Practical differences between Arentz 1st and 2nd editions?

I have a 1st edition copy of Dick Arentz' Platinum and Palladium Printing and was thinking of searching out a copy of the 2nd edition so I was just looking at used book prices. Wow! Copies of the 1st edition are in the $40-$50 (US) range, while sellers of the 2nd edition are asking over $150 on Abebooks.

What are the practical differences between the two editions? That's a lot of money to lay out, but I realize it doesn't take a lot of ruined prints at today's platinum and palladium prices (and I'm sure there'll be plenty anyway as I start to learn the process) to add up to $150...

My copy of Dick Arentz "An Outline For Platinum Palladium Printing" is a spiral bound 2nd edition 1990. I don't recall when I bought it or what I payed but it definitely didn't cost $150. It is a total of 54 pages. It does have useful information but honestly I rarely refer to it. Learn a basic technique and you will find that you won't ruin many prints. After a few you will figure out how to tweak your negatives. Are you printing from digital negatives? Dan Burkholder did a comprehensive book (342 pages) on making digital negatives that came with a cd in 1999 @ $34.95. check out his website you might find what you are looking for.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

http://www.sculptureandphotography.com/

Thanks Jeffrey. The 2nd edition you have is different; the one I'm talking about was published as a paperback by Focal Press in 2005 and has over 200 pages. But you have a good point, the first edition is probably fine.

I'd be working with film negatives, not digital, at least for starters. But I will look into Dan Burkholder's book.

From the preface to the Second Edition:

"Now, in just four short years, I decided that a Second Edition was due [to] advances [that] occurred in three specific fields, which have had an unprecedented impact on this medium[:]"

1. The acidification of paper.
2. Sodium Chloroplanate (Na2).
3. The digital negative.

Thomas

Thank you, that’s exactly the kind of information I was looking for. Now to decide if it’s worth $150 to someone just dipping his toes in the water.