A few years ago I started making Facsimile DJ’s for my collection. It takes photoshop, illustrator and a good printer and friends that have the DJ’s that are kind enough to scan them for me- ( Thank you Laurel, JeNeal & Russell) . I have made a few large ones that I had to be printed on a large format printer . We have a House of Print and Copy in town and they have a 24″ wide full color printer – unlimited length. Currently it runs $8 a linear ft. A Dust Jacket is sometimes 1/2 to 3/4 of the value of a collectable first edition. Even more if it’s a children’s book. DJ’s on vintage children’s books are rare – Parents tended to just throw them away.

My collection has always been a “reading copy” collection. It has never been my intention to collect first editions. When I started collecting Margaret Wise Brown books in the 90’s – I couldn’t afford first editions for one thing and that made picking up reading copies relatively inexpensive. Just a few of my collection have their original dust jackets, so these Facsimile DJ give them a clean look.

There is a service online called dustjackets.com – They make beautiful facsimiles – mostly for rare fiction.

Below are all the facsimile DJ’s I’ve made to date.