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Post by deuce on Nov 11, 2017 13:53:06 GMT -5
Good sleuthing! "Abyss" is a classic. I'm not sure I was even aware of this edition. Here are two other illos from your links:
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Post by ChrisLAdams on Nov 13, 2017 8:40:44 GMT -5
Would anyone know where an online image of Ned Dameron's original art for the Donald M Grant edition of The Face in the Abyss might be found? Not an image of the book cover, just the painting. This is a difficult one... Hun - thanks for the links! I gifted the Donald Grant to a friend and have seen these illos - they're beautiful. The book is a wonder - in that it makes me wonder why I never bought one for myself. I plan to, now that I've seen it. I ended up just interpreting the missing part of the face from the cover, and I think it will be partially obscured anyway. After I did that Night Gaunts over Kadath painting for my HPL buddy, another friend asked if I'd do him a Face in the Abyss. It's his fav Merritt. He's a huge REH fan and also the guy who proof-read my Conan tale twice. So my concept for this painting was to reference Ned Dameron's face and also many various illos of caverns for the 'abyss'. I plan on some portion of the ceiling to partially obscure the top of the head (as in the DMG cover) but not because I can't paint the head, but that I feel it will add depth as I work forward. It'll shove the face back into the painting, making it appear you are standing at some distance from it. The face will not be nearly as large in scale as it is on the cover, allowing one to add some details of the surrounding cavern. It's quite ambitious for me, I've only done four paintings so far.
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Post by deuce on Nov 26, 2017 21:10:56 GMT -5
When it comes to complete text and inclusion of all of the legendary Virgil Finlay interior illos, the Paizo edition of The Ship of Ishtar is the one to beat. I just found out that it's still in stock: paizo.com/products/btpy85jx?The-Ship-of-IshtarThis has the text as Merritt intended it to be read and it combines all of the Finlay illos from two separate publications of TSoI that have never been together in one edition. It's a trade paperback and not a hardcover, but in my opinion, if you have to own just one edition of "Ishtar", this is it. Tim Powers wrote a great intro. Just an excellent edition all around. This book was very likely an influence on the sword and sorcery tales of both REH and Clark Ashton Smith, as well as being considered a fantasy classic in its own right. Moorcock ranked it in the top 100 fantasy novels of the 20th century. The readers of Argosy voted it the best story the magazine published over the course of 45 years, which included tales from Edgar Rice Burroughs and other heavy hitters. Every fan of fantasy/sword and sorcery should read it and this is the best edition that exists. Buy it.
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Post by deuce on Dec 13, 2017 11:53:49 GMT -5
To be honest, I haven't mentioned this book because I have yet to buy it and didn't want to tighten up the supply. From everything I've seen and heard, this should be on the shelf of every Merritt enthusiast. Haha! Sorry dude, I guess I let the cat outta the bag. I have one on the way - I've enjoyed many anthologies by Sam Moskowitz so this will be great, I have no doubt. A good friend of mine has a birthday approaching so I splurged on a second copy for him even though I'd already ordered him a copy of Red World of Polaris (the Capt. Volmar stories by CAS which are excellent). He got me some really nice Christmas gifts and just wanted to do something extra nice for his birthday He's the good friend for whom I wrote the poem ' No Finer Hour' posted in Pit of Set and is quite worth the investment. Just wanted to let you and others know that I got A. Merritt: Reflections in the Moon Pool for my birthday a few weeks back. An absolute must for hardcore Merritt fans or anybody wanting to know what the whole "weird fiction" scene was like in the '20s and '30s. It also has a section full of Abe's poetry and few rare short stories. A treasure trove. I'm so thankful to Moskowitz for gathering all that info before it was lost. He created a fine monument to one of the great writers in the history of fantasy.
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Post by ChrisLAdams on Dec 13, 2017 13:14:34 GMT -5
Haha! Sorry dude, I guess I let the cat outta the bag. I have one on the way - I've enjoyed many anthologies by Sam Moskowitz so this will be great, I have no doubt. A good friend of mine has a birthday approaching so I splurged on a second copy for him even though I'd already ordered him a copy of Red World of Polaris (the Capt. Volmar stories by CAS which are excellent). He got me some really nice Christmas gifts and just wanted to do something extra nice for his birthday He's the good friend for whom I wrote the poem ' No Finer Hour' posted in Pit of Set and is quite worth the investment. Just wanted to let you and others know that I got A. Merritt: Reflections in the Moon Pool for my birthday a few weeks back. An absolute must for hardcore Merritt fans or anybody wanting to know what the whole "weird fiction" scene was like in the '20s and '30s. It also has a section full of Abe's poetry and few rare short stories. A treasure trove. I'm so thankful to Moskowitz for gathering all that info before it was lost. He created a fine monument to one of the great writers in the history of fantasy. Absolutely, it's a must for the Merritt enthusiast, student and/or completist.
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Post by deuce on Dec 13, 2017 14:46:41 GMT -5
While I think Dameron did some good work for this edition, IMO he started out great when doing work for Centaur and slowly got worse over the decades. That said, I'd still like to own this edition.
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Post by deuce on Dec 13, 2017 14:54:45 GMT -5
REH would've read this letter from Merritt. It appeared in one of the issues of Argosy serializing Dwellers in the Mirage. All of that happened just a month before Howard created Conan, which is no coincidence. [From “Argonotes, The Readers’ Viewpoint,” Argosy, February 6, 1932, which featured Part III of “The Dwellers in the Mirage”]
Now and then I read a letter in your “Argonotes” expressing doubt as to the scientific accuracy of this or that in my stories, Now and then I read letters from people who quite simply and frankly say they don’t like them. With the latter, I haven’t the least quarrel. If one doesn’t like something, I can’t, for the life of me, see why they shouldn’t say so. As the old rhyme goes—“Some like their pudding hot, Some like it cold, Some like it in the pot, Nine days old.” The Lord knows everybody is entitled to pick his own pudding—prohibitionists to the contrary. I pick mine.
But I am a bit sensitive concerning criticisms of my scientific accuracy...I loved this Merritt letter. As a writer myself I can empathize with how he feels. Criticism can be tough. I do love good, honest criticism that is delivered, not in a nasty manner, but instead with valid points. After all, writers are human and prone to err - I certainly am. That said, you just can't please everyone. Merritt wasn't particularly sensitive about "criticisms" or dislike of his fiction. We have a lot of evidence for that. His irritation quoted above comes from some reader questioning the science he used as background for the story. Merritt loved to base his tales on scientific fact (or at least documented stuff). Now, of course, some of that has been shown to be false, but all of it was thought accurate or plausible at the time.
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Post by ChrisLAdams on Dec 13, 2017 15:01:11 GMT -5
I loved this Merritt letter. As a writer myself I can empathize with how he feels. Criticism can be tough. I do love good, honest criticism that is delivered, not in a nasty manner, but instead with valid points. After all, writers are human and prone to err - I certainly am. That said, you just can't please everyone. Merritt wasn't particularly sensitive about "criticisms" or dislike of his fiction. We have a lot of evidence for that. His irritation quoted above comes from some reader questioning the science he used as background for the story. Merritt loved to base his tales on scientific fact (or at least documented stuff). Now, of course, some of that has been shown to be false, but all of it was thought accurate or plausible at the time. Exactly what I was referring to - 'valid points'. As he said, it's none of my business if you 'like' what I wrote - why should you? But if you're going to critique it as to a specific point, just be sure you know what you're talking about. For instance, I used the word 'builded' in a story and had some guy take me to task that the word doesn't exist - that the word is 'built'. It's an archaic word not frequently encountered, but still exists. As I said, I understand what Merritt was referring to. When you're right, your right.
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Post by deuce on Dec 22, 2017 1:07:41 GMT -5
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Post by deuce on Jan 20, 2018 20:59:59 GMT -5
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Post by deuce on Jan 21, 2018 1:11:21 GMT -5
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Post by deuce on Jan 24, 2018 14:50:30 GMT -5
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Post by mightythorjrs on Jan 24, 2018 17:15:37 GMT -5
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Post by johnnypt on Jan 24, 2018 20:26:11 GMT -5
If you like these, go for the Moon Pool next. I still have to do Face in the Abyss myself.
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Post by mightythorjrs on Jan 25, 2018 13:23:02 GMT -5
If you like these, go for the Moon Pool next. I still have to do Face in the Abyss myself. Awesome! Thanks for the suggestions. Much appreciated! Thanks, James
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