Welcome to a hard-boiled and not without noir blog with news and reviews, occasional outbursts of maniacal Autograph Hound activity, plus archival records from the forty-five year run of The Dashiell Hammett Tour. 
The Dashiell Hammett Tour
1977-2022
Arkham House Ephemera
The Classic Years 1937–1973
Death Lit
Essays and Reviews Selected from Fifty Years of Writing 1974–2024
Willeford
The Book
Tag Archives: Autographs
Rediscovered: Secrets of the Leno Library
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 … Continue reading
Posted in Lit, REH
Tagged Autographs, Book Collecting, Brian Leno, Creeps by Night, Jeff Jones, Richard S. Shaver, Roads, Roy Krenkel, Seabury Quinn
Rediscovered: Another Maxwell Grant
Autograph Hound Saturday once more, and let’s keep the Maxwell Grant/John Hancock theme going. Brian Leno per norm supplies the signature, this time from the 1960s run of Belmont paperback originals of The Shadow ghosted by Dennis Lynds under the … Continue reading
Posted in Lit
Tagged Autographs, Book Collecting, Brian Leno, Dennis Lynds, The Shadow, Walter B. Gibson
Rediscovered: Leno Comes Off the Ropes!
After I reported yesterday that neither Brian Leno nor I could dope out six of the signatures on the 1977 Bouchercon program booklet, Brian waded back in. Nothing he likes better than deciphering autographs and kicking ass — and he’s … Continue reading
Posted in Lit
Tagged Autographs, Bouchercon, Brian Leno, Charles Shibuk, Dorothy B. Hughes, John Nieminski, Michael Eaton, Peter E. Blau
Rediscovered: The Shadow and His Signatories
Autograph Hound Super-Sunday once more! Haven’t done one of these in awhile — and for once it’s not coming from that maniacal Autograph Hound Brian Leno. At least not directly. Brian did tip me to a plethora of John Hancocks … Continue reading
Posted in DMac, Lit
Tagged Anthony Boucher, Arkham House, Autographs, Bouchercon, Brian Garfield, Brian Leno, Christiana Brand, Dorothy Salisbury Davis, Edward D. Hoch, Frederic Dannay, Gahan Wilson, Gary Phillips, Isaac Asimov, Jack Kerouac, John Ball, Jon L. Lellenberg, Kent Harrington, Lin Carter, Maxwell Grant, Michelle Slung, Phyllis A. Whitney, Phyllis White, Posse McMillan, Richard Lackritz, Robert Fish, Ron Goulart, Stanley Ellin, Steranko, The Shadow, Walter Gibson
Rediscovered: Charles G. Finney
Autograph Hound Saturday, and again that distinguished Autograph Hound Brian Leno provides the John Hancock for the delectation of the discriminating connoisseur of the holographic arts. Here’s Brian: I got to thinking that more books inscribed to the late bookseller … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Og
Autograph Hound Saturday yet again, and Brian Leno goes all caveman on us. I’ve always liked cavemen. Here’s a quick note from Brian: Thought you might like to see the Og books, all inscribed by Irving Crump to the late … Continue reading
Posted in Lit
Tagged Autographs, Book Collecting, Brian Leno, Charles Livingston Bull, Gerry de la Ree, Irving Crump, Og
Rediscovered: Buford Pusser
Autograph Hound Saturday once again, and we spotlight a famous lawman. When I was in college at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, I heard Buford Pusser would be signing clubs at a Ford dealership across town. Growing up … Continue reading
Posted in Film, News
Tagged Autographs, Breaker Morant, Brian Leno, Buford Pusser, Buford Pusser Museum, Joe Don Baker, MTSU, Sir Richard Francis Burton, Walking Tall
Rediscovered: Pirate Peake
Autograph Hound Saturday once more, and we enlist the services of the most maniacal collector of John Hancocks we know, none other than Brian Leno. Brian’s been updating me over the last few months on some of the autos rolling … Continue reading
Posted in Lit
Tagged Autographs, Brian Leno, Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake, RLS, Robert Newton, Treasure Island
Rediscovered: Kornbluth
How about another Autograph Hound Saturday? It’s been awhile, and on the side the topic came up of authors who have rare signatures — if you’ve got enough loot laying around, you can shell it out but the autos that … Continue reading
Posted in Lit
Tagged Autographs, Brian Leno, C. M. Kornbluth, Edwin Baird, Henry Kuttner, Henry S. Whitehead, James Tiptree Jr, Thomaas Pynchon, William Shatner, Zenna Henderson
Mort: McGinnis
Brian Leno has prepared himself for decades with an ever increasing stock of John Hancocks, now coming in handy to memorialize people as they fall. For this particular Autograph Hound Saturday he offers: I know I don’t get out much … Continue reading
