Bantam #24

Valiant is the Word for Carrie

The only laminated paperback dust jacket

Okay, I'm speaking from my own observations here. If anyone has any other information, please let me know. It is my belief that this is the only dust jacket among the vintage paperbacks that was laminated. The effect of this has become catastrophic due to aging, and while the jacket itself is not as scarce as other Bantam DJ's, ones in good condition are extremely rare. (Signet covered several Penguin books with glossy dust jackets, but I have never observed lamination problems with those, and I believe they simply used a thick, magazine-style glossy paper.) Click the thumbnail on the left and observe normal laminate puckering, creasing and peeling. The laminate also caused a chemical reaction in the paper over the years, and it is not uncommon to see bleed-through on the inside of the jacket paper. The "Carrie" jackets' colors are often faded. If you can find a jacket such as the example on the right, chances are that the book has been bagged or protected in some other way over most of the past sixty years. The book itself (center scan) was also laminated.