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Variant, v. 1, issue 2, whole no. 2, May 1947
Page 16
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May 1947 VARIANT Page 16 THE ETERNAL WANDERER by Oswald Train Well, by the time you read this, The Mislaid Charm -- Lex Phillips' first book and the initial publication of the new Prime Press -- will be ready, or nearly so. Every little delay just now has the boys on edge, and who can blame them? Must be just like becoming a father for the first time...The second publication, an ancient Utopian novel from way back yonder in the early 1880's, is already in the hands of the printer. This is a very rare book; it is not even listed in most of the big libraries. It should be out in a couple of months in a special and limited edition of about a thousand copies...George O. Smith is right at the job of putting the finishing touches to his revision of the Venus Equilateral series, which will also be soon going to press. Prime Press is proud to announce that they will publish The Torch by Jack Bechdolt. This great story, one of the famous Munsey Classics, was published in Argosy back in 1920. According to the author, this story is more timely now than when it was first published. Mr. Bechdolt is especially pleased at the forthcoming publication of this story in book form, as it was the first novel length story that he wrote for Argosy, and he always liked it. Incidentally, it was slated for reprinting in Famous Fantastic Mysteries, but before its turn had come, the old Munsey company was sold out to Popular Publications, and the idea of reprinting it was abandoned due to the change in policy. A couple of weeks back, the PSFS threw a party, but it turned out that a good many of the regular members who had originally planned to attend it were not able to be there after all. Therefore the attendance was much lower than it should otherwise have been. A good time was had by those present, 'tis said, and another party is already being talked about for the near future when we hope to have a much larger attendance. The more the merrier! One of the nicest little gatherings in many a day was held at the home of PSFS member Alfred C. Prime, in Paoli. Alfred proved to be the perfect host, and a wonderful time was had by all present. Plenty to eat, and plenty to drink, and plenty of fun. Too bad Larry's pictures of the affair didn't turn out well. On second thought, though, maybe it is fortunate. They'd have made good blackmail material. (Ossie write this before Jean Bogart's and Jim Williams' parties were held. Both were heartily enjoyed.) Did you ever have the job of ripping apart huge stacks of Argosy with many duplicates among them? Well, Harry Buck and your reporter did, and there were pretty close to a thousand of them all together. It is always amazing to see the difference in the size of the stacks of fantasy, and the piles of discarded material. Argosy always was a darned good magazine, and the stories were tops, no matter whether they were westerns, or mysteries, or science fiction, or anything else. But the trouble is that the magazines always take up so much room that they just have to be excerpted and that's all there is to it. My conscience bothers me when that job has to be done, for Argosy was always a favorite magazine of mine. One of the greatest writers of fantasy was H. Rider Haggard. It is gratifying that collectors and readers are paying attention to his books once more. Several years ago, a visit to almost any book store would reveal row after row of Haggard books on the shelves, gathering dust. There were fine original editions among them, as well as good, solid reprint copies, and all were low priced, but few were tempted. Perhaps Haggard was considered outdated, perhaps his style was out of favor. But somehow he caught on again. Oldtimers who had read his books years ago when they were boys began buying them to reread. Younger fans and collectors discovered that his books were good, and wanted more. After a time few of his books were to found, and now they usually command a good price when one does come across them. Yet, despite the great popularity of Haggard, practically all of his books have been out of print for years. Why doesn't some publisher bring out his more obscure fantasy titles? True, one new company was supposed to reprint all of Haggard, but where are they? What happened to the company? Haggard by the way lived a very active life, and was one of the most widely travelled of all modern authors. His books on South Africa were so popular since, because of his many years of association there he knew the country better than practically any other author has.
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May 1947 VARIANT Page 16 THE ETERNAL WANDERER by Oswald Train Well, by the time you read this, The Mislaid Charm -- Lex Phillips' first book and the initial publication of the new Prime Press -- will be ready, or nearly so. Every little delay just now has the boys on edge, and who can blame them? Must be just like becoming a father for the first time...The second publication, an ancient Utopian novel from way back yonder in the early 1880's, is already in the hands of the printer. This is a very rare book; it is not even listed in most of the big libraries. It should be out in a couple of months in a special and limited edition of about a thousand copies...George O. Smith is right at the job of putting the finishing touches to his revision of the Venus Equilateral series, which will also be soon going to press. Prime Press is proud to announce that they will publish The Torch by Jack Bechdolt. This great story, one of the famous Munsey Classics, was published in Argosy back in 1920. According to the author, this story is more timely now than when it was first published. Mr. Bechdolt is especially pleased at the forthcoming publication of this story in book form, as it was the first novel length story that he wrote for Argosy, and he always liked it. Incidentally, it was slated for reprinting in Famous Fantastic Mysteries, but before its turn had come, the old Munsey company was sold out to Popular Publications, and the idea of reprinting it was abandoned due to the change in policy. A couple of weeks back, the PSFS threw a party, but it turned out that a good many of the regular members who had originally planned to attend it were not able to be there after all. Therefore the attendance was much lower than it should otherwise have been. A good time was had by those present, 'tis said, and another party is already being talked about for the near future when we hope to have a much larger attendance. The more the merrier! One of the nicest little gatherings in many a day was held at the home of PSFS member Alfred C. Prime, in Paoli. Alfred proved to be the perfect host, and a wonderful time was had by all present. Plenty to eat, and plenty to drink, and plenty of fun. Too bad Larry's pictures of the affair didn't turn out well. On second thought, though, maybe it is fortunate. They'd have made good blackmail material. (Ossie write this before Jean Bogart's and Jim Williams' parties were held. Both were heartily enjoyed.) Did you ever have the job of ripping apart huge stacks of Argosy with many duplicates among them? Well, Harry Buck and your reporter did, and there were pretty close to a thousand of them all together. It is always amazing to see the difference in the size of the stacks of fantasy, and the piles of discarded material. Argosy always was a darned good magazine, and the stories were tops, no matter whether they were westerns, or mysteries, or science fiction, or anything else. But the trouble is that the magazines always take up so much room that they just have to be excerpted and that's all there is to it. My conscience bothers me when that job has to be done, for Argosy was always a favorite magazine of mine. One of the greatest writers of fantasy was H. Rider Haggard. It is gratifying that collectors and readers are paying attention to his books once more. Several years ago, a visit to almost any book store would reveal row after row of Haggard books on the shelves, gathering dust. There were fine original editions among them, as well as good, solid reprint copies, and all were low priced, but few were tempted. Perhaps Haggard was considered outdated, perhaps his style was out of favor. But somehow he caught on again. Oldtimers who had read his books years ago when they were boys began buying them to reread. Younger fans and collectors discovered that his books were good, and wanted more. After a time few of his books were to found, and now they usually command a good price when one does come across them. Yet, despite the great popularity of Haggard, practically all of his books have been out of print for years. Why doesn't some publisher bring out his more obscure fantasy titles? True, one new company was supposed to reprint all of Haggard, but where are they? What happened to the company? Haggard by the way lived a very active life, and was one of the most widely travelled of all modern authors. His books on South Africa were so popular since, because of his many years of association there he knew the country better than practically any other author has.
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