ASE "Two-Ups"

The Armed Services Editions were produced by the Department of Books in Wartime from 1943 to 1947 (the later books being for the occupied forces). There were two distinct sizes, based on the dimensions of a pulp magazine (for the larger ones) and the Readers Digest (for the smaller ASE's). They were printed in tandem pairs, one atop the other, wrapped with covers, stapled and cut apart. (Sometimes, they were stapled first, then had the wrapper glued on before they were cut.)

These are what collectors call "Two-Ups." They have gone through the printing, stapling and wrapping process, but they have not yet been cut apart. To my knowledge, none of the Two-Ups were distributed to members of the Armed Forces. They are an oddity, they are rare, and they are obviously valuable to collectors.

From the top, they are D-108 & D-107, the back covers for those books, D-110 & D109, J-293 & J294, and K-21 & K22. The last image is of a reference book, Books Go to War, by Daniel J. Miller, which has a cover that duplicates the Two-Ups.

All scans on this page are from collector Brian Anderson.