Tintin Forums

I recently bought the above book - Les 7 Boules de Cristal in French and was wondering if it was worth anything. It is copyright 1948 amd on the last page, 62, it says Imprime en Belgique par Casterman, S. A. , Tournai. On the back cover it says Depose au Ministere de la Jusatice, Paris (loi no 49,956 du 16 juillet 1949 sur les publications destinees a la jeunesse) There are no other dates or reprint mentioned. The first page - title page - is in black lettering (not blue) and has a picture of a man with a cow's head with Tintin behind.
What I don't understand is that it was printed in Belgium but has that line about the Paris Ministry of Justice on the back. Where Tintin books made in Belgium for the French market? Is the Belgian edition different to the French edition?

Anyone who can throw light on this would be welcome

The man with the cow's head is Captain Haddock, backstage at the concert hall in 'The Seven Crystal Balls', thats all I can help with!!

All FrenchTintin books have always been printed in Belgium by Casterman which is not only a publisher but also a printer. If there are some differences between French and Belgian editions, they are very small .
"Copyright 1948" means nothing !!! You have to look at the back cover to give a date to your album. What is the list of Tintin books already published?

"Copyright 1948" is there because that's when The Seven Crystal Balls was originally published. It does not mean that your edition was published in 1948.

-Gustav

The last book mentioned is Les Bijoux de la Castafiore. It also mentions on the back Les Adventures de Tintin et Milou au cinema "Tintin et le mystere de la Toison d'Or"

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Edit: Ah, I found this on the site:
According to Pierre Assouline's biography of Hergé: the original part of The Seven Crystal Balls had the picture of Rascar Capac (the mummy) in an oval vignet on the first page. The publisher Casterman received complaints about this as the picture was too frightening for young readers. Consequently, Hergé replaced the current picture of Captain Haddock wrestling with a stage prop. [Stefan Janssens 15/01/1999 03:45]

And Les Bijouix was published in 1963.. which puts my book as being published in about 1963.

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