This is an old picture, but it shows the 1897, 1899, 1901, 1909, 1937, 1940, 1947, 1951, 1953, 1956, 1959-2011 NEC Books. I have picked up a few more editions since then & replaced all the loose-leaf to soft-cover editions only...
My photos are also out-of-date. I've added the '11, as well as 3 or 3 handbooks to the collection.
My photos are also out-of-date as well. I've added the '11, as well as 3 or 3 handbooks to the collection.
I think everyone who collects them will get a 1947 fairly early on. Statistically, they're the most common out-of-print NEC sold on ebay. Reason being, there's so danged many of 'em.
Why? It was 1947...... the first edition printed after WWII. Anyone who was an electrician going into the war years probably had their 1940. With paper rationing, printing entire Codebooks was a tricky & expensive proposition (not to mention 'unpatriotic'). So NFPA started making Supplements..... kind of like todays Code Changes. They simply listed the changes to the 1940 edition. Supplements were printed in 1942, 1943 and 1945. So full copies of the NEC for those years are mighty scarce. Most likely, any apprentices who started working the craft during those years picked up the Supplements from someone who retired or who was off fighting the war as opposed to just getting a current, full printing.
When the war ended, sales of the 1947 were through the roof as all the electricians dumped their '40s, '42, '43 & '45 supplements and bought a spankin'-new 1947 so they didn't have to carry around 4 separate books.
To date, I have only seen one 1942 NEC sold, and have yet to see a full 1943 and 1945 anywhere.
I will still buy a copy of one I currently have if it's better condition than the copy I have on my desk. I then list my existing copy on ebay. This way, I'm slowly upgrading what I have as well as acquiring copies I don't have.
