Book Hauls!

[Fried Egg]

Happy birthday -- and enjoy your Kipling especially! I think he is too often overlooked. Does the collection include "The Wish House"? That is not really a horror tale, but it is an exceptionally interesting story of the mysterious and supernatural.

It doesn't contain that story unfortunately. I'll have to look it up elsewhere...

Thanks, all, for the well wishes.

 

[Extollager]

It doesn't contain that story unfortunately. I'll have to look it up elsewhere...

You can read "The Wish House" here:

http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0603771h.html#11

It's largely told in "dialect," which puts some people off, but it's well worth persevering with. It belongs to a whole group of great stories with non-Indian locales.

 

[JunkMonkey]

Bit of a sad day. I got my postponed day off from the family only to find my favourite Book Haul place is closing down. Still, I managed to pick up a few bits and pieces for various collecting obsessions:

I am chuffed with the Danger Man book which is is excellent condition.

 

[dask]

Great haul.
Here are a couple of thrift store finds today:

 

[Southern Geologist]

I should probably take a photo and post it at some stage (for general interest) or PM you if you like?

I would be very interested in seeing photos.

 

[j d worthington]

Courtesy of Dale (Extollager), I received in the mail a copy of the Oxford edition of the complete writings of William Blake (with variant readings). I love Blake's work, but I must admit I have to ration myself on it... otherwise, I end up higher 'n a kite.....

 

[dask]

Forgot to mention one book I didn't get was THE WANDERING JEW in a Modern Library hardback edition. I know it's important and probably really good, but another 700+ page book...? Just don't know when I'd ever get around to it. Think it was on JD's top ten list he gave me a few years back. Rats! Maybe I should have gotten it. Maybe next time if it's still there. Only three bucks.

 

[j d worthington]

Forgot to mention one book I didn't get was THE WANDERING JEW in a Modern Library hardback edition. I know it's important and probably really good, but another 700+ page book...? Just don't know when I'd ever get around to it. Think it was on JD's top ten list he gave me a few years back. Rats! Maybe I should have gotten it. Maybe next time if it's still there. Only three bucks.

Not quite on my top ten list, but certainly one of the best of its kind -- the sort of extended serial which in England was known as the "penny dreadful" or "shilling shocker", only The Wandering Jew is actually a good bit more refined in its handling. Look up what Tom Disch said about it in Horror: The 100 Best Books (which may be what you're thinking about)....

Ideally, I'd go for the full version rather than the Modern Library edition (yes, even that lengthy tome is an abridged version; the two-volume version I have is roughly 1500 pp. in length), but from what I understand, the ML version is not at all bad (it is the one Disch was referring to)....

 

[GOLLUM]

I would be very interested in seeing photos.

I'll try to organise it. There's not that many but I might PM you when I can.

Cheers.

 

[Extollager]

That's a good bunch of books you have there to distribute.

My Philadelphia supplier sends shipments of books to fans in eastern Europe (where his own roots are).

Colporteurs of the fantastic, that's what we are.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Found a good used book store in Murfreesboro, Tennessee which had a lot of SF paperbacks and magazines. Got this magazine, the first of only two issues to be published:

Among the paperbacks were this novel by the author of I, Claudius:

(AKA Seven Days in New Crete)

And this novel, of which I know nothing, by an author who wrote some of the best short stories of the 1950's and 1960's:

The cover art rather puts me off -- looks like pseudo-Conan -- but I have high hopes for this author.

 

[Lobolover]

I have been trying for about a week now to order R.E.Spencer's The Death of Mark for my long past birthday. Five days later the folks from abebooks go "Sorry we sold the book already, here's a refund".

I go to Amazon. I find one used copy for a reasonable price. I order it. And today I get another refund because apparently 17 dollars aren't enough to ship from Indiana.

So I find it on ebay for 10 dollars. And the seller does not offer international shipping.

Then I got alibris, find it, but then find 13 negative reviews on how "untrustworthy" the site is, so I'm not realy sure what to think of it.

So....anyone have any suggestions ?

 

[Extollager]

So....anyone have any suggestions ?

What I would do is have my university's interlibrary loan department get the book for me. When it arrived, if it was something I wanted, I would photocopy it. I know that such a solution is unacceptable for some readers, but I've been doing that for over 30 years. I have been amazed by some of the obscure books that have come my way -- in some cases, books I figured I might never get hold of again. For example,

I see someone is offering a copy for sale for $1,500. But I have a complete photocopy (in two thick volumes, bound with plastic strips) and don't even need to feel guilty about marking it. ...I see someone at Amazon has a reprint for about $40, but that was not available, so far as I know, back in the 1990s when I made my copies. It's true it took time to stand at the machine and copy all those pages -- !

If you don't have access to a university library, a large public library may also be able to help you. There may be fees, but you might end up spending a lot less to get hold of the book if you go this route. Just a thought.

 

[JunkMonkey]

So I find it on ebay for 10 dollars. And the seller does not offer international shipping.

Know anyone in the same country as the seller who would buy it and post it on to you? I've had friends in the USA do that for me when sellers didn't offer international postage. I then sent my fiends whatever it cost them to buy and send the book.

 

[j d worthington]

Once again courtesy of Dale, I received a lovely edition of Milton, a poem by William Blake, with color reproductions of the author/artist's plates, a transcription of the poem, and a lengthy commentary.

Blake is one of those poets I had to grow into, but reading a hefty portion of his work several years ago, I found it quite a heady experience... I mean, reading a concentration of his work, I don't see how anyone could possibly need drugs to be high.....

 

[Fried Egg]

Late birthday present arrives:

"The Empty House & Other Ghost Stories" by Algernon Blackwood. I look forward to reading this early collection of his although I've read a couple already...

 

[Lobolover]

Has anyone ever attempted to collect all of Blackwood ? Some stuff he did is public domain and other stuff is accessible but then there's things like The Doll and One Other from Arkham House.

And I suppose 25 dollars for the cheapest version is alright, I have seen much worse, but a Works edition would realy make collecting the man's work easier.

 

[j d worthington]

If you mean all his shorter supernatural tales (exclusive of his novels), perhaps, though I don't think so. If you mean all his writing... most definitely not. The man was quite prolific, and wrote a variety of materials, including a huge amount of journalism which would mostly be of very ephemeral interest.

 

[Lobolover]

If you mean all his shorter supernatural tales (exclusive of his novels), perhaps, though I don't think so. If you mean all his writing... most definitely not. The man was quite prolific, and wrote a variety of materials, including a huge amount of journalism which would mostly be of very ephemeral interest.

Journalism ? Now I'm interested, as that would probably hold up better then certain other weird writer's contemporary humour writings.

And I didn't know Blackwood wrote any novels of interest ?

 

[j d worthington]

The Centaur, though having its faults, would still probably be of some interest to you. It is a very mystical, paganistic vision, with some absolutely lovely passages. (It also provided the epigram for Lovecraft's "The Call of Cthulhu": "Of such great powers or beings", etc.) Jimbo is also something which has its share of wonder, from what I understand (though I've not yet read it myself). There are others as well, though I'd have to look them up to give you titles. Wilum, or perhaps Ningauble, might be more aware of them....

Most of Blackwood's journalism was, from my understanding, quite flat journalistic material, not at all connected to his mysticism, so I rather doubt it would be of interest....