I spent yesterday morning putting Brodart archival covers on the latest batch of book DJs and thought I'd take pictures of the lot and post them here. I went through a crazed buying binge in March which was supposed to stop in April, but... Yes, the collector's curse. Like Lays Potato Chips catchphrase "You can't eat just one" it seems that I can't buy just one.
Lots of Doubleday Crime Clubs in this lot. This batch also includes two rather scarce books (
Gallows for the Groom and
Mare's Nest) and one extremely rare one (
Lost House by Frances Shelley Wees, UK edition) which I had never seen for sale until a few weeks ago when I bought the only copy on-line.
The
Lost House DJ is in much better condition than the catalog description. That it wasn't further damaged is a small miracle. The seller did a horrendous job of packing and did not protect the book by putting it in a plastic wrapper, wrapping it in kraft paper, using bubble wrap or anything. Just shoved it in the mailer and sent it off. There's a post waiting to be written -- the negligence or indifference of so-called professional booksellers who ship books with no protection.
All of the photos can be clicked to enlarge and get the full effect. Enjoy!
Frances Shelley Wees's Lost House! How I envy you, despite the unfortunate experience. At least it's in good hands now. As an Ricochet Intro writer, you may be interested to know that we'll be releasing Wees's The Keys of My Prison as part of the series this autumn.
ReplyDeleteI saw that news about The Keys of My Prison a few weeks ago, Brian, when I stumbled across the page for Wees at the Vehicule website. I re-read your post on that book and became very interested in her early mysteries. Started my search and found two of them. Both are set in Canada. Lost House was the coup of my two purchases because of the *very* rare DJ and the cheap price. There are two copies of the US edition for sale right now, but neither has a DJ and both are priced ridiculously high for such an obscure writer who no one seems to be interested except you and me.
DeleteI figure we're about five months away from a Wees revival, John.
DeleteVery lovely covers there, John. Of course I love the one with the skeleton hand, and Mare's Nest with the skull on the spine. But the Stanton Forbes book with the snake is very nice too, and for some reason I always like covers with guns, especially revolvers, on them. Don't know why, I don't care for guns in real life at all.
ReplyDeleteThat Gallows for the Groom cover is terrific! Can any book live up to a cover like that?
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what those items are. I guess they're spoons, but the rivet where the handle meets the spoon shape tells me that maybe they are some sort of shovel. Maybe I'll find out when I read the book. It's the second Prof. Pennyfeather book. I'm starting to collect all those in that series by Olsen. Hoping to read four of them for an upcoming "Neglected Detectives" post.
DeleteYou could polish off the whole of Bev's current mystery challenge today! Wonderfully varied covers - sorry about the packaging debacle but it looks very well worth having chum!
ReplyDeleteOf these cover illustrations, Fatal Harvest is my favorite, I just like that artwork. Of course I know nothing of the book itself.
ReplyDeleteLove the MARE'S NEST cover art, John. But the others are good too. The one I would most want to read at the moment is SILENCE FOR THE MURDERER. I am trying to reread Freeman Wills Croft where I can find them. Haven't had much success yet as my budget doesn't allow for any purchases this month, but I have high hopes for next month. I really did enjoy listening to the audio of THE HOG'S BACK MYSTERY - do you know that one, John? Fascinating on several levels, though the long and involved alibi driven denouement is a bit of a chore.
ReplyDeleteExcellent. I've never seen that Wade cover before.
ReplyDeleteThe US 1st edition, of course. Probably not so easy to find over there. Though I'm always surprised when a UK rarity like a Harrap Shilling DJ (love those!) turns up in a US shop or online from a US dealer.
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