The great "Int" mystery thread! 1 1

[Cat-Man_America]

This topic has been discussed in other threads, but never resolved to my satisfaction. Rather than trying to nudge collectors into a deeper discussion of this intriguing curiosity in the Timely thread (too many drool-worthy books for collectors to pursue any serious discussion of this matter) I've decided to move the topic here and delete my prior response.

 

I have a couple of Int designated books that fall into the war years time frame. BUT, there is good reason to be dubious about the designation coinciding with overseas military shipments. Personally, I'm not persuaded that Int stands for "international". Perhaps those three letters are nothing more one of many distributors marks placed on the top book of a stack ...or a collector's notation of some sort, ...or maybe a file copy designation, short for the word "internal".

 

Overseas shipment doesn't make sense for pre-war copies. Logically, copies probably wouldn't be shipped to overseas PX's until the second quarter of '42 as it would take time to coordinate the shipping of reading matter (newspapers, comics, magazines, etc.) between the government and publishers. That said, allowances for remaindered copies with pre-war dates probably should be made, although there'd still need to be a credulity factor adjustment made for the condition of those remaindered books being high grade copies.

 

To my knowledge these "Int" copies aren't from overseas collections (unless all these books are from territorial Hawaii or some other location where we had civilian/military occupation or residency). If copies did end up overseas, it requires the presumption of careful handling in shipments across the ocean, into the hands of soldiers who collected and returned the books safely stateside in immaculate condition to survive another 60 odd years before grading. That's a lot of good fortune for those books.

 

I'm just seeking other collector's views and other rationales on this, making my own observations in lieu of asking the obvious questions. From my own POV, the international hypothesis seems a reach, but I'm trying to keep an open mind as the evidence is sketchy. While we're discussing, feel free to post scans of the Int books from your own collections here along with any known provenance (if known) that would be helpful.

[Cat-Man_America]

 

 

Notice the similarity in the handwriting. This would suggest that the "Int" designation came from the same person. Because these are from different publishers, that makes me think these are from a single collection. Hence, the only way these could an "internal" file copy would be if some copies were set aside by a specific printer and marked at that location for the publisher.

 

One other possibility for the "international" hypothesis would be that these were government approval copies that were filed away and never left the country.

[vaultkeeper]

Is it possible that these books were on the newsstand in July 1944?

Edited August 6, 2016 by vaultkeeper

[Paul © ® ⚽️💙™]

My view on these books is this;

 

I don't know where people are getting 'Int' from.

There is no crossing on the supposed T and the three letters look far more like 'JUL', which if not standing for the month are more likely to be an abbreviation of the name Jules or Julius.

 

Great books btw

[sacentaur]

I don't know where people are getting 'Int' from.

There is no crossing on the supposed T and the three letters look far more like 'JUL', which if not standing for the month are more likely to be an abbreviation of the name Jules or Julius.

 

I see what you're saying, but there are variations on the handwriting on differing books which indicates more than one person is scripting them. On some of those books the "t" is crossed normally, clearly "Int".

 

Just like the Larson collection, where three(?) different employees wrote on the books ("L. Larson", "Larson", "Lamont", etc.), the same appears likely here (i.e., more than one individual handling the books).

 

Perhaps one of the individuals abbreviated "Inl" for international (instead of "Int")?

[Cat-Man_America]

Is it possible that these books were on the newsstand in July 1944?

 

July 15th for the All New, but Sept. 28th for the Mystic.

[sacentaur]

Condition-wise it's unlikely that the "Int" books shipped overseas, which is why I said in the other thread that they may have been destined for overseas but copies were set aside for one of any number of reasons.

 

The U.S. had bases, territories, and protectorates well in place before WWII and the logistics chain for periodicals and magazines would have already been established.

 

There are "Int" books which exist before the war even started (for example, Adventure 37, April 1939).

 

Once again, it's just a long-shot theory...

[Cat-Man_America]

Condition-wise it's unlikely that the "Int" books shipped overseas, which is why I said in the other thread that they may have been destined for overseas but copies were set aside for one of any number of reasons.

 

The U.S. had bases, territories, and protectorates well in place before WWII and the logistics chain for periodicals and magazines would have already been established.

 

There are "Int" books which exist before the war even started (for example, Adventure 37, April 1939).

 

Once again, it's just a long-shot theory...

 

It's a good theory even if it is a long shot. I'm wondering if there may be something else involved, such as these books being part of a collection originally filed away by the government as approved for overseas shipment. This could possibly go back to '39 or earlier, and may or may not've been strictly designated for military base sales. I'm just curious as to where this might lead with a better provenance established.

 

Maybe "Int" books are worthy of pedigree status. Just sayin'.

[vaultkeeper]

I don't know where people are getting 'Int' from.

There is no crossing on the supposed T and the three letters look far more like 'JUL', which if not standing for the month are more likely to be an abbreviation of the name Jules or Julius.

 

I see what you're saying, but there are variations on the handwriting on differing books which indicates more than one person is scripting them. On some of those books the "t" is crossed normally, clearly "Int".

Just like the Larson collection, where three(?) different employees wrote on the books ("L. Larson", "Larson", "Lamont", etc.), the same appears likely here (i.e., more than one individual handling the books).

 

Perhaps one of the individuals abbreviated "Inl" for international (instead of "Int")?

 

I looked at the two examples from Cat and thought the last letter was an "L".

Are there more examples that show the last letter as a "T"?

[sacentaur]

Are there more examples that show the last letter as a "T"?

 

 

[Cat-Man_America]

I don't know where people are getting 'Int' from.

There is no crossing on the supposed T and the three letters look far more like 'JUL', which if not standing for the month are more likely to be an abbreviation of the name Jules or Julius.

 

I see what you're saying, but there are variations on the handwriting on differing books which indicates more than one person is scripting them. On some of those books the "t" is crossed normally, clearly "Int".

Just like the Larson collection, where three(?) different employees wrote on the books ("L. Larson", "Larson", "Lamont", etc.), the same appears likely here (i.e., more than one individual handling the books).

 

Perhaps one of the individuals abbreviated "Inl" for international (instead of "Int")?

 

I looked at the two examples from Cat and thought the last letter was an "L".

Are there more examples that show the last letter as a "T"?

 

I think sacentaur has a point that either way it could mean international. If we can establish that we can narrow the probabilities down. It could still be a distribution mark of some sort. Ind might change the designation from overseas to a distribution handler notation, although it doesn't look as much like a "d" on the end.

[Paul © ® ⚽️💙™]

Are there more examples that show the last letter as a "T"?

 

 

 

Thanks for the clarification. My theory is most definitely wrong.

[AJD]

Could "int" mean " internal" - i.e. Are these file copies?

 

They're nice enough to be.

 

Edited August 6, 2016 by AJD

[Cat-Man_America]

Could "int" mean " internal" - i.e. Are these file copies?

 

They're nice enough to be.

 

 

That was my thought as well, but even if international is the designation, hypothetically these books could be file copies. It seems logical that some form of maintained storage would've been in place for government export approval.

[RareHighGrade]

There are "Int" books which exist before the war even started (for example, Adventure 37, April 1939).

[cousin itt]

All the examples here are high grade copies. Are there low grade copies with "Int" on them?

[Cat-Man_America]

All the examples here are high grade copies. Are there low grade copies with "Int" on them?

 

I'm sure there are lower grade Int books just like there are lower grade pedigree copies. Some books just get rougher handling over the years. The fact that there are so many in higher grades is what makes me curious about the distribution and provenance of these books.

[PUNYHUMAN]

This is a very interesting thread. Does anybody remember when these books first started to show up in the marketplace? Conventions , Internet,etc.? Was there a dealer who bought these to market? Great theories!! Maybe the INT stands for internal. File copy, or then again International. somebody out there hopefully knows .Again , great thread.

[buttock]

There are "Int" books which exist before the war even started (for example, Adventure 37, April 1939).

 

Now I get it. Int is short for "Intended to be in buttock's collection".

[PUNYHUMAN]

OK! Mystery solved. Move on.