Autograph Hound Saturday again, but this time we ain’t got no John Hancock — we’ve got a book stamp. You know we could begin knocking out a series — a long series — of Book Stamp Saturdays or Mondays or Wednesdays. I’ve already touched on the idea at least once.
Brian Leno popped me images of something he’s putting up on eBay today, around noon his time.
A copy of the booklet August Derleth: Twenty Years of Writing 1926-1946 — you’ll find it as Item 24 in the checklist from Arkham House Ephemera: The Classic Years 1937-1973.
To sweeten the pot Brian is throwing in a Derleth/Arkham postcard he’s had for years. Spotlighted on the blog some time back.
He previously sold Twenty-Five Years of Writing (Item 49 in the Eph Book) for $550.
But while Brian merrily sells books on eBay, I’m pretty sure — completely confident — he takes in more than he ships out.
Here’s Brian:
God these booklets are tiny! It has a few flaws, mainly at the bottom, but as with most of this stuff it’s surprising it survived at all.
A stamp on the back cover indicates this Item came from the bookstore of Harry W. Schwartz. Looking him up I found an early picture of his bookstore with the info that Schwartz opened up his first shop in 1927 on Milwaukee’s East Side and then in 1937 moved to the address on the back of Derleth’s little book.
Somewhat famous for his bookstore, Schwartz wrote This Book-Collecting Racket: A Few Notes on the Abuses of Book Collecting. Originally a set of three chapbooks in the early 1930s as from the Casanova Press (Casanova being the first name he used for his store), it later saw hardcover print in 1937 as This Book Collecting Racket — with an introduction by bookman Paul Jordan-Smith. He also wrote Fifty Years in My Bookstore; or A Life with Books.
A nice Wisconsin association for lifelong Wisconsinite Derleth.
