Theagenes

Great pulps David! Wish I was going to pulpfest---have fun!

Kewl!!

Beautiful copy, Neil!!! That is one of the nicest I have ever seen.

I don't think I've ever seen anyone post here WITHOUT showing a scan of the book before sometimes, as a collector, we have "pre mature" excitement...tis the case here, but i will post follow up pic once cgc ships to me! just graded and couldn't contain myself... finally got it in hand; Nice Rick. Your excitement was justified !! it is the nicest condition of my entire 40-80 run and it is among the most impossible to locate!!! tougher than 45 and 67 imo Sweet book!

Looking at the some of the descriptions for L. W. Currey's listings on ABE it does appear that the list of titles on the bc of the dj is the way to establish the printing. Interesting stuff. I'll need to pass this along to the guys at howardworks.com.

Mitch tried to tell you. I found two different covers for Terror by Night online. Do you know the printing history of the books in the series? Interesting. I've never seen the second one before. There is no printing info on the interior. Seeing thisI'm wondering if they continued to keep printing all of the volumes in the series. The back dj of mine lists the titles for sale up to no. 10, which came out the following year. So I wonder if my is a second printing (or at least 2nd state dj). and if you cna tell the printing by list of titles on the back.

Very cool! The same seller had no. 10 Keep on the Light which has "Rogues in the House" and so is the first time Conan appeared in book form. Unfortunately I was the underbidder. I didn't MANNUP and now I regret it.

This 1933 rarity just came today. One of series of horror/supernatural anthologies published in the UK by Selwyn & Blount. They contain some stories reprinted from Weird Tales so there are a few familiar names like Hugh Cave, Henry Whitehead, Clark Ashton Smith, and guess who...

Kind of a shameless plug, but in December of 2009, I published a 454 page book entitled The Outlandish Art of Mahlon Blaine Looks very cool. And welcome to the boards! Jeff

It looks more like the movie might be good Netflix viewing. I'm not certain about paying full price for a night out at the movies. What's the buzz among REH fans? Disappointment at a missed opportunity mostly. Instead of adapting one of REH's stories and treating the material with respect like Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones, instead we're getting a fun but forgettable popcorn flick along the lines of the new Clash of the Titans or Prince of Persia only with more boobs and blood. There is hope though that Jason Mamoa's portrayl of Conan himself will be more in line with Howard's vision than Arnold's was. He was surprisingly good in Game of Thrones I thought. Me too. Still have to watch the final episode, though.

It looks more like the movie might be good Netflix viewing. I'm not certain about paying full price for a night out at the movies. What's the buzz among REH fans? Disappointment at a missed opportunity mostly. Instead of adapting one of REH's stories and treating the material with respect like Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones, instead we're getting a fun but forgettable popcorn flick along the lines of the new Clash of the Titans or Prince of Persia only with more boobs and blood. There is hope though that Jason Mamoa's portrayl of Conan himself will be more in line with Howard's vision than Arnold's was.

It sounds great. I'm looking forward to seeing the trailer. Released today: http://www.ign.com/videos/2011/06/17/exclusive-conan-red-band-trailer-debut?show=HD

I love Nord's work and yearn to own a page. Any word on whether or not he will be releasing more than just the one book? I get that question about once a week. And once a week Cary tells me that is th eonly book he plans on selling right now. "Right Now" being the operative words. If/When he changes his mind, I won't keep it a secret That's a really nice page. There were several pages that I was sorely tempted on, but I decided to hold out for when he decides to sell one of the actual REH adaptations. He really is one of the best Conan artists to come along in while and that's some pretty elite company.

That compilation is weird... It is only $3! It must have somehow fallen into the public domain. I also saw a copy of one of the original Gnome press Books, Conan the Conqueror: The Hour of the Dragon for $1.09! I am wondering how they can sell these so cheaply! It has to be public domain stuff. The books are more costly, but I would highly suggest the current Del Rey series. Over the years many editors have taken their hands to Howard's yarns, some with censorship & others with almost disastrous effect. The Del Rey series adheres to the current growing movement of a return to the pure essence of Howard's stories as they were originally published in Weird Tales and other magazines. With editing spearheaded by Rusty Burke, a noted Howard Scholar, the stories have been re-edited and returned to a state of closer to how they were when Howard originally wrote them (due to research gathered from original manuscripts). It is a retro movement that in many aficionados eyes, comes closer to the true essence of Howard than the earlier Grant or Lancer editions. This work is being done with the knowledge that some of these folks have been collecting on Howard for the past 30 years or so. They sure have been selling a lot of these paperback editions and im sure more might be sold after the movie drops, so you might be better off getting a used hard copy on ebay. I think it is funny that the Kindle edition of these books costs MORE that a paperback copy on amazon.com So, in closing, I think the ebook for $3 would be worth it for starters, But you must get your hands on the Del Reys to get the best experience Forrest, let me second Neil on this. The Del Rey versions, while a little more expensive will be a much better reading experience. These cheap versions are bootleg OCR'd versions of the older edited versions, probably the de Camp edited Lancers. The Del Reys also have excellent essays by Rusty as well as Patrice Louinet. However for a cheap quickie Kindle experience, I think there is $1.99 Howard e-collection with 99 stories. I do have that since it has so many non-Conan stories. Basically it's a ripoff of the REH stories from Project Gutenberg Australia, but easier to read on a phone with a Kindle app.

So for you Conan and REH fans that don't visit the Gold section, I spent the last week taking a road trip to Cross Plains, TX for Robert E. Howard Days 2011. I posted a blog style account of my trip in BZ's thread for those who are interested: http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=90179&Number=4856072#Post4856072

Very cool!

Thanks, Pat. I hope everyone else enjoyed it too. I will now end my hijacking of BZ's thread and return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

Day 5 Saturday is actually when the biggest crowds arrive. The town holds an arts and craft/antique car show nearby called the Barbarian Festival, timed to coincide with Howard Days. I slept in a bit after the previous night's debauchery but I made it over to Jean's Feed Barn for the annual lunch for Legacy members of the Foundation. We got some great swag, including a pin and a limited chapbook with the previously unpublished drafts of "The Hyborian Age" essay. We all got a laugh as Swedish Paradox CEO Fred Malmberg posed with his new cowboy hat. After lunch there were more panels and a swap meet at the Pavilion. One of waitresses from Jean's had heard me talking about comics and so she showed up with a tub of about 150 beat up Conan comics and wanted to see if I would buy them. I hate having to break the news to people that their comics aren't worth what they think. Next, everyone caravaned to the nearby Caddo Peak Ranch for the big BBQ. The ranch owners host the event and provide every thing, so all procedes go to help the museum. The annual REHupa groupshot. I'm third from the right. After the BBQ, many folks went on their way, though some of us diehards went back to the pavilian for another night of hanging out and drinking. Here, Damon, foundation editor Rob Roehm, Mark, and myself discuss upcoming projects. Looks like I may be working on the index for Howard's Collected Letters. It's amazing what one will agree too when under the influence of Irish whiskey. Of course there had to be one last session of geeking out over pulps: All good things come to end, however, and Claudia and I eventually said our goodbyes and we are now on our way back to Tallahassee. It was a great time and I'm pretty well hooked now. I'll be coming back to Cross Plains for a long time to come. If you are a fan of REH's work and enjoy hanging out with like-minded folks in an atmoshpere that's more intimate than your typical con, then I highly recommend checking out Howard Days some year. (thumbs u

Day 4 Cont'd After the movie annoucement it was time for the banquet at the community center. The place was packed -- about 140 people. There were speeches, a silent auction, the presentation of the annual REH foundation awards, and some pretty decent catered Tex-Mex. Next it was back to the pavilion for some late night drinking and carousing. The jug in the middle is home-made mead, an appropriate beverage for such a gathering: There was a poetry circle: My dog brother Mark Finn. Some of you may know him from his work at Dark Horse but he's also the author of _Blood and Thunder_, the best REH biography. Mark and I were roomates at the PCA conference where we both gave papers on REH for the pulp studies session. While we were there he was talking about how the one thing he really wanted was the Fight Stories with his favorite Steve Costigan yarn "Circus Fists." Well, as synchrocity would have it, I lucked out and won a cheap copy on ebay that flew under the radar while we there so I was able to hook him up: The drinking and carousing lasted into the wee hours, before I had to stumble back to the motel next door.

Cross Plains has changed very little. The railroad is gone, as are the oil wells, but otherwise it's pretty much the same. Because of that many of the houses and building associate with Howard are still around. I think many of tour riders were fascinated by seeing landmarks that they were familiar with from Mark Finn's biography and the film _The Whole Wide World_. As for the foreign contingent, Fabrice seem to enjoy Cross Plains, but Miguel couldn't stand the food. I tried hard to get him to eat fried pickles and chicken fried steak, but to no avail. Al came with his grandmother and two aunts last year and they must have enjoyed it because they were back again. Everyone in cross plains knows these three energetic Scotsladies as they are just all over the place.

Day Four Cont'd I should mention, that Howard Days always has several new publications that make their debut and most if not all of the proceeds go to Howard House and museum. Dennis put out a new book full of tributes to Glenn Lord as well as reprints from some of the rarest REH stories that were only published in Lord's original 60's fanzine The Howard Collector. Some of the REHupans put out a anthology of fiction and verse inspired by Howard (I'll stick to writing non-fiction, thank you). The Foundation put out a volume of REH's fathers letters. And Damon released the newest issue of Two-Gun Raconteur, to which I contributed an article on rough-and-tumble fighting in REH's humorous westerns. Lots of biting and eye-gouging! Getting back to the narrative, after the panels at the library everyone headed over to the high school auditorium for a presentation by Paradox on the Conan movie. I have some pics of this but I can't post them until Wednesday. Fred Malmberg the CEO of Paradox was there and he brought a bunch of props and still shots from the movie as well as debuting the new R-rated trailer that will be released publicly later this week. It looks pretty damn good! He also had a taped message from Jason Momoa apologizing for not being there. Paradox had planned to surprise everyone by having Jason show up. I had heard a few weeks ago through the grapevine that this was in the works, but apparently he had another commitment that came up. By all accounts he is real down to earth guy and a true REH fan who was really looking forward to just coming and hanging out on the pavilion and drinking some beer. If the movie is a success and it looks like he's going to be Conan for a few a sequels, then it wouldn't surprise me at all if he shows up at a future Howard Days.

Great stories from your trip. Sounds like a very small informal gathering of true fans. (thumbs u There's a core group of about 30-40 regulars made up of REHupans and foundation members that organize the event and usually about 100-200 general fans that show up over the course of the weekend. It's big enough to justify most of the events and small enough to still be intimate. It's a very fun laid back get together, with very friendly folks from all over hanging out at the pavilion, geeking out, and drinking whiskey into the wee hours.

Only copies. Most of the original typescripts still belong to Glenn Lord, the long time literary agent for the estate and they will go to the Harry Ransom Center at UT when he passes. Some are still in the hands of collectors. Most of them have been copied digitally and are available from the REH Foundation for legitimate research. Paradox, the current owner of the rights to Howard's are still a little twitchy about sharing too much of the unpublished stuff with general public. Are any of the furnishings actual pieces that were owned by Robert or his family? The little camel you see on the desk belonged to Howard and there are a few other items in the house that belonged to him or his parents. The actual typewriter and writing desk may have been located last year and perhaps will be eventually be acquired by the Foundation and displayed here. The books you see displayed are the same editions as ones that Howard owned, but are not his actual copies. Howard's library was donated to the nearby Howard Payne University by his father. The HPU library, not realizing the significance of the collection simply put them in circulation. A number of years ago Rusty went through the library and was able to identify about sixty of the original 300 or so volumes that were Howard's. These are now in a special collection at HPU and they bring it out for Howard Days when they always get a few hardcore visitors. Some of them have inscriptions from his friends and are really cool to see.

Patience young grasshopper.