Best way to store same book, multiple editions?

[Cactus Chef]

I have a few ebooks in my calibre library where I have the same book multiple times, from different publishers (e.g. a Gollancz UK edition and then a TOR US edition). I could simply replace one with the other, but sometimes there are meaningful differences that make me want to keep both: one might have useful supplemental information, while the other might be "bare bones", but have illustrations.

Currently I've just picked whichever one I like less and added "(TOR Imprint)" or something to the title metadata so that Calibre will see them as two distinct entries, but I'm wondering if there's a better way to do this.

I have a couple other examples of this as well, like an initial, cheap $1 version of a book I bought that was probably from a bogus Indian publisher and riddled with typos, and then later purchased a more professional, authorized edition from Penguin / Vintage International later.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Cactus Chef

I have a few ebooks in my calibre library where I have the same book multiple times, from different publishers (e.g. a Gollancz UK edition and then a TOR US edition). I could simply replace one with the other, but sometimes there are meaningful differences that make me want to keep both: one might have useful supplemental information, while the other might be "bare bones", but have illustrations.

Currently I've just picked whichever one I like less and added "(TOR Imprint)" or something to the title metadata so that Calibre will see them as two distinct entries, but I'm wondering if there's a better way to do this.

I have a couple other examples of this as well, like an initial, cheap $1 version of a book I bought that was probably from a bogus Indian publisher and riddled with typos, and then later purchased a more professional, authorized edition from Penguin / Vintage International later.

The cheap versions you just delete in favor of the real ones.

As for the others, you just make sure that the publisher field is filled in and you'll know which version it is when you look at the publisher.

[Cactus Chef]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

As for the others, you just make sure that the publisher field is filled in and you'll know which version it is when you look at the publisher.

Changing the publisher won't stop Calibre from flagging the books as a duplicate, though, during the initial import. That's why I had to resort to putting the publisher into the title.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Cactus Chef

I have a few ebooks in my calibre library where I have the same book multiple times, from different publishers (e.g. a Gollancz UK edition and then a TOR US edition). I could simply replace one with the other, but sometimes there are meaningful differences that make me want to keep both: one might have useful supplemental information, while the other might be "bare bones", but have illustrations.

The few books where I have kept multiple editions, I store the extra edition(s) in the data folder. For the most part, I just keep the edition I am happiest with.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by DNSB

The few books where I have kept multiple editions, I store the extra edition(s) in the data folder.

I also put a link to the file in a Links custom column: Which tells me its there, something about it, and a direct way to open it.

BR

[Tarana]

I have a few books like that. I add a parenthetical comment after the title of each. Will still show up when you search duplicates but you can easily see that you have different versions. You use whatever is clear in your mind for what you want.

The Warlock In Spite of Himself (Original)
The Warlock In Spite of Himself (Politically correct)

Dracula (whispersync)
Dracula (illustrated)
Dracula (annotated)