Wednesday, October 29, 2014

1971 advertisement for issue #2 of "Balthus" fanzine


Here's a neat piece of ephemera, just in time for Halloween.

It's a classy, seven-inch-by-nine-inch advertisement for the second issue of Jon M. Harvey's "Balthus" fanzine. I found it tucked away inside a copy of David A. Sutton's July 1971 fanzine "Bibliotheca: H.P. Lovecraft."

Harvey, of Cardiff, Wales, only published four issues of "Balthus" — two in 1971 and two in 1972. It is documented online only briefly, at Fancyclopedia 3 and the British Fanzine Bibliography. In 1975, Harvey served as editor of a 24-page publication titled Cthulhu: Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos.

The flyer, however, provides a nice amount of detail about what he had planned for "Balthus" #2. Here's the text:
If you like folk-lore, the supernatural, horror and the fantasy of Abraham Merritt then the second issue of BALTHUS is for you! The contents of this issue consist of:

THE ETERNAL HUNTSMEN, a look at some of the many legends surrounding the lore of the Wild Hunt by Jon M. Harvey. Illustrated by Rick Scollins.

THE SMUGGLERS OF PENROSE, a ghost story from old Cornwall by Sarah L. Eneys.

ASH SHADOW, a short fictional horror by Mark Adlard. Illustrated by David Lloyd.

ABRAHAM MERRITT, a look at the man and his works written and illustrated by Brian J. Frost.

ASHES TO ASHES; printed separately from the rest of the magazine it contains an edited selection of letters on the first issue of BALTHUS.

Cover illustration by Jim Pitts; an adaptation from Clark Ashton Smith's "The Maker of Gargoyles".

Price per copy is 20p (60c). Reduced rates for bulk orders. There are a few copies of the first issue available also priced 20p. The second issue will be out late October, so order copies from:

jon m. harvey, 18, cefn road,
cardiff cf4 3hs
If any of that piques your interest, as of this writing, one copy of "Balthus" #2 is available from an AbeBooks UK seller.

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