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Xaltotun

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    Pulps Between Boards: Arkham House and Other Specialty Publishers

    in Pulp Magazines

    Posted · Edited by Xaltotun

    4 hours ago, RedFury said:

    Absolutely amazing, Patrice.  Is it known how Derleth first acquired it?  A gift from Dr. Howard?  Or perhaps his London agent for Arkham House, Ken Chapman, found a copy and sent it over?

    6 copies of the book were sent to Otis Kilne in 1937. A few were circulated for potential publishers. One ended up in Howard's father's hands, then to his heirs. One landed at the Ranger museum. The Derleth copy very probably originated from Kline. No copy ever surfaced from the States other than those 3. All the others originated from the UK or the Commonwealth or countries with strong British colonial ties (the copy at the Howard house in Cross Plains originated from South Africa).

    Other than my first copy (which I very strongly suspect to be an original owner's), all copies of this book are ratty, missing the dj, and originate from the UK. 3 copies were discovered in the past ten years, all ratty.

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    Pulps Between Boards: Arkham House and Other Specialty Publishers

    in Pulp Magazines

    Posted · Edited by Xaltotun

    And here is the one to rule them all.

    Bob Howard's first book, published posthumously in England in 1937. Print run was very low, maybe even around 800 copies, most of which were circulated via Boots lending library (ie a supermaket chain where you could borrow books for a week or so), and of course the jackets were discarded right away. Add the Blitz, and you will understand why there are only 18 known surviving copies, 9 of which are institutionally held.

    I tracked down a first copy in 2007 or so. It was buried in the family archive of descendants of the Howard family. They are keeping that, of course. I found and this time bought another copy in 2010 from a UK bookseller, who had no idea what it was obviously, paying the grand sum of £20 for it. It instantly became the world's *second* best copy in existence, a book in abt Fine condition, but of course no dustjacket. With one exception, no copy survives with the dustjacket.

    I thought I had my Grail, when the only copy in the world with the dj was offered. It came from Glenn Lord's collection. Glenn bought it for a song from August Derleth, who had told him at the time that he would get another copy later. Glenn chuckled. After Glenn passed away, the book was offered on eBay. It brought *lots* of attention from *Big Name* dealers (I know of at least three), but they didn't pull the trigger because the description stated that the book had been unbound then rebound when Don Grant prepared the first American edition of the book (in 1965). I knew this was not the case. Glenn Lord would *never* have done that. The copy that was used for the Don Grant edition is the one which is held at Ranger, Texas, all of which was later confirmed by copies of Glenn's correspondence. 

    I sold my undercopy in exactly 12 minutes, and used it to partially finance the new one. And thus, this copy arrived in my hands. It is the only copy in the world with the dustjacket. The best copy, with an incredible pedigree, of the ultimate Grail of any Howard collector1438334927_JenkinsGent1.thumb.jpg.836149dff42916dea24b490a120167b5.jpg

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    Pulps Between Boards: Arkham House and Other Specialty Publishers

    in Pulp Magazines

    Posted

    On 2/22/2021 at 4:50 AM, OtherEric said:

    And a bit of research now that I'm home suggests that it's not; "Not at Night" (1928) is, as well as one or two UK volumes.  It remains a very early collection to feature Lovecraft, and the earliest reprinting of "The Call of Cthulhu". 

    There was also "The Shunned House", prepared by W. Paul Cook in 1928, but if he printed the sheets, he never got around to bind them, which was done years later. It's quite a rarity.

    Two-Gun Bob's Saloon - The Pulps of Robert E. Howard

    in Pulp Magazines

    Posted

    Here is a nice little series of cool Howard/Lovecraft items.

    In the course of the Lovecraft/Howard correspondence, they would often share clippings and documents. While all the original letters are now held by the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, what few enclosed documents that survived are not, and those are 5 photos taken by Howard, with his typewritten comments on the back. I obtained those a year ago or so.

    Howard photos - South Texas country - front.jpg

    Howard photos - South Texas country - back.jpg

    I Am Providence: The H.P. Lovecraft Thread

    in Pulp Magazines

    Posted

    4 hours ago, IngelsFan said:

    This is also, if I recall correctly, the first time it was published in its original form. Weird Tales published it heavily edited.

    I am not sure it was. "At the Mountains of Madness" was severely truncated in Astounding. Maybe that's the tale you were thinking of.

    Wright didn't censor or bowdlerize as a rule. At most, he would silently edit a word here and there, but if there was something he didn't like, or felt a stroy was too long, he would ask for a rewrite.