Quote:

The function of a paperback book cover is fairly clear: it has to stand out from the competition at the bookstand.

I agree, and I indicated in a previous post that that is a legitimate function of such artwork. Gallardo's and others' quotations from Surrealist and other fantastic art not only serves this function, but also may be designed to attract a fantasy fan who recognizes the borrowing. I just wish that some of it were in better taste, but again, de gustibus.

This thread as veered off from "collecting" and on to cover art,etc. but I'd like to return it to
the subject of collecting for a brief moment to add my own comment.

I was a comic books & PB collector (mostly Ace PB's with the Frazetta and Krenkel covers) long ago.
I sold the better stuff 20 years back and just have a couple boxes left of the "so-so stuff". I also
have a half-brother who is/was a professional collector/dealer, mainly of baseball items. He has/had
multiple Ruth baseballs, Gherig balls - as well as many Presidential autographs and even some Marilyn
Monroe-iana. What he holds today I neither know nor care. To be honest I think Collecting is a Racket.

I feel sorry for the kids who get steered into BB cards by their nostalgic Dads & Grand Dads who would
vicariously re-live their childhood through their kids. What value is there in any mint condition
collection when there are hundreds or thousands like it out there? There really isn't any profit to it
in the long run. The reason those old cards and balls bring so much is their *rarity*, not just the
cache associated with the person/player they supposedly represent.

Early in this thread someone mentioned the shrink wrap issue; If you bought that for *your* collection
and pleasure - even just to be a Completist than enjoy! If you think it is an investment you're wasting
your time and money. Publishers offer these "Collector's Editions" to promote sales, not because they are
really collectable. When ALL the copies are sold and ALL the copies are kept in shrink-wrap and ALL are
preserved in pristine mint state then where is the collector's value? Nowhere, in my humble opinion.

I can tell you exactly where and when I was when I first saw that old-style revolving bookstand filled
with the latest from Ace: I still remember how reading ERB's stories was only half the pleasure compared
to those Frazetta covers and line drawings that did more to draw me into Fantasy than any author ever did.
Does anyone remember the Ace Doubles ? Two stories printed one upside down starting from the back cover
so when you finished the first you could flip the book over and start the second. Still got a few of those
too. Bottom line: Collect for pleasure, not for profit. Because most of what is supposed to be collectible
really isn't and if you don't have the coin to collect seriously pricey stuff you are most likely fooling
yourself that anything Joe Blow might afford would ever be worth the investment in terms of profit.

Cathexis

I think that keeping a book in shrink wrap is appalling. Same with "slabbing" a comic book. Keeping a toy in its original packaging strikes me as somehow pathetic also. What makes all this the more sad is that Cathexis is correct: most collecting is ultimately a fool's errand when profit is the motive.

To J. B. Post who started this thread,

Just wanted to share that if you go to E-Bay here:

HPL Complete via B&N off E-Bay

You can get what you saw for $21.99 US and free shipping.
This is nice compared to the other Vendors who are asking close to $50
for the same product. A table of contents is NOT on this E-bay offering
but a search for the book title will bring up the other vendors and some
of them list contents at the bottom of their garish ads. By the way, B&N
on Amazon.com only say the same version won't be available until *July*.
WTF!

B&N gave these product details:

Quote:

B&N said:
Pub. Date: March 2011
Publisher: Barnes & Noble
Format: Hardcover, 1098pp
Series: Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classics Series
ISBN-13: 9781435122963
ISBN: 1435122968

No mention was made of the "Shrink Wrap", but with gas at $4.00 and climbing
I think the extra 2 bucks in cost would be a savings over the drive out to
the store. Now you must pay with Paypal and worse, you are charged Sales Tax
at check-out. For me in Virginia that comes to $1.10 which puts the total cost
at $23.09. However, by using my "Cash-Back" credit card I earn 1% back on this
purchase which comes to .23 cents or a final total of $22.86 - still better than
a drive out there I'd say. Such is the Calculus of Modern Consumerism. <grin>.


Cathexis

What a load! You can order it directly from B&N and it costs only $24.03 total, including P&H.

Not sure what you mean by a load, Gill -

But it's your $24.09 to spend anyway you want.

Cathexis

The price doesn't matter -- it is not worth it at the moment.

I getcha.
But what *is* worth it right now?

I mean, what is the best collection of HPL fiction out there?
I wouldn't ask without looking around myself first but I know
that there may be niche publishers well known to you that might
slip under my radar completely. Do you recommend any works out there?

TIA,

Cathexis

It depends. In order to get a complete collection you'd have to go for the Arkham House volumes, but you'd have to complement them with various other books (e.g., the Penguin The Dreams in the Witch House and Other Weird Stories to get the original Ms. versions of "Hypnos" and "The Shadow out of Time", and Eyes of the God to get the rare HPL/RHB collaborations "The Slaying of the Monster" and "The Hoard of the Wizard-Beast").

If you just want the good stuff, you could go for the Penguin collections.

Seems odd that of both HPL & CAS it is the lesser known
who has the more complete collection (for which I would
consider the five volumes from Mr. Conners, et al.).

Even if you have problems with those offerings they seem
way beyond the tangled thicket that HPL's works occupy.

Thanks for your response,

Cathexis

cathexis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Seems odd that of both HPL & CAS it is the lesser
> known
> who has the more complete collection (for which I
> would
> consider the five volumes from Mr. Conners, et
> al.).
>
> Even if you have problems with those offerings
> they seem
> way beyond the tangled thicket that HPL's works
> occupy.
>
> Thanks for your response,
>
> Cathexis

You're welcome.

Things should look better in a while, when the B&N book has been published in a corrected form, and the annotated revisions & ghostwritings have been published by Arcane Wisdom (alas, limited edition and not cheap.). Then you will have all of HPL's known fiction in three volumes.

Ack! All these new versions and revisions. I feel like tossing my 1st editions of Dagon, Dunwich Horror, and At The Mountains of Madness collections.

cathexis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Seems odd that of both HPL & CAS it is the lesser
> known
> who has the more complete collection (for which I
> would
> consider the five volumes from Mr. Conners, et
> al.).
>
>

There's a bit of apples and oranges in this: Ron and I were fortunate in that we could establish our own perimeters for how our edition of CAS would be organized. S. T., OTOH, was required to work within the constraints of the already existing Arkham House editions. I know from talking with him that, given his druthers, he'd have organized the HPL edition in a manner similar to how we did CAS; in fact, we actively sought out his input when we were deciding how to go.

Scott

I have books that theoretically are worth up into the $5,000.00 range if they had been kept in untouched, unread condition--but I am of the opinion that books are, indeed, intended to be read (even if you've read the HPL stories one hundred times). I take excellent care of my books; however, I also continue to lower their value by about 10% by placing my signature on their front free endpapers. They are my books, not s museum piece or something I ever intend to sell at a profit.

To me, "collectors" are not true bibliophiles. Then, again, that's just my opinion. . . .

I'm a collector in the sense that I never throw anything away---unless it's absolutely god-awful. Since I read what I buy, I guess I'm more of an accumulator rather than a collector.