More than one copy?

From Jonathan Edward Durham on Facebook:
"I recommend no fewer than 4 copies of any beloved book. A paperback for traveling and lending to friends, an eBook for reading with greasy snack fingers, an audio book so you know how the characters' names are actually pronounced, and a pristine hardcover to be buried with you like a pharaoh."

Okay, I'm not sure I absolutely agree here.
For example, I can't read at all with greasy snack fingers, not even on my tablet (not because it's still rather new, but because I'm just weird that way). I prefer printed books, anyway, and feel like a traitor to my own principles, but I couldn't resist the lure of The Internet Archive.
Also I said often enough that audio books are not for me.
I'm not even sure about paperback versus a pristine hardcover, but since chances are zero that someone will build a pyramid, even a small one, for me, I don't think I will have to worry about that, anyway.

Multiple copies of a book, however .... weeeellll ... it may be possible that I do have one or the other ....
Sounds weird to you? There you have it, just more proof that I'm weird. 
In order to possibly make it even weirder, let me tell you that I bought those multiple copies myself. Those weren't gifts from when someone was brave enough to give me a book by a favorite author thinking I didn't own it yet.

Why would I even want to own more than one copy of a book,
though?
The following examples are all children's books. That doesn't mean I don't have extra copies of other books at all, but it was the easiest for me to just go through one cabinet and find something for each one of my reasons.

1. "I have been looking for you for so long."

When I was a kid, my best friend had the book "Hand in Hand der Sonne nach" by Betty MacDonald, original title "Nancy and Plum". It was about two orphaned girls escaping a terrible boarding school and finding themselves new parents.
I loved that book and as a grownup I wanted to have it in my collection. Easier said than done, a lot easier! It seemed impossible to find that book. I looked in used book stores, at fleamarkets, no success.
Then the Internet came along. Surely, that was my big chance. Dream on. I looked for it regularly and registered email notifications for used book sites, but nothing much turned up, and when it did, someone else had been faster. This was a very sought after book, and as far as I could see, prices were quite ridiculous for the edition I wanted. Because you know, I didn't want a paperback, I wanted exactly the book I loved as a child, dust cover included if possible.
Finally, it was my turn to be the lucky one. It wasn't horribly expensive and I could hardly believe it was really mine after "only" about 25 years or so of looking for it.
For some reason, I was so used to search for it that I didn't stop right away, though. That's why I have more than one now. Or two. I can always finance my old age selling it if needed, right (yup, obviously still sought after)? Well, at least to finance one day of food the way prices are.
Seriously, though, I have found my peace by now and don't look for it anymore (very often, but not with the intent of buying, I swear).

2. "I wonder what they are like in English." or "I want at least one set that's looking good."

Sounds like two reasons, but it was actually a mix for this particular set.
I told the story of "The Dark is Rising" last year, what it's about, why it looks so messed up, and why I didn't buy a new copy (for the memory).
It's the green one, you can tell how bad it looks compared to the others.

So eventually I got the English set because the price was okay at the time, I was curious if there were differences to the German translations, and I had one perfect looking set.

I have other books in both English and German. Sometimes I replace the translation with the original, sometimes I start a series with the German translation and then continue in English, either because I don't want to wait for the translation - that's why my Pratchetts are divided in German paperbacks and English hardcovers - or because a series simply isn't translated anymore which always makes me wonder if interest in Germany has waned or what the reason could have been to stop translating an alphabet series at R like it happened for Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone series for example.
I have begun to add the earlier Pratchetts in English as well, though, bit by bit. As long as I still have space available, I don't need to decide if the German paperbacks will have to go, but it will probably happen eventually.

3. "I have more than one edition and I can't stop."

That may be the weirdest reason for some people. Heck, even it even feels a bit weird to me.
Why would you want different editions of the same book? Okay, maybe an older translation and a modern one if there are significant differences and you have fun comparing them, but what other reason could there be?

There's only one example for that in my collection. Again it's a children's book set and that may make the reason a little more obvious. Sentimentality.
If you have read my post about the "Sue Barton" books, you will know that I don't feel that way about all books. In that case, I got myself the old edition and put the newer ones in the public book cabinet, no regrets. I have also done that with some other books. If I found a better looking copy, the old one went unless there is a story connected to it. In fact, I'm about to look through my books to see if there are still extra copies that I simply haven't pulled yet. We aren't talking dozens here, by the way, probably not even ten.

A while ago, I officially admitted in a post that I don't like the "Mary Poppins" movie (the one with Julie Andrews, I haven't seen the ones with Emily Blunt and don't intend to), but that I love the books.
I had forgotten that I had already mentioned the latter in two posts 15 years ago. Maybe I should write about them and their creator P.L. Travers sometime.

Anyhow, as a kid I got those books from the local library and not just once. I loved everything about them, the stories (yes, there is one especially with aged stereotypes which have been changed in revisions) and especially the magic. I wanted some of that magic so badly myself and maybe part of me still wants it today, I don't know, but I still love the books.
I also loved the illustrations, this is how Mary will always look to me.
In a post about children's book illustrations I wrote this: "If you are anything like me, you may remember the illustrations from your childhood and stubbornly refuse new editions with new, maybe more modern ones because these characters are so familiar to you that it's not possible for them to get new faces just like that. ... It might be interesting to have a collection of children's books in which there are several editions of the same books to see what different illustrators made of them."

Funny, I didn't even think to look at my "Mary Poppins" editions then.

The original series has eight books, but my library only had four of them (a fifth had been translated, but I only found that many years later).
They looked like the one of the left with the striped cover that always reminded me of an old-fashioned wallpaper, with a different color for each volume.
I have these first four books in three different editions, a newer English one, an older and a newer German one. In the picture, there are four books because I also have a "book sales club" edition, but they only published the first volume.
I also have one of the other four books in a completely different German edition, and the other three in English because they were never translated as far as I know.

There are small differences between the older and the newer German editions. The new one adapted single words to more modern language, for example Mister and Mistreß Banks became Mr. and Mrs. Banks (you don't often see that translated to Herr and Frau as you might think), and the "Polizist" (policeman) of the new edition used to be a "Schutzmann" (which used to be the official name for uniformed police, still valid today, but not used that much anymore today).
The differences are too small, however, to be a reason for keeping the new ones. Neither are the illustrations. Only the covers are different, not the pictures in the books. At the moment, it's still the story of how and where I bought the books that made me keep the new ones, well, not that new, I got them 35 years ago (at the time I still noted the date in the books). 
I will definitely keep the one "book sales club" edition because it has different illustrations.

Update August 7: Surprisingly, I just got all four volumes of the early edition for a good price, bound in half-linen with dust covers which makes me really happy. From the stamps inside I could tell that I bought them from the original owner. Maybe I should be getting ready to let the late 80s edition go now, what do you think?

If you are still here with me - shaking your head or not -, would you like to compare some illustrations?

This is Mary how Mary Shepard saw her, the original illustrator for the English books.

You may have heard of her father, E. H. Shepard, who did the illustrations for "Winnie the Pooh" and "Wind in the Willows", for example. Actually, he was the one who was approached about "Mary Poppins" at first, but he was too busy to take the job. Travers happened to see a Christmas card with artwork by his daughter who then illustrated all of the books.
It was not an easy collaboration, especially for Mary and particularly at the end, as Travers "saw the illustrations as servants of the texts rather than artworks in their own right" which left Mary quite forgotten when the success of the books is discussed. I will add two sources at the end if you would like to know more and see more illustrations.

My own image of Mary Poppins, however, was shaped by German illustrator Horst Lemke (who also illustrated Erich Kästner's books after Walter Trier's death). His pictures are in both German editions and I love them as much as the books themselves.
Mary is not a warm person. In my old post I wrote "... she is stubborn, she is strict and stern and thinks very highly of herself" - which annoys Mrs. Banks more than once - "and still she is lovable ...". To be honest, I'm not sure anymore that is the right word. The children love her, for the magic and the adventure and because they feel safe with her, and I'm sure she loves them, but she know she won't be there for them forever.
She only lets her guard down a little when she's with Bert because it's hard to resist his joy in life, I think.
I think Lemke caught that slightly aloof and professional streak in Mary very well.
I don't know if it's because I know the books so well, but can you see how Michael is all jumpy, the older Jane a bit calmer, and how Mary seems to have them under control although she doesn't even have Michael by the hand. Maybe it's the way she holds her umbrella.

This is an illustration by Emanuela Delignon, an Austrian illustrator and graphic designer, for the "book sales club" edition which also works well, but I still prefer Lemke's clearer lines.

Actually, I couldn't find many pictures of Mary in the first English book at all. I would have loved to find the same scene by all three of them for comparison, but this is the best I've got.

Mary Shepard

Horst Lemke

Emanuela Delignon

Are there any books that you have in more than one copy?
Please tell me I'm not the only weird one 😉


Sources on Mary Shepard:

1. Margaret Baguley and Martin Charles Kerby: Mary Shepard: the artist who brought Mary Poppins to life. On: The Conversation, December 24, 2020
2. Shelley Lloyd: Forgotten Mary Poppins illustrator finally recognised after international search reveals rare original drawings. On: ABC News Australia, March 20, 2020