Collecting The Shell Guides Collecting In a very real sense, there are two Shell Guide series to collect - those published up to 1939, and those from 1951 onwards. Batsford titles of 1936-38 were simultaneously issued in hardback, presumably in very limited numbers. These are fantastically scarce, as are the Faber reissues complete with their dust-jackets. Indeed, anyone setting out to collect a complete set of the thirteen pre-war guides, in anything like good condition, has a very hard task ahead of them.
Condition is a major fact with the pre-war guides.
The flimsy nature of the binding means some copies became disbound over time, thus limiting the numbers available to today's collectors. The card covers are easily bent and creased and therefore, genuinely fine copies are hard to find. Similarly, the dustjackets of the Faber reissues are frequently torn or at least chipped. The earlier jackets were printed on unlaminated heavy grade paper, which is prone to tear and become soiled. The 1963 jackets were laminated and seem to have been more durable.