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Dear John: I'm attending a Clive Cussler book signing for Crescent Dawn in a couple of days. I have been informed that Clive is allowing everyone to bring 2 books from their personal collection for each copy of Crescent Dawn purchased. My question is from a collectability point of view, which is better to have signed, the first book in a series like in the Issac Bell Tales or the Fargo Adventures or which ever one I liked the best? All my books are first edition, but I don't know if they are first printing. I'm not planning on putting them on eBay anytime soon, but may do so before my kids throw them away in the future. Thank you for your time. P. John replies: The older Dirk Pitt titles command higher resale values, either signed or unsigned, so I'd recommend taking them. Values are largely determined by scarcity in the marketplace. His first book, Iceberg (Dodd Mead edition) only had 4500 copies printed of which a large number went to libraries. Estimates are that only a few 100 of these remain in collectible condition, so it is clearly the most valuable Cussler title. John Ask John at: [email protected] Read articles about book collecting Read John's answers to book collecting questions Receive our Book Collecting PDFs and newsletters Sign up for our Book Club Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Watch our Videos