Seduction of the Innocent, 1954, and related

[SOTIcollector]

thanks for the clarification on the two versions and happy to see they both sold... I would have had a difficult decision with which one to pick up.

 

Actually, there's one copy of SOTI left. The first print without DJ is still available. And within the week, I hope to have another one posted (lower grade, no DJ).

[vaillant]

Hi SOTIcollector, nice to meet you.

 

I have grown personally more interested in what happened before Wertham published SOTI, rather than in the book itself (which I don’t find funny by any means, it seems to me it shows how much psychiatric though was preconceived and pretty distorted).

Do you have the later book by Wertham, the one about the world of fanzines? I would be curious to read (in the early 1990s a friend of mine wrote a very nice short article about SOTI for the italian audience in the fanzine we were publishing and mentioned it to illustrate the change underwent by Wertham’s thought).

 

In fact, I came to these boards in late 2011 (or early 2012, don’t recall) since I started a little golden age collecting on Lev Gleason titles.

 

Sorry for the OT…

[SOTIcollector]

Hi SOTIcollector, nice to meet you.

 

I have grown personally more interested in what happened before Wertham published SOTI, rather than in the book itself (which I don’t find funny by any means, it seems to me it shows how much psychiatric though was preconceived and pretty distorted).

Do you have the later book by Wertham, the one about the world of fanzines? I would be curious to read (in the early 1990s a friend of mine wrote a very nice short article about SOTI for the italian audience in the fanzine we were publishing and mentioned it to illustrate the change underwent by Wertham’s thought).

 

In fact, I came to these boards in late 2011 (or early 2012, don’t recall) since I started a little golden age collecting on Lev Gleason titles.

 

Sorry for the OT…

 

Nice to meet you as well. It's not OT at all... it's a SOTI sales thread, but a discussion as well. Thanks for posting.

 

I do have a really sharp copy of Wertham's The World of Fanzines: A Special Form of Communication for $95. Please let me know if you'd like a scan. If you're looking for a copy in lesser grade, you should be able to find one for about half that price.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

[SOTIcollector]

This one predates SOTI by 5 years, and was one of the first books to criticize comics. It's a Sour Economy Special... Just $25! You've seen the references to Love & Death books in Overstreet, but have you read what was actually said about those books? Here's your chance, and it's about as cheap as you'll ever find this book. There are several editions of this book: Hardcover first ed, 1949. I finally found a copy of the HC first ed. after looking for about 15 years. Then softcover first print, which is the one I'm offering here. There was a 1949 softcover second print, which I've never seen. Then in 1963, there was another hardcover printing and another softcover printing.

 

[cloudofwit]

This one predates SOTI by 5 years, and was one of the first books to criticize comics. It's a Sour Economy Special... Just $25! You've seen the references to Love & Death books in Overstreet, but have you read what was actually said about those books? Here's your chance, and it's about as cheap as you'll ever find this book. There are several editions of this book: Hardcover first ed, 1949. I finally found a copy of the HC first ed. after looking for about 15 years. Then softcover first print, which is the one I'm offering here. There was a 1949 softcover second print, which I've never seen. Then in 1963, there was another hardcover printing and another softcover printing.

 

 

[SOTIcollector]

This one predates SOTI by 5 years, and was one of the first books to criticize comics. It's a Sour Economy Special... Just $25! You've seen the references to Love & Death books in Overstreet, but have you read what was actually said about those books? Here's your chance, and it's about as cheap as you'll ever find this book. There are several editions of this book: Hardcover first ed, 1949. I finally found a copy of the HC first ed. after looking for about 15 years. Then softcover first print, which is the one I'm offering here. There was a 1949 softcover second print, which I've never seen. Then in 1963, there was another hardcover printing and another softcover printing.

 

http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa406/PopeElvis/Boards/Love_And_Death_First_SC_Ed01.jpg[/img]

 

 

Thanks for your purchase!

[sufunk]

SOTI First printing, 1954. No dust jacket, pencil scribble on title page; interior spine break as pictured.. $99

 

 

I think this one is still available?

 

If so,

[SOTIcollector]

SOTI First printing, 1954. No dust jacket, pencil scribble on title page; interior spine break as pictured.. $99

 

 

I think this one is still available?

 

If so,

 

Thanks for your purchase!

[SOTIcollector]

Up next... Junior Miss #33.

You may have seen in the Overstreet Guide that some Marvel comics from 1949 had and "anti-Wertham editorial." There were actually four editorials that Marvel did in response to Wertham's accusations that appeared in the Saturday Review of Literature in May, 1948. The second of those editorials, published in almost all of Marvel's titles dated January, February, or March, 1949, actually called out Dr. Wertham by name. [Yes they called themselves "Marvel" in the books, not "Timely" or "Atlas" at this point.]

I'm trying to locate every single one of the Marvel books from November, 1948 though June, 1949 so I can difinitively identify which books had which editorials. For more on this, check out

the Seduction of the Innocent website's page with details on Marvel's anti-Wertham editorials .

 

Offered here is Junior Miss #33, which contains editorial #2 (the one that mentions Wertham by name). It looks like a pretty sold VG copy witha spine roll and supple pages. And then there are the corners. Think these corners could be called a little bit rounded?

 

$20.

 

[sufunk]

SOTI First printing, 1954. No dust jacket, pencil scribble on title page; interior spine break as pictured.. $99

 

 

I think this one is still available?

 

If so,

 

Thanks for your purchase!

 

No, thank you!!!

 

Sorry I never responded to your pm! I was running a sales thread and checked you pm on my phone and then It got buried behind a thousand other pms and I totally forgot about it

[Thermal]

It's been a few months, but thanks again for my First Edition w/repro dust cover. Goos stuff. Hope all is well.

[SOTIcollector]

 

 

Thanks for your purchase!

 

No, thank you!!!

 

Sorry I never responded to your pm! I was running a sales thread and checked you pm on my phone and then It got buried behind a thousand other pms and I totally forgot about it

 

Not a problem. I totally understand. I'm glad you were finally able to pick up a copy.

[SOTIcollector]

It's been a few months, but thanks again for my First Edition w/repro dust cover. Goos stuff. Hope all is well.

You're certainly welcome. I'm glad you like it.

[SOTIcollector]

Brace yourself for the cheapest copy of Fredric Wertham's Seduction of the Innocent that I've ever sold. And the one in the worst shape I've ever sold. It's a second print from 1954. The good news: All 16 illustration pages are present. The bad news, condition-wise: everything else. This one is a former library copy that was used and abused. Its boards show significant wear. It was taped all along the spine with green tape, and that old tape repair itself has been repaired with a few pieces of Scotch tape. The spine's been broken, and one of the title pages is missing. There is a library card in the book. The flaps of the dust jacket, with a synopsis of the book's contents, have been pasted inside the book. This book has no bibliography.

 

Since the modern reprints of SOTI (the ones that claim to be a "limited edition" but are really not) go for $45, that's how much I'll ask for this one.

 

This is the last copy of SOTI I have to post in this thread, but I'm always looking for more so if you're still looking for a copy, watch for future threads.

[Peter Loves Gwen]

That's cool, I've seen a library copy similar to that back in college. I didn't know that I'd seen one before, until you posted this last one. I wonder what I was researching back then to be looking in that book, interesting.

[SOTIcollector]

Oops. This belonged in a PM.

[SOTIcollector]

The last one for this go 'round.

 

Here's a really sharp looking copy of Krazy Komics #2, from November, 1948. Although most of Marvel's books in November, 1948 had an anti-Wertham editoral, this one did not. Hard to find Wolverton. Beautiful, sharp copy, perhaps FN+. The photos tell most of the story. This one never had a bottom staple, but the pages are snug at the top staple. OW to cream pages. Glossy copy with really nice eye appeal. $179.

 

 

[SOTIcollector]

Ok, this really is the last one. Let's call this one The Secret Origin of Dr. Wertham.

 

We all know that in 1954, Dr. Fredric Wertham published Seduction of the Innocent. It scared parents and politicians into believing that comic books were dangerous, and resulted in a neutering of the comic book industry via the Comics Code. Perhaps not everybody knows that the book was published after years of crusading by Dr. Wertham. Back in 1948, Wertham's first widely-distributed anti-comics writing was in the Saturday Review of Literature. That's where his article "The Comics... Very Funny" started the anti-comics snowball rolling.

 

What I have here is a 2-volume bound set of Saturday Review of Literature. It's the entire year of 1948. In this set, you get the prelude to "The Comics, Very Funny", which was a pair of articles about comics called "The Case Against the Comics" by John Mason Brown and "The Case For the Comics" by Al Capp. Then there's that infamous Wertham article, which features illustrations from True Crime v1#2 and Jo-Jo #18. Following Wertham's article, between May and September, 1948, a debate raged in the letters pages of Saturday Review. Some people wrote in support of comics, while others wrote in to cheer Dr. Wertham's efforts. In all, 19 letters about comics were published in the months after Wertham's article appeared, not the least of which was a very impressive pro-comics article by 14-year-old David Wigransky.

 

The debate in the Saturday Review sparked anti-Wertham editorials from Marvel, which were in turn mentioned years later in Seduction of the Innocent.

 

This bound set contains all of those articles and letters in the Saturday Review, plus as a neat bonus there's a letter from Albert Einstein. Okay, it has nothing to do with comics, but it's just really cool.

 

For just $135, you get the entire year of Saturday Review of Literature PLUS one low-grade copy of one of the Feb/March 1948 Marvel comics with the anti-Wertham editorial response.

 

This puppy's heavy, so shipping will probably be about $12. You pay exact shipping; I pay insurance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cloudofwit]

Ok, this really is the last one. Let's call this one The Secret Origin of Dr. Wertham.

 

We all know that in 1954, Dr. Fredric Wertham published Seduction of the Innocent. It scared parents and politicians into believing that comic books were dangerous, and resulted in a neutering of the comic book industry via the Comics Code. Perhaps not everybody knows that the book was published after years of crusading by Dr. Wertham. Back in 1948, Wertham's first widely-distributed anti-comics writing was in the Saturday Review of Literature. That's where his article "The Comics... Very Funny" started the anti-comics snowball rolling.

 

What I have here is a 2-volume bound set of Saturday Review of Literature. It's the entire year of 1948. In this set, you get the prelude to "The Comics, Very Funny", which was a pair of articles about comics called "The Case Against the Comics" by John Mason Brown and "The Case For the Comics" by Al Capp. Then there's that infamous Wertham article, which features illustrations from True Crime v1#2 and Jo-Jo #18. Following Wertham's article, between May and September, 1948, a debate raged in the letters pages of Saturday Review. Some people wrote in support of comics, while others wrote in to cheer Dr. Wertham's efforts. In all, 19 letters about comics were published in the months after Wertham's article appeared, not the least of which was a very impressive pro-comics article by 14-year-old David Wigransky.

 

The debate in the Saturday Review sparked anti-Wertham editorials from Marvel, which were in turn mentioned years later in Seduction of the Innocent.

 

This bound set contains all of those articles and letters in the Saturday Review, plus as a neat bonus there's a letter from Albert Einstein. Okay, it has nothing to do with comics, but it's just really cool.

 

For just $135, you get the entire year of Saturday Review of Literature PLUS one low-grade copy of one of the Feb/March 1948 Marvel comics with the anti-Wertham editorial response.

 

This puppy's heavy, so shipping will probably be about $12. You pay exact shipping; I pay insurance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Radj4ck]

Congrats to both buyer and seller of this last one, If I had it I don't think I could sell it though (I'm a big fan of bound books)!

 

That's all kinds of awesome right there!