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Seduction of the Innocent, 1954, and related

Started by SOTIcollector,

43 posts in this topic

SOTIcollector

SOTIcollector

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Posted

I have a few 1954 printings of Seduction of the Innocent by Dr. Fredric Wertham that I'll be listing as time permits.

Since SOTI is my collecting focus, I'll see what other SOTI-related items I can come up with to add to the thread, like other Wertham books and maybe some of the 1948-49 Marvel/Atlas/Timely's books with responses to Wertham's charges.

ABOUT SOTI

The 2012 Overstreet still has a bunch of incorrect information about SOTI. Here's the real story.

 

Back in April, 1954, the first edition of SOTI was published. At some time thereafter, perhaps late '54 or early '55, a second printing was published.

 

Both of these printings were published with a bibliography at the end (a single leaf, pages 399-400). A few copies of the first print were distributed before the book's publisher, Rinehart, decided that the bibliography had to be removed. So the bibliography was carefully sliced out of the remaining copies before they were sold. A few first printings survived with the bibliography intact, but I have never seen or heard of a second printing that survived with the bibliography intact.

 

There are two things that distinguish the second printing from the first printing.

1) The inside front flap of the second print reads "SECOND PRINTING."

2) The first print has an R colophon on the publication page, but the second printing does not have this colophon.

 

Other than these things, it's easy to mistake a second print for a first print. Whether you buy one of mine or another copy of SOTI, be sure you know how to tell a first print from a second print. Over the years I have seen many sellers with unjacketed copies of second prints who mistakenly thought they were selling first prints.

 

I have also owned copies that were missing an illustration page from the center. The illustration pages are unnumbered, so be sure to always count the center pages (there should be 8 leaves/16 pages).

THESE BOOKS:

 

I am posting pics that should give you a good idea of condition; please let me know if you have any further questions.

SHIPPING DELAY

Please be aware that my work schedule has me tied up daily from 6am-6pm. That means getting to the Post Office is a rare occurrence for me. If you buy this book, I'll be able to ship it within a week, but it may take that long for me to find time to get to the Post Office.

 

The usual rules: no probies, etc. Fully insured Priority Mail shipping anywhere in the US just $6. For overseas shipping, please contact me. I won't ship these without insurance, so shipping can be expensive overseas.

 

Thanks for checking out my listing!

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SOTIcollector

SOTIcollector

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SOTI is a great book to have (I have one already or would have been all over one of these) - and thanks for the correct info on the two printings.

 

You're welcome. These boards are a great place to share info, particularly when there is incorrect info in a seeminly trustworty source like Overstreet.

 

 

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jimjum12

jimjum12

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Don't want to distract from your sales thread, but do you know why the publisher felt they had to remove the bibliography page? hm

 

Comic Publishers threatening to sue (shrug) GOD BLESS....

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

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SOTIcollector

SOTIcollector

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Don't want to distract from your sales thread, but do you know why the publisher felt they had to remove the bibliography page? hm

 

In Instant Gratification #1, 1979, Dr. Wertham said,

One of the many things I learned after Seduction of the Innocent was published was the enormous power of the distributor. When SotI was first published I quickly received a very angry letter -- perhaps the angriest letter I ever received -- saying, "How could you sell a mutilated book!" I didn't even know what he was talking about. I hadn't even looked carefully at my own copy. You see, I had quite a bit of legal advice on SotI. The book was absolutely libel-proof. But apparently Mr. Rinehart, the publisher, was threatened by the distributors who said that Rinehart's books would be boycotted. As a compromise at the last moment and without my knowledge, he took out the bibliography.

 

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Sqeggs

Sqeggs

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Don't want to distract from your sales thread, but do you know why the publisher felt they had to remove the bibliography page? hm

 

In Instant Gratification #1, 1979, Dr. Wertham said,

One of the many things I learned after Seduction of the Innocent was published was the enormous power of the distributor. When SotI was first published I quickly received a very angry letter -- perhaps the angriest letter I ever received -- saying, "How could you sell a mutilated book!" I didn't even know what he was talking about. I hadn't even looked carefully at my own copy. You see, I had quite a bit of legal advice on SotI. The book was absolutely libel-proof. But apparently Mr. Rinehart, the publisher, was threatened by the distributors who said that Rinehart's books would be boycotted. As a compromise at the last moment and without my knowledge, he took out the bibliography.

 

Interesting. Kind of odd that with Wertham reaming them out eight ways from Sunday, the distributors would care about his having listed the names of the publishing companies from the comics' indicia. (shrug)

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Twistty1

Twistty1

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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.

 

 

It was extremely hard to decide, but finally my wallet made the decision for me.

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gozer

gozer

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I've always been curious about this ...

 

> A few copies of the first print were distributed before the

> book's publisher, Rinehart, decided that the bibliography

> had to be removed

 

What does "few" mean? 6? 100? 5,000?

 

How many copies of the first edition with the bibliography exist?

 

gozer

=====

Tonight, on Smartline. The power plant strike. Argle bargle, or fooforaw?

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SOTIcollector

SOTIcollector

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I've always been curious about this ...

 

> A few copies of the first print were distributed before the

> book's publisher, Rinehart, decided that the bibliography

> had to be removed

 

What does "few" mean? 6? 100? 5,000?

 

How many copies of the first edition with the bibliography exist?

 

gozer

 

It's more than six, because over the years I've bought & sold more copies than that with the bibliography. I currently have four in hand, and I've probably owned about 10 or 15 over the last 15 years.

 

I've never seen any solid figures on how many were printed altogether or how many survived with the bibliography. I doubt anybody kept such figures regarding how many were released with the bibliography.

 

There is paperwork in Wertham's files indicating royalty payments, and with enough time & effort perhaps a dedicated researcher could come across something that indicates the print run of the original printings of SOTI. From there, I'd guess the best way to gauge how many made it out with the bibliography intact might be based on percentages. If approximately X% of the copies offered for sale over a period of time have the bibliography, and the overall print run was Y, then the number of copies with the bibliography could MAYBE be estimated at X% of Y.

 

Anybody have other suggestions as to how one might arrive at an estimate of the number of copies with the bibliography?

 

I have my guesses, but they'd really just be guesses.

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