Hergé: Rare English-language books

Hi all

Thought it would be worthwhile compiling a list of all the out-of-print [OOP] and rare Tintin and other Hergé books that have been printed in the English language, and are now unavailable.
Many Hergé books published in English only ever had one print run.

Feel free to add more to the list and also point out availability where appropriate.
It might be nice for fellow collectors to find a "Holy Grail" of Tintin rarities.

I'm also including stuff here that is not that rare but is getting so, such as The Secret Ray.

Updated Listings (with categories)

Tintin Books (written by Herge)

1. Tintin in the Land of the Soviets (Sundancer Ed.)
2. Tintin in the Congo (Sundancer Ed.)
3. Tintin and Alph-Art (Sundancer Ed.)
4. Tintin: Moon Adventure (Double album of Moon books)
5. The Golden Press Editions
6. WHSmith Exclusive 3-in-1 Edition (Flight 714, Secret of The Unicorn, Red Rackham's Treasure)
7. 1952 Casterman Editions - The Secret of The Unicorn; Red Rackham's Treasure

Other Hergé Books

1. Jo, Zette and Jocko - The Secret Ray
2. Popol Out West
3. Quick and Flupke - Double Trouble
4. Quick and Flupke - Two of a Kind

Based on Hergé Books

1. The Tintin Games Book
2. Tintin Action Playbook(s)
3. Explorers on the Moon (Popup Book)
4. Tintin Book and Cassette (various)

Hergé Biographical

1. Tintin and the World of Hergé (Benoît Peeters)
2. Tintin - Hergé and his Creation (Harry Thompson)
3. Hergé and Tintin Reporters (Philippe Goddin)
4. Tintin: Sixty Years of Adventure (Michael Farr)

Tintin: The Making of...

1. The Making of Tintin (Cigars of the Pharaoh/ The Blue Lotus)
2. The Making of Tintin (The Secret of the Unicorn/ Red Rackham's Treasure)
3. The Making of Tintin in the World of the Inca
4. The Making of Tintin: Mission to the Moon

Painting and Drawing Series

Tintin Travel Diaries Series

1. Tintin Travel Diaries: Scotland
2. Tintin Travel Diaries: China
3. Tintin Travel Diaries: Russia
4. Tintin Travel Diaries: India
5. Tintin Travel Diaries: Egypt
6. Tintin Travel Diaries: The Amazon
7. Tintin Travel Diaries: Africa
8. Tintin Travel Diaries: Tibet
9. Tintin Travel Diaries: Peru
10. Tintin Travel Diaries: United States

Miscallaneous

1. Tintinologue
2. Tintin and the Blue Oranges
3. Tintin and the Golden Fleece
4. The Tintin Poster Book
5. Tintin: Pictures in Motion
6. Tintin Illustrated French/English Dictionary
7. Tintin at Sea (Michael Farr)
8. Tintin at Sea (Official Exhibition Guide)

OK, I'll probably write all this up later on and submit it as an article.

Rik

What about the pop-up book for Explorers on the Moon (the one that fails to mention Boris or Wolff)? I haven't seen that one around too much.

Well I've got two from that list (Tintin Games Book and Tintinologue), so that's nice to know! I don't collect non-Tintin stuff though.

Another I have is the 'Tintin Action Playbook', which I've never seen anywhere apart from the sole copy I bought years ago. I has number 1 on it, so I assume there are others in the series. I've heard that Tintin and the World of Hergé is pretty rare too? That's another one safely in my collection.

There are quite a few others (none of which I have). I think they are all rare or at least are going that way (correct me if I'm wrong). These are the ones not mentioned so far that I'm aware of:-

1. Tintin Action Playbook(s)
2. Tintin and the World of Hergé
3. Tintin- Hergé and his Creation (Harry Thompson)
4. The Making of Tintin (Cigars of the Pharaoh/The Blue Lotus)
5. The Making of Tintin (The Secret of the Unicorn/Red Rackham's Treasure)
6. The Making of Tintin in the World of the Inca
7. The Making of Tintin: Mission to the Moon
8. The Tintin Poster Book (I want it!!!!!!)
9. Hergé and Tintin Reporters (Philippe Goddin)

There's also "Tintin: Sixty Years of Adventure" by Michael Farr, which had one limited print run in 1989 and then pretty much sank without a trace.

Plus there's the short-lived translations of two Quick and Flupke books: "Two of a Kind" and "Double Trouble".

You could possibly include the French and Spanish dictionaries as well?

Ed

There's also the Sundancer editions of 'Tintin and Alph-Art', Soviets and Congo - would they count in the list ?

I suppose possibly also "Tintin's Moon Adventure", which was a paperback published by Magnet in the 1980s, I believe, containing (surprisingly enough) the two Moon albums. It seems to be fairly rare, although not that valuable.

Regarding the rarity of these books, it seems the English are far harder to get hold of than the French. Most of them didn't see a very long print-run (although the Making of Tintin's were in print for a good ten years or so) and a few probably didn't sell well enough - the cover price for Reporters, for example. I just wish I'd bought up a stack of them when they were released; I'd be sat in the Bahamas typing this !

You also forgot to mention "Tintin in the Land of the Soviets", "Tintin in the Congo", and "Tintin and the Alph-Art"--ALL editions, not just Sundancer.

BTW: I just saw someone with an early version of "Tintin in the Congo", but I have to do finals on the week after next. Once I'm done with that, though, I know just what I'm going to do... :)

Oh, this is my Post 123 (do you know episode this came from?)

Oh, this is my Post 123 (do you know episode this came from?)

"The Blue Lotus", when Mitsuhirato blows up the railway line.

Hmm, I need to get out more ... :)

Are the old Golden Press editions of the Tintin books rare? I've got "Explorers on the Moon" published by Golden Press. The dialogue is rather weird.

Yup - going on eBay prices, the Golden Press editions are rare; sounds like you've got a good item there !