Elementary BASIC missing cover

[Jerry]

The hardcover edition of Henry Ledgard & Andrew Singer’s Elementary Basic (Learning to Program Your Computer In Basic With Sherlock Holmes) is missing a cover. It is very similar to the cover for the paperback edition. Both Amazon.com and AbeBooks have (the same) oblique image associated with this ISBN, but while the entries for each are listed as hardcover editions, the image is clearly of a paperback. The same is true of the Internet Archive’s entry for this ISBN.

I have uploaded a scan of the cover from my copy to my profile, as well as the title page, indicia, and back cover for verification purposes.

Goodreads entry for ISBN 0-394-52423-3

Cover scan (with authors)
Title page (with authors and publisher)
Indicia page (with ISBN)
Back cover (with SBN)

You may also wish to add additional book data. The second author is Andrew Singer. The front-flap blurb is:

The “Analytical Engine,” the direct forebear of today’s computers, came into use at just about the time that Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the first Sherlock Holmes story. Suppose, as the authors of this book do, that Sherlock Holmes solved his cases by feeding clues into the machine. This notion may startle detective story aficionados, but computer buffs will find that it provides a matchless teaching tool. In the new Sherlock Holmes stories presented here, the great detective enlists the aid of the Analytical Engine. As his computer programs sift through clues and unravel puzzles, Holmes instructs Dr. Watson, and the reader, in a way that illuminates the mysteries of computer programming. The book’s detailed examples and programs enable the reader to follow each problem on his own computer and to reach for himself Holmes’s often surprising conclusions.

Here is an entertaining, sure-fire, step-by-step primer on how to program your computer in Basic that proves that computer programming needn’t be a mystery.

I somewhat prefer the front-flap blurb, but the back cover blurb may be more appropriate:

The sole objective of this book is to teach you to program in Basic, the language of this translation. We assume, as Holmes assumed of Watson, that you, the reader, have probably never programmed before. Learning to program is not easy. Its essence lies in the ability to solve problems—by computer, of course.

Generally each chapter begins with one of the case studies of Sherlock Holmes. Here we see Holmes and Watson solving some problem. Following each case study, the commentary discusses in detail the issues arising from the problem.

The first three chapters present Holmes’s introduction to problem-solving and programming. Like Watson, you are not expected to be able to duplicate the ideas presented, or even understand them fully. That will follow in due course. In Chapter 4 Holmes presents the first steps needed to write programs. By the end of Chapter 7 you have completed the central issues in writing any computer program. The next five chapters should enlarge your skills. In the last chapter Holmes and Watson confront a most difficult case from a computing standpoint. Holmes’s solution brings into play almost all the ideas presented in this book.

So come, dear reader, the game is afoot.

[Albert]

Done. Thanks for all that info.

[Emily]

Hello, World