White Collar – Bindings
Given the scarcity of the first three editions, there has been some confusion as to how they were bound. I have confidence in the following observations but I invite collectors to comment.
1st Edition Binding 1939 – white enamelled metal comb
- The 2016 Dover edition has an introduction that suggests the binding was a white plastic spiral – this appears to be incorrect.
- May 23, 2022 email – Tito Patri to Ken Martens: Tito (son of G. Patri) stated, “I vaguely recollect that the very first edition (printed in the sun room of our house in Corte Madera) employed the metal comb.”
- An examination of 5 copies (# 9, 57, 101,139, and 146) all show the same type of comb binding (not spiral) with a white finish. In most cases the finish shows some wear with the bare metal showing through.
- A magnet was applied to copy #101 and it was attracted to the binding ie the comb is made of metal
2nd Edition Binding 1940 – wire loop
The wire, often referred to as wire-o, twin-loop, or double-loop binding, has pre-formed pairs of two small loops of wire that run along a c-shaped spine that looks like a comb
3rd Edition 1941 – Pisani Stapled binding
