DIY History | Transcribe | Hevelin Fanzines | Science Fiction World , v. 1, issue 4, August 1946

Transcribe
Translate

Science Fiction World , v. 1, issue 4, August 1946

Page 6

SCIENCE FICTION WORLD  (6)

Questioning revealed that he had already ordered "Marginalia" from Derleth and that he knew that the ’Outsider' was worth	twenty-five dollars. Also that all the books we asked for	came under the category of ’Hot Stuff’.
     While Searles was trying to got information out of him I was attracted by a weird book jacket under my elbow. It was a nicely illustrated job for Merritt’s ’Dwellers in the Mirage' and underneath
was a copy of Burn, Witch, Burn'. Both were British editions brand-new with jackets. I picked up ’Dwellers’ and asked Witter,"Isn't this
the book that just came out in pocketbook form?"
    ”Why-er, yes, it is,” replied Witter with his eyes bulging. I
handed him the copy of ’Burn, Witch, Burn’.
    "That came out over a year ago,” I said.
    ”Don't you want it?" he questioned.
    "No. Junk.” Suddenly I discovcred that the book had larger type than the pocketbook. Awed by this discovery, I was considering purchasing ’Dwellers’ when the book-seller suggested that I could "read it a chapter at a time— even that’s too much.” Reluctantly we made the
purchase — ’Dwellers’ for $1.35 and BWB for sixty cents. I received a sort of grim satisfaction out of the transaction. Previously I had
given another Newark dealer the pocketbook treatment and had obtained a first edition of the ’Moon Pool’ for 75 cents. Litterio B. Farsaci was partner to that crime.
     Questioning revealed that this letter dealer had no fantastic stuff. He said he sold all his fantasy to New York dealers for more than he could get for them retail. I decided to get something for my
sister to read at some future date. With Searles I picked up a copy of Cutclyffe Hynes’ ’Lost Continent’ for e quarter. Later I returned and got the man in animated conversation. He knew all about Lovecraft
and that guy from Wisconsin "whose got all these dumb yokels buffaloed."
   I wandered about picking up a few books for my sister and, on completing the run I asked him if he had any books by Algernon Blackwood.
    ”1 told you I have no fantastic stuff, he said. ”1 pick it all out and sell it to New York dealers.”
    Very chagrined I walked out with two copies of the ’’King In Yellow” by Chambers; ’In Search of the Unknown’ by Chambers; the tremendously rare ’Ideal Commonwealths' containing four great Utopia novels by by Bacon, Campanella, Moore and Hagerton; Vice Versa by Anstey; 'In the Beginning' by Douglas; and ’the Island of Dr. Moreau,'
     Politely I turned down an offer by a New York bookseller to sell me a copy of Merritt’s 'Ship of Ishtar’, autographed and all for $12.50. I had just picked up a copy without a cover (in fact it had never been bound) for ten cents and for a lot less than $12.50 I could put a binding on it that would know [knock?] your eyes out.
   In a semi-suburban New Jersey town I had for some time kept my eye on a deluxe, superbly bound and elaborately color illustrated edition of Kipling’s beautiful short story "They", a tale of the little children just beyond the ghostly pale who may be seen only by those who have

Saving...

SCIENCE FICTION WORLD (6) Questioning revealed that he had already ordered "Marginalia" from Derleth and that he knew that the ’Outsider' was worth twenty-five dollars. Also that all the books we asked for came under the category of ’Hot Stuff’. While Searles was trying to got information out of him I was attracted by a weird book jacket under my elbow. It was a nicely illustrated job for Merritt’s ’Dwellers in the Mirage' and underneath was a copy of Burn, Witch, Burn'. Both were British editions brand-new with jackets. I picked up ’Dwellers’ and asked Witter,"Isn't this the book that just came out in pocketbook form?" ”Why-er, yes, it is,” replied Witter with his eyes bulging. I handed him the copy of ’Burn, Witch, Burn’. "That came out over a year ago,” I said. ”Don't you want it?" he questioned. "No. Junk.” Suddenly I discovcred that the book had larger type than the pocketbook. Awed by this discovery, I was considering purchasing ’Dwellers’ when the book-seller suggested that I could "read it a chapter at a time— even that’s too much.” Reluctantly we made the purchase — ’Dwellers’ for $1.35 and BWB for sixty cents. I received a sort of grim satisfaction out of the transaction. Previously I had given another Newark dealer the pocketbook treatment and had obtained a first edition of the ’Moon Pool’ for 75 cents. Litterio B. Farsaci was partner to that crime. Questioning revealed that this letter dealer had no fantastic stuff. He said he sold all his fantasy to New York dealers for more than he could get for them retail. I decided to get something for my sister to read at some future date. With Searles I picked up a copy of Cutclyffe Hynes’ ’Lost Continent’ for e quarter. Later I returned and got the man in animated conversation. He knew all about Lovecraft and that guy from Wisconsin "whose got all these dumb yokels buffaloed." I wandered about picking up a few books for my sister and, on completing the run I asked him if he had any books by Algernon Blackwood. ”1 told you I have no fantastic stuff, he said. ”1 pick it all out and sell it to New York dealers.” Very chagrined I walked out with two copies of the ’’King In Yellow” by Chambers; ’In Search of the Unknown’ by Chambers; the tremendously rare ’Ideal Commonwealths' containing four great Utopia novels by by Bacon, Campanella, Moore and Hagerton; Vice Versa by Anstey; 'In the Beginning' by Douglas; and ’the Island of Dr. Moreau,' Politely I turned down an offer by a New York bookseller to sell me a copy of Merritt’s 'Ship of Ishtar’, autographed and all for $12.50. I had just picked up a copy without a cover (in fact it had never been bound) for ten cents and for a lot less than $12.50 I could put a binding on it that would know [knock?] your eyes out. In a semi-suburban New Jersey town I had for some time kept my eye on a deluxe, superbly bound and elaborately color illustrated edition of Kipling’s beautiful short story "They", a tale of the little children just beyond the ghostly pale who may be seen only by those who have