More Seduction of the Innocent, this time with Parade of Pleasure!

[SOTIcollector]

Four books tonight. Three copies of the book that almost killed the comic industry, Seduction of the Innocent, by Dr. Fredric Wertham. Plus one that's by far much tougher to find: a copy of Parade of Pleasure by Geoffrey Wagner.

 

The usual rules: no HOS or probies. Payment via check, MO or Paypal. "Take it" in thread trumps all.

 

Fully insured shipping in the United States is included. Save a few bucks with local pickup in Hartford, CT or Springfield, MA. Shipping outside the US is no problem, but it's typically very pricey because I only ship these fully insured. Expect about $30 and up for shipping outside the U.S.

 

I typically make it to the Post Office only once a week, so if you're in a rush this might not be the deal for you.

 

Questions? Just drop me a line.

 

 

[SOTIcollector]

 

Seduction of the Innocent, first print from 1954. No dust jacket, no bibliography. As you probably know, the bibliography was removed from most copies of this book prior to distribution. This does not have the bibliography, but I'll include a copy of the bibliography for your convenience.

This copy is solid but has seeen quite a bit of wear. Soiling and scuffing on the cover and edges. Inside the FC, the number 25 was written in orange (marker? crayon?). Since it's orange on an orange background, you can only see it when the light is at the correct angle. There is a pencil mark on the first page of chapter 1 that could probably be mostly erased.

All 16 pages (8 leaves) of illustrations are present, and there is no writing or highlighting other than what's noted.

$105.

 

[SOTIcollector]

Seduction of the Innocent, second print from 1954/55-ish. No dust jacket or bibliography. Photocopied bibliography included. This is a very sharp looking and solid copy. The rear hinge has a split, as seen in the photos, but the book is still quite solid. No markings at all. All 16 pages (8 leaves) of illustrations are present. $125 $115

 

 

[SOTIcollector]

Seduction of the Innocent, first print from 1954. No bibliography, but a particularly nice dust jacket. Take note of the red lettering on the spine, which is only slightly faded. Most copies of the dust jacket I've seen have significant fading of the red text on the spine. The DJ has a couple tears and some foxing, as seen in the pics. Sharp, unmarked copy. All 16 illustration pages (8 leaves) are present. Photocopied bibliography included.

$250.

 

 

[SOTIcollector]

Far scarcer than Seduction of the Innocent is Parade of Pleasure, by Geoffrey Wagner. This book criticizes not just comic books, but movies, pin-up magazines, and sleazy paperbacks. This book is rarely offered for sale. POP was reprinted a few years ago by Pure Imagination, so if you just want to read the text you might want to pick up that softcover "reprint". I put "reprint" in quotes because that edition it so different from the original one. The new printing omits all of the photo illustrations from the original edition, and adds a whole new set of illustrations. It appears that the new printing was created using OCR software that wasn't very good, because it's rife with errors that basic proofreading would have and should have caught.

If you want the edition with a photo of Marilyn Monroe as well as these great comic book illustrations, then this is the one you need.

Some paper loss and tears, plus a sticker on the DJ. Tape stains from an old mylar book cover on the book's outer covers and first interior pages.

$595. $550

 

 

[FineCollector]

When you're tired of selling books, you'll have to tell us where you find this unending supply.

[Hibou]

I've never even SEEN a PoP!

 

Beautiful!

[Fantastic Thor]

I've never even SEEN a PoP!

 

Beautiful!

 

there is one for $1000 on ebay.....

 

Nice as always steven

[bigboytoys]

Great price on the PoP. Shouldnt last long

 

Glwts

[SOTIcollector]

I've never even SEEN a PoP!

 

Beautiful!

 

there is one for $1000 on ebay.....

 

Nice as always stephen

Thanks, Thor.

 

Yes, I saw that copy of Parade of Pleasure on eBay, which was $1200 and then dropped to $850. It's been there ever since the seller with some questionable ethics cancelled two sales to me. I first bought that copy from the seller at his asking price: a whopping six dollars. That caused the seller to have some seller's remorse. I guess he looked it up after the sale and found that it was worth more than six bucks. So he cancelled my sale and refunded my money, saying that the item was "out of stock." Immediately after that, he listed the book again, this time for $60. I once again bought the book and paid for it. The seller once again cancelled the sale and lied to me, saying that the book was "out of stock." Ever since then (February, 2013), the book has been listed on numerous online sites, typically at $1200 but occasionally going on sale for less.

 

The seller has added one new feature to his listing: he plagiarized one of my prior listings for this book (including condition description) in his eBay listing. I'm searching for the original listing I wrote so I can report to eBay that his listing is plagiarized. Not that it'll do any good, but the thought of this guy potentially making a sale based on something I wrote is rather infuriating.

 

It is a nice book he's offering, and at $850 he's approaching a decent price for it. But it's a seller who'll never again get a penny of my money.

 

 

[SOTIcollector]

Great price on the PoP. Shouldnt last long

 

Glwts

 

Thanks. I was half expecting that the book would be sold by the time I woke up today. This dust jacket is significantly nicer than the one that I sold here in 2011, and that one went for $450.

 

 

 

 

[snitzer]

Bad timing on the POP for this SOTI enthusiast. Awesome books - as always!

[SOTIcollector]

Via PM there was a question about publication dates for the two editions of POP. Inside the UK edition, the publication date is listed as 1954. Inside the US edition, offered here, the publication date is listed as 1955. It's the exact opposite of SOTI: the first US edition of SOTI was 1954, while its UK counterpart was 1955.

[vaillant]

Who wrote Parade of Pleasure, and what was the intent?

[JazzMan]

Seduction of the Innocent, first print from 1954. No dust jacket, no bibliography. As you probably know, the bibliography was removed from most copies of this book prior to distribution. This does not have the bibliography, but I'll include a copy of the bibliography for your convenience.

This copy is solid but has seeen quite a bit of wear. Soiling and scuffing on the cover and edges. Inside the FC, the number 25 was written in orange (marker? crayon?). Since it's orange on an orange background, you can only see it when the light is at the correct angle. There is a pencil mark on the first page of chapter 1 that could probably be mostly erased.

All 16 pages (8 leaves) of illustrations are present, and there is no writing or highlighting other than what's noted.

$105.

 

[RCheli]

What, no Seduction of the Innocent Revisited? That is one off the worst books about comics ever written. (I own it, but I'm not happy about it.) :-)

[SOTIcollector]

 

Thanks for the pickup!

[SOTIcollector]

What, no Seduction of the Innocent Revisited? That is one off the worst books about comics ever written. (I own it, but I'm not happy about it.) :-)

 

Yup. I have a copy as well in my collection, and Seduction of the Innocent Revisited is a pretty pathetic book. If memory serves, it's written by a guy who used to collect or sell comics, and then at some point he decided that pretty much everything in comic books goes against the Bible, so he put out this book explaining why comic books were evil. Wertham's credentials as a psychiatrist were outstanding, and as a result people listened to him when he said that comics were harmful to kids. The clown who wrote Seduction of the Innocent Revisited, however, had no credentials other than the facts that he had read some comic books and he had read the Bible. Well, portions of the Bible, anyway.

 

For anybody who is extremely curious, the book can easily be found for under ten bucks. At that price, it's still overpriced.

 

[RCheli]

What, no Seduction of the Innocent Revisited? That is one off the worst books about comics ever written. (I own it, but I'm not happy about it.) :-)

 

Yup. I have a copy as well in my collection, and Seduction of the Innocent Revisited is a pretty pathetic book. If memory serves, it's written by a guy who used to collect or sell comics, and then at some point he decided that pretty much everything in comic books goes against the Bible, so he put out this book explaining why comic books were evil. Wertham's credentials as a psychiatrist were outstanding, and as a result people listened to him when he said that comics were harmful to kids. The clown who wrote Seduction of the Innocent Revisited, however, had no credentials other than the facts that he had read some comic books and head read the Bible. Well, portions of the Bible, anyway.

 

For anybody who is extremely curious, the book can easily be found for under ten bucks. At that price, it's still overpriced.

 

You're pretty much right on the money. John Fulce owned a comic store, saw all the bad that there was in the industry, and wanted it to be exactly like how it was in his childhood -- good vs. evil, no sex, no graphic violence, etc. He eventually became a pastor, and, well, the rest is history.

 

You can pretty much sum up his book with the phrase: "Kids these days!" It was nothing new, and amazingly poorly researched.

[TheSurgeon]

I am tempted by the POP...