Saturday, August 17, 2013

Advertising card: "3 Great Westerns By Zane Grey All For Only $1"


This is the front of a tri-fold business reply mail card that was tucked away inside a 1968 Pocket Books paperback of Zane Grey's "The U.P. Trail." The volumes advertised are part of the 1960s Zane Grey set published by Walter J. Black. There were a total of 73 titles in the set, according to Zane Grey's West Society, which states:

"The Walter J. Black Editions ... were bound in red and tan cloth and originally came in a rice paper cover. Most of these books have little value, but the last thirteen ... are substantially rarer and command higher values. Two titles, The Wolf Tracker and The Camp Robber are worth a fairly high value. The Wolf Tracker is almost impossible to find in the original Harper's Edition, so this title is, in many cases, collected by collectors who feel they will never find the original first. The Camp Robber is a First Edition in the Walter J. Black series. It was never published anywhere else other than a magazine serial. It is therefore highly collectible. ... [M]ost of these titles in average condition can be purchased for $5 - $6 per book."

Of course, when they were originally published in the 1960s, you could get the first three in the set for JUST $1.00. Additional volumes were $2.89 apiece, "plus a few cents mailing charges," according to the advertisement.

Here are some additional images from the tri-fold card.



The advertising copy describes the books in more exciting terms than the Zane Grey's West Society website. It states: "These De Luxe Volumes Are Bound in Glowing Shades of Red, Tan, Blue ... and Stamped in Genuine Gold!"

In fact, all of the advertising copy is fairly "glowing":

"Is a rip-roaring story of the Old West your 'meat'? Then you'll want these three great Western thrillers by ZANE GREY - because every Zane Grey Western is jam-packed with blazing gunplay, breath-taking action, blood-tingling excitement! ... How proud you will be to display these luxurious volumes! Just picture them in your home - and imagine the world of pleasure they will open up for you and your family!"

And if that's not enough to convince you, I will leave you with The Floating Head Of Zane Grey...

Friday, August 16, 2013

A Robin Jacques illustration and some eclectic #FridayReads


Happy Friday! Shown above is Robin Jacques' dust jacket illustration for "A Choice of Magic," a 1971 anthology of folk and fairy tales by Ruth Manning-Sanders. The book is a collection of tales pulled from the "A Book of..." volumes published by Manning-Sanders up to that date, and serves as an excellent introduction to her work. And it's a great value, too, as it contains 32 stories.

It's really a marvelous illustration. You should click on it for a bigger view, so that you can admire all of great detail in Jacques' work.

Friday Reads

And here are some articles for your weekend reading pleasure...

And, finally, this back-and-forth about old American bookplates:

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Ham radio "goodies" from Errol Engraving of Westfield, Mass.


This postcard-sized advertisement for Errol Engraving in Westfield, Massachusetts, has a copyright mark dated 1964 for Everett S. Decker in the lower-left corner.1

Errol Engraving, which I do not believe is still in business, specialized in supplies, including QSL cards, for amateur radio enthusiasts.

The tiny type on the back of the card details some of the "Goodies" that were available, including:
  • 2 This car is "RADIO" Active decals for 50 cents
  • 60 self-sticking "Eye Ball" QSL labels for 50 cents
  • Citizen Radio license plate marker for $1
  • Complete collection of QSL cards from all 50 states for $1.50
  • Set of 4 Club Officer Ribbons for $1

I would love to see examples of some of the above, especially the decals and the "Eye Ball" labels.

Here's the whole list of "Goodies"...


Footnote
1. Everett S. Decker lived from 1923 to 1990, according to Find A Grave. Decker is also briefly mentioned as a cachet maker on the Naval Cover Museum website.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Illustrations on a French paperback featuring two André Roussin plays

Here's something a little different. These are the front and back covers of a late 1950s/early 1960s French paperback featuring two plays by André Roussin (1911-1987).

The plays are 1947's "La Petite Hutte" (The Little Hut)1 and 1951's "Lorsque l’Enfant Paraît" (When the Child Appears).

Check out these awesome illustrations...



Here is some additional French vocabulary from the covers:
  • chefs-d'oeuvre = masterpieces
  • le livre de poche = paperback
  • texte Intégral = full text

Footnote
1. "La Petite Hutte" was adapted into the 1957 romantic comedy "The Little Hut," which starred David Niven, Stewart Granger and Ava Gardner. Most imdb.com reviewers pan the movie as being overly silly, full of continuity errors and, some say, too watered down from Roussin's risqué play.