Transcribe
Translate
Fantasy Commentator, v. 1, issue 6, Spring 1945
Page 122
More information
digital collection
archival collection guide
transcription tips
122 FANTASY COMMENTATOR "Very Much in Demand" some interesting statistics by Thyril L. Ladd Quite often one hears the remark "Oh, that fantasy book is very much in demand!" In actuality, just how much demand is any given title? Within the limits of the source-material used in this article, I shall attempt to give a definite answer to that question. The source I have used is a weekly periodical whose subscribers consist of booksellers---many of them exclusively dealers in second-hand volumes---some of whom carry on their businesses entirely by its means through the mails. This trade publication reaches every state in the union, and in its pages, every issue, dealers list the titles of books which have been asked for by their customers---books they cannot themselves supply (usually because the titles are out of print) and which they therefore wish to buy. Other booksellers who may have the volumes needed quote their prices to the ones requesting them. Among the thousands of books advertised for each week appear many that are fantastic in fictional theme. I have carefully checked twenty-six consecutive issues of this periodical---from the July 24, 1944 number to that of January 15, 1945---representing a half-year of book wants. And from each number I have tabulated all requests for fantasy fiction volumes. The data to be given later in this article are totals covering this period. The greater the number of times a book is advertised for, of course, the greater is the relative countrywide demand indicated. Naturally, the choice is in each case up to the individual customer, showing what volumes readers and collectors of imaginative fiction actually want to own---those for which they are ready and willing to pay. Thus it seems to me that a check-up such as this, being a veritable national poll, may be considered not only important, but a reliable index of any novel's popularity. This survey, then, covers all fiction of the imaginative or bizarre nature known to me. Thus the list below includes novels of the supernatural; of "pure fantasy"; of horror, the weird and the occult; fantastic adventure; stories of lost races; tales of mental or physical travel into the past or the future. Some titles, it may be argued, are but lamely members of this class: but a few of the non-fantasy works of H. Rider Haggard and Edgar Rice Burroughs have been included in order to compare their showings with the authors' usual imaginative efforts. And there are also three titles of non-fiction which have been retained because they are so closely allied to the field being considered, as well as because they have proved of considerable interest to fantasy readers: Donnelly's Atlantis, Rohmer's Romance of Sorcery, and The Books of Charles Fort. Here, then, is the score at the end of six months. The numerical figure following each title represents, of course, the number of times it has been requested during this period. If you like, divide each figure by twenty-six, as this will tell you how many times, on average, a book has been advertised for in each issue... The Outsider (Lovecraft) 114 The Circus of Dr. Lao 77 The Ship of Ishtar 56 Brother of the Third Degree (Garver) 48 Atlantis (Donnelly) 46 The House of Fulfillment (Beck) 45 Out of Space and Time (Smith) 45 Om (Mundy) 36 The Face in the Abyss (Merritt) 35 Dream's End (Smith) 31 Swords of Mars (Burroughs) 29 After Worlds Collide (Balmer & Wylie) 28 Life Everlasting (Corelli) 28 Beyond the Wall of Sleep (Lovecraft) 27 Gladiator (Wylie) 27 She (Haggard) 25 To Walk the Night (Sloane) 25 The Ghost Kings (Haggard) 23
Saving...
prev
next
122 FANTASY COMMENTATOR "Very Much in Demand" some interesting statistics by Thyril L. Ladd Quite often one hears the remark "Oh, that fantasy book is very much in demand!" In actuality, just how much demand is any given title? Within the limits of the source-material used in this article, I shall attempt to give a definite answer to that question. The source I have used is a weekly periodical whose subscribers consist of booksellers---many of them exclusively dealers in second-hand volumes---some of whom carry on their businesses entirely by its means through the mails. This trade publication reaches every state in the union, and in its pages, every issue, dealers list the titles of books which have been asked for by their customers---books they cannot themselves supply (usually because the titles are out of print) and which they therefore wish to buy. Other booksellers who may have the volumes needed quote their prices to the ones requesting them. Among the thousands of books advertised for each week appear many that are fantastic in fictional theme. I have carefully checked twenty-six consecutive issues of this periodical---from the July 24, 1944 number to that of January 15, 1945---representing a half-year of book wants. And from each number I have tabulated all requests for fantasy fiction volumes. The data to be given later in this article are totals covering this period. The greater the number of times a book is advertised for, of course, the greater is the relative countrywide demand indicated. Naturally, the choice is in each case up to the individual customer, showing what volumes readers and collectors of imaginative fiction actually want to own---those for which they are ready and willing to pay. Thus it seems to me that a check-up such as this, being a veritable national poll, may be considered not only important, but a reliable index of any novel's popularity. This survey, then, covers all fiction of the imaginative or bizarre nature known to me. Thus the list below includes novels of the supernatural; of "pure fantasy"; of horror, the weird and the occult; fantastic adventure; stories of lost races; tales of mental or physical travel into the past or the future. Some titles, it may be argued, are but lamely members of this class: but a few of the non-fantasy works of H. Rider Haggard and Edgar Rice Burroughs have been included in order to compare their showings with the authors' usual imaginative efforts. And there are also three titles of non-fiction which have been retained because they are so closely allied to the field being considered, as well as because they have proved of considerable interest to fantasy readers: Donnelly's Atlantis, Rohmer's Romance of Sorcery, and The Books of Charles Fort. Here, then, is the score at the end of six months. The numerical figure following each title represents, of course, the number of times it has been requested during this period. If you like, divide each figure by twenty-six, as this will tell you how many times, on average, a book has been advertised for in each issue... The Outsider (Lovecraft) 114 The Circus of Dr. Lao 77 The Ship of Ishtar 56 Brother of the Third Degree (Garver) 48 Atlantis (Donnelly) 46 The House of Fulfillment (Beck) 45 Out of Space and Time (Smith) 45 Om (Mundy) 36 The Face in the Abyss (Merritt) 35 Dream's End (Smith) 31 Swords of Mars (Burroughs) 29 After Worlds Collide (Balmer & Wylie) 28 Life Everlasting (Corelli) 28 Beyond the Wall of Sleep (Lovecraft) 27 Gladiator (Wylie) 27 She (Haggard) 25 To Walk the Night (Sloane) 25 The Ghost Kings (Haggard) 23
Hevelin Fanzines
sidebar
