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The German WW1 bi-plane that is featured on the covers of most editions of Mayday/Mediterranean Caper. Interestingly, the most accurately portrayed picture of the Albatross D-3 is on a much later paperback edition of Mayday, published by Warner Books in 1992. On the Large Print Center Point edition, there is an example of gross inaccuracy, obviously chosen for the cover by someone with very poor eyesight, hmmm, makes sense !!
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The benchmark for any Cussler Collection is the Dodd Mead Iceberg, his very first hardcover, published in 1975. These books will appear on the market occasionally, but the big problem is finding a copy in fine condition. When the book was released it was not a popular title, and as a result was not perceived as potentially collectable, therefore the very limited number of books produced were not handled with care, especially the large number that ended up in public libraries.
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Ok, lets go through the whole writing a book scenario. Firstly the author will compile his writings on a whole bunch of loose sheets and that will be called the manuscript pages. The manuscript is then sent to the editors of the publishing house who will check for errors, then it is passed on to a typesetter who will produce the uncorrected proofs. These are sent to the editors, the author, book stores, reviewers and critics etc. for final checking and appraisal before the book goes to press. So, before there is the first trade edition, there is the uncorrected proof, also known as an advance readers copy or ARC. They are considered by many collectors as the true first collectable edition, but because they are produced in very limited numbers and usually tossed out by recipients after flipping through them, they are very difficult to obtain. Even more difficult to find, in fact almost impossible, are the pages from the original manuscript. For personal reasons, Clive has always distributed manuscript pages to friends, fans and family after the book is published, usually signed with an inscription, so in fact there should be thousands of pages out there, but they never seem to come up on the market.
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Fortunately, Clive Cussler spends a lot of time signing books for his fans and as a result, putting together a signed collection of his books is relatively easy. The ultimate signed collection though, in my opinion, is finding flat signed copies that are book launch dated. Most of these will be accompanied by an inscription, especially the earlier titles, but don't let that bother you, for it is more interesting to read a lengthy blurb than a single signature. Raise the Titanic Night Probe Cyclops
Here Clive Cussler is busy signing his latest book, White Death at the Border bookstore in Santa Barbara, California. He is flatsigning the book directly on the title page and dating it 6-23-03. CUSSLER COLLECTORS Click HERE !
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Some of the early large print editions are very collectable, for in some cases, the particular title appeared in hardcover format well before the first hardcover trade edition. One example is Pacific Vortex, which was published by G.K. Hall in 1985. The first regular hardcover was not produced until 2000 by Cahill. Other editions feature unique artwork, for example, Night probe, which shows a submarine on the front jacket, the only edition to do so. Another artistic variation is the jigsaw pattern on the UK editions of Pacific Vortex, there were actually two editions of this Chivers UK title, the first in 1985, and then again in 1997 in smaller format. Pacific Vortex Large Print Collection
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Interview Transcripts Sept.11 2001 Interviewer ; You recently sold the movie rights to the Dirk Pitt novels and it's reported that the action/adventure films will begin with the novel SAHARA. Will these be fashioned as sort of a new millennium James Bond? Have there been any discussions as to who will play the role of Dirk? CC: I'm sitting here today working on the screenplay. I sold to Hollywood finally, and they are going to do SAHARA first. It could change, but at the moment it looks like Dirk will be played by Hugh Jackman (Swordfish, Someone Like You, X-Men). We're trying to keep it away from being Bond-like, not so stiff or anything else. You know, they messed up Raise the Titanic 20 some years ago. They made such a botch of it I held off for all these years, but finally they gave me script and casting approval. So that's why I'm reading the script the screenwriter came up with. If it fails this time, it's my fault. |
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Origins of the name, Dirk Pitt Half of this might be a wild guess, but here goes. When Clive's wife, Barbara gave birth to their son in Costa Mesa, California in 1961, Clive and Barbara were at odds as to which name they should call him. She preferred Scott or Glenn and he was desperate for Dirk or Kurt. The child was born in the evening and remained unnamed until a timely event occurred the next morning. Armed with a fistfull of flowers, Clive was about to enter Barbara's room at the hospital when a nurse recognised him and mentioned she had a blank birth certificate for them to fill out. Clive grasped the opportunity and quickly led the nurse away to scrawl "Dirk Cussler" onto the document. It is true that the "Dirk" from Dirk Pitt was derived from his son's name, but what about "Pitt"? Clive wanted a simple one syllable name like "Bond" so as he was looking through an encylopedia, he came across the names of past British Prime Ministers, William Pitt the Elder and William Pitt the Younger.... Speaking of Dirk Cussler, the word is out that he is being groomed by the grand master of adventure to take up writing and continue the character of Dirk Pitt jr, the son of Dirk Pitt. |
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I rembember reading about ancient Egypt when the newly appointed Pharoah would sometimes have his workers erase all trace of the former leader and have his own likeness carved in its place. I was going through my collection today and this is what I found. The cover of my beloved 73 Mediterranean Caper is going through an unusual metamorphosis !! If this is happening to you, forget about trying to rub it off, it just makes him smirk even more !! Sahara's potential Dirk Pitt, Matthew McConaughey |
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Years ago a publisher asked Clive to start up a new book series that involved the good guys tramping about the seven seas in a self contained Supership. It looks like Clive has utilised that suggestion and has come up with the "Oregon Chronicles" featuring Juan Cabrillo as the hero and master of the Supership, Oregon. In Flood Tide, the concept was introduced when Dirk Pitt is helped by mercenaries aboard an ex-lumber hauler armed with Harpoon surface to surface missiles and Mk. 46 torpedoes. This vessel was named Oregon and it was owned by a covert intelligence corporation that helped Pitt search the S.S. United States. The ship was powered by twin diesel turbine engines and was capable of more than 40 knots. With Craig Dirgo as co-author it should make for an exciting new adventure series. book info |
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USA TODAY BESTSELLERS ; No. 9 "Fire Ice" by Clive Cussler, Paul Kemprecos Clive Cussler's Night Probe was originally to be titled, "The Doodlebug" Thanks to whoever changed his mind ! Clive's opinion on his books ; "Night Probe was one of my better plots, Raise the Titanic was probably my best concept." In April, Clive met with director Breck Eisner. Some filming planned here in Australia. The rest will be shot in Africa Clive Cussler last year sold the movie rights of his Dirk Pitt novels for ten million dollars a piece !! Al Giordino was an aircraft mechanic Clive met and was best friends with back in Hawaii when he was stationed at Hickam Air Force Base. VIXEN 03 Could this be the real Vixen 03 ? The story of Lake Mead's B-29 .......... more...
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MAYDAY ! MAYDAY ! MAYDAY ! There is no certain way of determining which of his books is the rarest, but in my opinion, based on its phantom like ability to avoid the marketplace, it would have to be the first UK hardcover of Mayday, published by Severn House in 1978. There are only 6 copies that I know exist in Cussler collections wordwide, if you know the whereabouts of any others, please contact me and I'll correct that number. Latest count for known copies = 6 USA = 4 UK = 1 OZ = 1 MAYDAY 1985 UK VARIANTS The one on the left, I believe are the trade boards and the other the library boards. Mayday Iceberg Titanic Boxed Set ames Cahill Special 30th Anniversary Edition of Mayday |
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Down Under Cussler Fan Comments While on Holidays in Mandurah, a seaside suburb
of Perth, I was looking for I started out looking in secondhand bookshops
around Perth, but I quickly By chance I was answering an advertisement in
the local paper for Wilbur I now look forward to picking up a few of the
limited editions which are My favourite Cussler book would have to be "Night
Probe", but "Sahara" is a As long as Clive is writing, I'll be reading and collecting his books. Regards, Keith
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CUSSLER COLLECTORS Click HERE !
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THE PREMIER AUSSIE FAN SITE Collectors Reference Guide MAYDAY. THE MEDITERRANEAN CAPER.ICEBERG.RAISE THE TITANIC VIXEN 03 NIGHT PROBE PACIFIC VORTEX DEEP SIX CYCLOPS TREASURE DRAGON SAHARA.INCA GOLD.SHOCK WAVE THE SEA HUNTERS FLOOD TIDE CLIVE CUSSLER AND DIRK PITT REVEALED SERPENT ATLANTIS FOUND BLUE GOLD VALHALLA RISING FIRE ICE THE SEA HUNTERS II WHITE DEATH GOLDEN BUDDHA ODDBOOKS MAYDAY MEDITERRANEAN CAPER VIXEN 03 NIGHT PROBE PACIFIC VORTEX DEEP SIX CYCLOPS TREASURE SAHARA INCA GOLD SHOCK WAVE THE SEA HUNTERS FLOOD TIDE CLIVE CUSSLER & DIRK PITT REVEALED
SERPENT ATLANTIS FOUND BLUE GOLD VALHALLA RISING FIRE ICE THE SEA HUNTERS II WHITE DEATH GOLDEN BUDDHA ODDBOOKS dirk cussler barbara cussler author wife son sign signing signed rare scarce club fansite fan site tony krome susie krome zachary krome joshua krome australia australian books book used books rare books rare book collect collecting book store library nautical maritime ocean sea adventure writing clubs collector's club collector's clubs collectors clubs
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