DIY History | Transcribe | Hevelin Fanzines | Acolyte, v. 3, issue 2, whole no. 11, Summer 1945

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Acolyte, v. 3, issue 2, whole no. 11, Summer 1945

Page 32

"CHATTER-BOOKS"
(Ad-Lib by Weaver Wright)

Are human beings--"property"? The findings of Chas. Fort suggest to him that humanity might, unknowingly, be the branded bovines of celestial beings. Edmond Hamilton once enlarged upon this theme in "The Earth-Owners", which appeared in Weird Tales many years ago. Eric Frank Russell, 40 year old English author (then 34) elaborated the chilling concept into a story so startling that, according to editor Campbell in 1939, it fitted no science fiction policy then current. A now publication had to be created to present such an usual story: A magazine whose works were "out of this world"--Unknown. And the manuscript that made the magazine-- SINISTER BARRIER. Initial subscribers never forgot the--fantasy? When aficionados gather it is still praised. A radio dramatization was prepared several years later, broadcast from ancient Egypt. In 1943, in England, it was released between hard yellow covers, a slim, war-time product of 135 pages with a jacket which we recognize as a monochrome reprint of a cover from an early issue of England's prewar scientifiction pro, Tales of Wonder. The title, in a confusing manner not uncommon to British books, reads from bottom to top of the spine. I have copies available from time to time, at difficult prices according to condition, whether book has the jacket or not, etc. At the moment I've a couple copies in fair condition at $2.25, one with jacket for $3. Not having compared book with magazine, I could not say whether, as is some times the case, the book version differs from the pulp. If, perchance, you should be interested in the original issue of Unknown, wherein the novel is illustrated by eight Cartiers, I have a number of copies in varying conditions at from $2-2.50. Frank Belknap Long Jr has a grim telepathyarn in the issue, "Dark Vision"; Mona Farnsworth asks "Who Wants Power?" and HLGold's hilarious whimsical classic, "Trouble with Water", appears. Word recently was heard that Russell contemplates re-writing "Sinister Barrier", to increase the stature of the novel. Meanwhile, until some enterprizing American publisher brings out the book, or you locate the March 1939 Unknown in your local second hand magazine shop, copies of one sort or another can usually be had from me as described above.

THE MOON POOL. Tho there are now nine forms of this fantasticlassic (that I own) (is there, as of certain Merrittales, an English edition?) collections seem to have an insatiable desire for copies. There are never enuf to go around. Knickerbocker brot out a 433 page edition in '19, and added an illustration by an artist named Coll when they reprinted it. Either this, or the original was illustrated and the frontispiece omitted in the second; I could not say. The villain was Von Hetzdorp, a German. He metamorphosed into a Russian, Marakinoff, when Liveright published the book a little later, deleting a portion of the ending and reducing the book's length by one page in the process. Themenace was red thruout the edition except on page 424 when readers were astonished to encounter a kraut in the exclamation, "But of Von Hetzdorp they had seen nothing!" This faux pas was corrected in the next edition, whose gold-stamped lettering appeared on the upper right of the hard cover rather than centered. The next edition differed only in that its color was blue rather than black. In '27 it was serialized in three parts in Amazing. In '39 & '40 it ran in 7 parts in Famous Fantastic Mysteries, with its old ending. It was widely circulated in '44 in pocketbook form when Aven released a twenty-five cent popular 201 page edition--the villain, anachronistically, being the original Russian. (One might have anticipated an up-to-date Japastard, for commercial consumption.) Well, I have copies of the story in Amazing & Famous; write for info if interested in either. I also have one or two of the Knickers at five bucks knocked down to $4.50. But the edition I'm advertising in this issue of Acolyte is the black-bound, "corrected" Liveright. Have half a dozen mints on my shelves. Invested something like $12 in them a couple years ago. Been paying storage on 'em each month since. They cost 7c a piece to mail, you figure in the cost of this ad, the interest I could have had on my principle, the fact that money is worth a lot less now than it used to was, the fact that I'm broke in the army while you probably have a good paying defense job--well, anyway, I want $3.50 per copy. (Have one copy THE CONQUEST OF THE MOON POOL, with cover, six parts, All-Story 1918. Bidding starts at $10.)

Have many books by Shiel, Blackwood, Stapledon, Merritt, Taine, etc. List Wants--Weaver Wright, Post Office Box 6475, Metropolitan Station, Los Angeles, Z-55.
(Paid Advertisement)
--- 32 ---

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"CHATTER-BOOKS" (Ad-Lib by Weaver Wright) Are human beings--"property"? The findings of Chas. Fort suggest to him that humanity might, unknowingly, be the branded bovines of celestial beings. Edmond Hamilton once enlarged upon this theme in "The Earth-Owners", which appeared in Weird Tales many years ago. Eric Frank Russell, 40 year old English author (then 34) elaborated the chilling concept into a story so startling that, according to editor Campbell in 1939, it fitted no science fiction policy then current. A now publication had to be created to present such an usual story: A magazine whose works were "out of this world"--Unknown. And the manuscript that made the magazine-- SINISTER BARRIER. Initial subscribers never forgot the--fantasy? When aficionados gather it is still praised. A radio dramatization was prepared several years later, broadcast from ancient Egypt. In 1943, in England, it was released between hard yellow covers, a slim, war-time product of 135 pages with a jacket which we recognize as a monochrome reprint of a cover from an early issue of England's prewar scientifiction pro, Tales of Wonder. The title, in a confusing manner not uncommon to British books, reads from bottom to top of the spine. I have copies available from time to time, at difficult prices according to condition, whether book has the jacket or not, etc. At the moment I've a couple copies in fair condition at $2.25, one with jacket for $3. Not having compared book with magazine, I could not say whether, as is some times the case, the book version differs from the pulp. If, perchance, you should be interested in the original issue of Unknown, wherein the novel is illustrated by eight Cartiers, I have a number of copies in varying conditions at from $2-2.50. Frank Belknap Long Jr has a grim telepathyarn in the issue, "Dark Vision"; Mona Farnsworth asks "Who Wants Power?" and HLGold's hilarious whimsical classic, "Trouble with Water", appears. Word recently was heard that Russell contemplates re-writing "Sinister Barrier", to increase the stature of the novel. Meanwhile, until some enterprizing American publisher brings out the book, or you locate the March 1939 Unknown in your local second hand magazine shop, copies of one sort or another can usually be had from me as described above. THE MOON POOL. Tho there are now nine forms of this fantasticlassic (that I own) (is there, as of certain Merrittales, an English edition?) collections seem to have an insatiable desire for copies. There are never enuf to go around. Knickerbocker brot out a 433 page edition in '19, and added an illustration by an artist named Coll when they reprinted it. Either this, or the original was illustrated and the frontispiece omitted in the second; I could not say. The villain was Von Hetzdorp, a German. He metamorphosed into a Russian, Marakinoff, when Liveright published the book a little later, deleting a portion of the ending and reducing the book's length by one page in the process. Themenace was red thruout the edition except on page 424 when readers were astonished to encounter a kraut in the exclamation, "But of Von Hetzdorp they had seen nothing!" This faux pas was corrected in the next edition, whose gold-stamped lettering appeared on the upper right of the hard cover rather than centered. The next edition differed only in that its color was blue rather than black. In '27 it was serialized in three parts in Amazing. In '39 & '40 it ran in 7 parts in Famous Fantastic Mysteries, with its old ending. It was widely circulated in '44 in pocketbook form when Aven released a twenty-five cent popular 201 page edition--the villain, anachronistically, being the original Russian. (One might have anticipated an up-to-date Japastard, for commercial consumption.) Well, I have copies of the story in Amazing & Famous; write for info if interested in either. I also have one or two of the Knickers at five bucks knocked down to $4.50. But the edition I'm advertising in this issue of Acolyte is the black-bound, "corrected" Liveright. Have half a dozen mints on my shelves. Invested something like $12 in them a couple years ago. Been paying storage on 'em each month since. They cost 7c a piece to mail, you figure in the cost of this ad, the interest I could have had on my principle, the fact that money is worth a lot less now than it used to was, the fact that I'm broke in the army while you probably have a good paying defense job--well, anyway, I want $3.50 per copy. (Have one copy THE CONQUEST OF THE MOON POOL, with cover, six parts, All-Story 1918. Bidding starts at $10.) Have many books by Shiel, Blackwood, Stapledon, Merritt, Taine, etc. List Wants--Weaver Wright, Post Office Box 6475, Metropolitan Station, Los Angeles, Z-55. (Paid Advertisement) --- 32 ---