – #3
|
Volume 193 – #1
| Volume 196 – #4
|
Volume 199 – #1
Volume 201 – #3
| Volume 202 – #4
|
Volume 205 – #1
| Volume 208 – #4
|
Volume 211 – #1
| Volume 214 – #4
|
Volume 217 – #1
| Volume 220 – #4
|
Volume 223 – #1
Volume 224 – #2
| Volume 226 – #4
|
Volume 229 – #1
| Volume 232 – #4
|
These 1997 volumes were also published as Reader's Digest Select Editions , and all succeeding volumes were published as Reader's Digest Select Editions.
Baen Books is an American publishing house for science fiction and fantasy. In science fiction, it emphasizes space opera, hard science fiction, and military science fiction. The company was established in 1983 by science fiction publisher and editor Jim Baen. After his death in 2006, he was succeeded as publisher by long-time executive editor Toni Weisskopf.
Funk & Wagnalls was an American publisher known for its reference works, including A Standard Dictionary of the English Language, and the Funk & Wagnalls Standard Encyclopedia.
A paperback book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardback (hardcover) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, leather, paper, or plastic.
Eric Flint was an American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his works are alternate history science fiction, but he also wrote humorous fantasy adventures. His works have been listed on The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and Locus magazine best-seller lists. He was a co-founder and editor of the Baen Free Library.
Reader's Digest is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wife Lila Bell Wallace. For many years, Reader's Digest was the best-selling consumer magazine in the United States; it lost the distinction in 2009 to Better Homes and Gardens. According to Media Mark Research (2006), Reader's Digest reached more readers with household incomes of over $100,000 than Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, and Inc. combined.
Tankōbon is a Japanese word recently borrowed into English. Its use in English refers to a collection of episodes of a cartoon that first appeared in weekly or monthly manga comic books. Comic books in Japan are usually thick printed on lightweight, cheap paper. The cartoons in them are usually continuing stories. A tankōbon is a collection of episodes of one of those cartoons as a book. Additional tankōbon volumes are printed as the series continues.
Annual publications, more often simply called annuals, are periodical publications appearing regularly once per year. Although exact definitions may vary, types of annuals include: calendars and almanacs, directories, yearbooks, annual reports, proceedings and transactions and literary annuals. A weekly or monthly publication may produce an Annual featuring similar materials to the regular publication. Some encyclopedias have published annual supplements that essentially summarize the news of the past year, similar to some newspaper yearbooks.
DC Archive Editions was a line of hardcovers which ran from 1989–2014, reprinting early, often rare comic book series, titles, and stories. They include more than 160 Golden Age and Silver Age comic properties currently owned by DC Comics, regardless of whether DC Comics was the original publisher. The series first published Superman Archives Vol. 1 in 1989. Most of the restoration work to make the pages suitable for quality printing has been done by Rick Keene, who has restored more than 2,500 pages.
The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide is an annually published comic book price guide widely considered the primary authority on the subject of American comic book grading and pricing in the hobby/industry. Numerous observers connect the expansion of the direct market distribution system and the proliferation of comic book specialty shops to the broader recognition and acceptance of Overstreet's annual guide. This guide is considered a standardized inventory and pricing system within the comic book industry.
Marvel Masterworks is an American collection of hardcover and trade paperback comic book reprints published by Marvel Comics, with the main goal of republishing classic Marvel Comics storylines in a hardcover, premium edition, often with restored artwork and better graphical quality when compared to other Marvel collected editions. The collection started in 1987, with volumes reprinting the issues of The Amazing Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, The X-Men, and The Avengers. The Masterworks line has expanded from such reprints of the 1960s period that fans and historians call the Silver Age of Comic Books to include the 1930s–1940s Golden Age; comics of Marvel's 1950s pre-Code forerunner, Atlas Comics; and even some reprints from the 1970s period called the Bronze Age of Comic Books.
Avon Publications is one of the leading publishers of romance fiction. At Avon's initial stages, it was an American paperback book and comic book publisher. The shift in content occurred in the early 1970s with multiple Avon romance titles reaching and maintaining spots in bestseller lists, demonstrating the market and potential profits in romance publication. As of 2010, Avon is an imprint of HarperCollins.
The Reader's Digest Select Editions are a series of hardcover fiction anthology books, published bi-monthly and available by subscription, from Reader's Digest. Each volume consists of four or five current bestselling novels selected by Digest editors and abridged to shorter form to accommodate the anthology format.
The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is a worldwide non-profit organization of professional writers and publishing professionals dedicated to promoting the interests of horror and dark fantasy writers.
Kalle Anka & C:o is a Swedish weekly Disney comics magazine, published by Egmont. The 52-page comic, launched in September 1948, is the overall best-selling Swedish comic magazine. In the early years, the comic printed translated stories from the United States, including Walt Disney's Comics and Stories, Four Color and other Dell Comics Disney titles. As Disney comics production waned in the United States in the 1960s, Kalle Anka began printing more European-produced content, from Scandinavia and Italy. Now, Kalle Anka & C:o and its Scandinavian sister editions Anders And & Co. (Denmark) and Donald Duck & Co (Norway) are identical, apart from the language.
The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories is the long-running "main" series of the Nancy Drew franchise, which was published under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. There are 175 novels — plus 34 revised stories — that were published between 1930 and 2003 under the banner; Grosset & Dunlap published the first 56, and 34 revised stories, while Simon & Schuster published the series beginning with volume 57.
Robert Leo Byrne was an American author and Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame instructor of pool and carom billiards.
Fun Fare; a Treasury of Reader's Digest Wit and Humor is a best-selling publication of Reader's Digest. The original 1949 edition was produced in collaboration with Bob Hope. The original edition of Fun Fare comprised 300 pages of short comic stories illustrated in color by cartoonist Robert James Day, signed on the cover as "Robt Day". The book was still one of the best selling general titles three years later in 1952.
Robert James Day was an American cartoonist and book illustrator.