Surfing Alien

Pretty much where i'm at, especially picking up lots that have a few I want for the permanent collection and selling off what I can live without. I'd call it a targeted accumulation. Here's a new pickup you may appreciate.

That's crazy good... damn now you're gonna make me go hunting Maguires again

Nice - it's a very cool, moody Maguire cover and def scarcer than the Avon reprint.

Here's a few Ace's with hardcore SciFi Rockets & Rayguns covers

Interesting thought. The cover is unattributed in all the price guides but if it could be traced to Wood it would be amazing. I don't think there is any record of it or one of the cataloguers would've found it out. Hancer and Warren guides were both put out a lot closer to the time period than today.

Gorgeous. Don't think i've seen this before. You're on fire Pat!

Earthman on Venus is probably the quintessential SciFi cover. You're probably going to see a barrage of Ace Doubles but the classic Avons have the most "pulp sci fi" look to my eye. Here's a few other must haves...

Here's a few more of the Popular ladies, including a couple more Bergey classics. The Damon Runyon Story is uncredited but I would make the case for it being Bergey based on the facial similarity to some of his pulp babes.

Yeah I like that one too, I know I have a nice copy in my boxes somewhere. Her Life to Live that I posted above is Bergey as well.

The Schomburg Quiz Book is definitely more comic book wholesome but is mostly notable because of its rarity, especially in any kind of nice grade. It wasn't a bestseller in any sense compared to the fiction titles and most copies are scribbled in, in addition to being beat up.

I may have posted some of these before but I was sorting a box of Popular Librarys and a theme is a theme so... Spine is uncracked on this fatty... Definitely one of the classic "taillight" covers...

Congrats! That's a great series

I try I have another copy that *might* be better but neither one is unopened. No doubt the fat books are tougher to find unopened. The curvature is somewhat inevitable, even on an unread copy because the glue dries up and shrinks. But when you find one of these fatties that is pristine, they are something to behold. Your copy of Fancies & Goodnights has "that look" from what I can see of it.

Black Opium was by Robert Maguire. Binger did quite a few covers for Bantam. He was a realist but his best work has a dreamlike quality to it. Brave New World is one of my favorites by him.

Agree on the 1st 100 for sure. Avons had a much wider range of both story type and artwork in its 1st 100, so are more generally interesting. Popular's 1st 100 were almost all mystery with a few westerns near the end and the art was a progression through various stylized formats ending up with the "Frame" style with the banner across the top near the end. Not sure which was the first with the banner, I know Fatal Descent by John Dickson Carr, #87 was an early one. One thing for sure - the Popular "Frame" look is amazing for group shots. Unfaded spines in a row on a bookshelf look awesome too

Great book, great Charles Binger cover & great copy. Yes, you need a reading copy now the Giant size books just can't be read if they look this nice.

Without a doubt this is the "Golden Age" of Popular Library. I'll take one of each

Maybe no one wants to give up that incredibly suggestive sweater shot? Seriously, without having print run/sales information, it's hard to say. It's the first one i've had or seen in hand.

Yeah, I used to only go for the 1st's but there is no doubt that many later printings have cooler covers, Especially books like Signets where the earlier issues have stylized covers and later prints have Avati, Maguire or others in that style. I'll always pick them up if they look good and the price is right

Yeah, the market seems all over the place right now. Remember this is a market for cheapskates who want everything for $5 or $10 lol! That said, some books like Marihuana, most people know what it is so it never goes for way cheap. I bid on a nice one a couple months ago in an auction and am glad I didn't win it, it went really high. I find for the most part that BIN's with make offer, and scouring the various multi-book lots that come up are your best opportunities.

Never tried or thought about re-attaching the laminate. I'd be more interested in that than peeling it off. I've only done that on a couple of wacky books where there was very little left and it was folded over and over onto itself and looked horrible. As you mentioned - it usually leaves some residue and the book looks dull. I'd be interested to know of there was a safe way to reattach it.

Love this one and the Amazing Stories, both with The Woolworth Building in peril. It was the tallest commercial building in the world at the time both of these were printed in 1929 and had been since its completion in 1913 so had reached iconic status.

What's odd is that i've never heard of this book or seen it, but apparently it was one of the biggest selling books of the early 20th century (it was written in 1925) and was "notorious" (banned in Boston according to the WaPo article). It was reprinted in 2012 to a lot of fanfare including a gushing review in the Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/the-madonna-of-the-sleeping-cars-by-maurice-dekobra/2012/11/09/3c107f56-1e13-11e2-ba31-3083ca97c314_story.html Maybe there wasn't an appetite for lighthearted pre-WW2 European sleaze and intrigue in 1948 when Dell released it and it didn't sell well?

Some more nice Dell's came into the fold. The early ones are pretty tough looking this nice. The lamination is lifting on Madonna of the Sleeping Cars but it's all there and I've never seen one before. It's a real oddball.