In the shot yesterday of (at least a small part of) The Leno Library I noticed the top row of books by or about Robert E. Howard, this month’s birthday boy — and next row down, on left, the Gnome Press editions of Conan.
That shelf also housed some Richard Matheson, Clark Ashton Smith’s Genius Loci, Seabury Quinn’s Roads, Leigh Brackett, Hammett’s Creeps by Night — on the bottom shelf I spotted some Fritz Leiber.
I couldn’t tell if an overall theme pervaded this hodgepodge of the fantastic, but suspected — since Brian is a known maniacal Autograph Hound — that maybe they were signed. No books signed by Robert E. Howard, of course, since he died by suicide before his first book hit print.
Here’s Brian to confirm my guesses, invoking the time-lost Shaver Mystery and the ever bubbling cauldron of the La Brea Tar Pits:
The Howard books for the most part aren’t signed — couple signed by artists Jeff Jones, Roy Krenkel.
Everything else is signed.
The book right to the left of the skull — my left, not the skull’s — is very common looking, but it’s one of my treasures: I Remember Lemuria, inscribed by Richard S. Shaver himself.
It’s extremely rare with the fragile dust jacket, but just to find a signed copy is a real job. Took me years of looking.
I’ve tried three or four times to read it but find it terrible. I wanted it for it’s rarity, which is the usual priority when I go after a signature.
And I’d like to tell you about my skull. Growing up I always felt a library needed a human skull to make it complete.
About forty-five years ago I saw that some company, near the La Brea Tar Pits, I believe, was selling museum quality reproductions. I ordered this one and it’s been one of my most cherished library items ever since.
