Autograph Hound Saturday yet again!
Today Paul Dobish provides the eye candy for John Hancock fans with a couple of books from his collection signed by Edward E. Smith, Ph.D. — otherwise known as E. E. “Doc” Smith. Hugely popular in his day, one of the pioneers of pulp science fiction, an avatar for the likes of Robert A. Heinlein and Isaac Asimov to follow, his achievement currently represented by the cinematic oeuvre of George Lucas — in short, he did space opera. And how.
Top image, Smith’s full signature — with “Ph.D.” — in the Buffalo Book Company’s edition of Skylark of Space.
Dobish notes, “Of the two co-authors, copies autographed by Smith turn up fairly often —compared to copies also signed or just signed by Lee Hawkins Garby.
“Both Buffalo Book Co. and Hadley Publishing Co.,” Dobish continues, “issued hardcover editions of Skylark of Space. As noted in one of my copies of the Hadley edition — inscribed to Gerry de la Ree — Smith wrote that he much preferred the Hadley edition.”
De la Ree was a major f&sf bookseller working out of New Jersey for decades. And once again, “Doc” Smith signed with a “Ph.D.”
Note that this inscribed example is only “one of my copies of the Hadley edition.” Yesterday we showed off an image of four of the Dobish copies of the Buffalo Book Co. edition, with the different colored boards. He probably has a few more.
