No collection of Modern Firsts is complete without the important titles offered by Bill McBride. Paradoxically, little has been written about this as the cognesceti have attempted to keep an exclusive on this area of collecting by limiting the available information. Mr. McBride is the enfant terrible of modern first collecting, with his pronouncements the final word on production chronology. Works include: Pocket Guide to the Identification of First Editions. Abbreviated PGTTIOFE (pronounced "piggity-oh-fee"), the sixth edition has been released, in wraps of a purer yellow hue than the bilious tone used in the third edition. The foundation of the McBride collection, now in it's sixth edition. The original was published in 1512 by the current publisher's g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-grandfather, Martin Luther McBride, and is considered the "true true first", although the first mass-produced version of the twentieth century claimed that appellation. Although no copies of the ttf are known to exist, several claim to have heard of an example in the collection of a dealer in western New York. The recent discovery of quantities of the second, third, fourth, and fifth editions in McBride's warehouse has caused some confusion among collectors as several previously unknown printings have come to light. Each successive edition has grown in size and added new information. The current edition, the sixth, will probably be the last using the traditional title, as the anticipated increase in size is expected to require the use of full disclosure as "Guide to the Identification of First Editions Recommended for Transport in Reinforced Pockets by Wearers of Back Belts" in conformance with OSHA regulations. Points of Issue. Currently in the third edition Paradoxically, Mr. McBride has declined to include his own titles in this listing, making the points for these books the subject of some controversy. Disputes have ended in fisticuffs at more than one ABAA sanctioned show. One dealer, responding to loud comments that his proffered first edition first state of PGTTIOFE exhibited excessive recurve of the staples as associated with the second state, is reported to have tacked the criticizing dealers badge to his forehead with a Swingline 77. It has recently come to light that a hitherto unknown "true pre-first" state of this title was destroyed before release, when it was discovered that the woodcut on the cover included a scene only visible with a strong magnifier, depicting several patrons inspecting a copy of Gray's Anatomy and behaving in a scatilogical manner. Although no complete copies escaped destruction, a proof copy of the woodcut is now said to reside in the collection of an Ohio bookseller. Book Collecting for Fun and Profit. The second edition has recently been released. Information is sparse at this time, but it is rumored that the first printing of 5,000 copies has already been sold out, with approximately 4,998 copies going to dealers and doubtless already sealed in archival polypropylene. New Horizons in McBride collecting. The recent publication of Pocket Guide to the Identification of First Editions in electronic form is already a new area of collecting. Completists have already added the CD and download forms to their collections, with first state of the latter easily identified by the Ethernet routing shell of first bit-packet to arrive. Those who did not preserve the original transmission form and have only the post-transmission reassembly of the file can identify the first state by the characteristic age of electrons in the "ones" of the binary file, but must expect a lower valuation than those more computer-savvy collectors who preserved the entire download exactly as received. The points of issue of the CD form are more complex and have not been settled as of this writing. Early indications are that the first discs can be easily identified by electron spin resonance when stimulated by gamma-puons of 75 tev or above, but confirmation awaits double-blind studies to be conducted at CERN later this summer. In the meantime, a word to the wise: Do not neglect the "Free Trial Edition". Copyright 2006 by cornercube.