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Post by deuce on Sept 17, 2016 20:08:07 GMT -5
Gnome Press was the first publishing house to put out REH hardcovers specifically devoted to Conan. While not having the impact of the later Lancers, the Gnome editions introduced a lot of younger fantasy/horror fans in the 1950s to Conan and REH. Sci-fi author, Jerry Pournelle was one of those people and I'm sure there were other authors who also came to Conan by way of that series When I was 9 years old, I discovered my local library had two old Gnome editions (see below). That was the first REH Conan I ever read. I can still see myself reading about Conan and Xaltotun and Aquilonia for the first time. This is a belated shout out to Gnome Press and the Parsons Public Library. Anybody else have a Gnome Press story? Or pics? All of the Gnome Press editions here: howardworks.com/gnome.html   |
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Post by valeriaspirit on Sept 22, 2016 12:55:27 GMT -5
Hi, Deuce -
Just saw this, so I don't have anything prepared but -
It was the Gnome Press editions in my local library in Easton, Pa. that introduced me to REH and Conan. I always had fond memories of them. I bought a few of the Lancer softcover Conans when they were put out, but I was not all that impressed with the additional stories contributed by L. Sprague de Camp (much as I liked his other fantasy stuff) and Lin Carter, so I only bought a couple of those. To me the Gnome Press books were the *real* Conan stories. Well, I knew that the originals had appeared in Weird Tales, but the only copy of Weird Tales I ever bought had The Thief of Forthe, sort of a second-rate Conan knockoff. That was published after REH's demise, when the magazine was looking around for something to fill the Conan niche. I never bought any of the comic book Conans.
Anyway, some years ago, I happed upon a used bookstore in Halifax called Kaya Books. For some reason I mentioned the Gnome Press Conan editions, and lo and behold! He just happened to have all five books in their original dustjackets. Cost for all of them was $1000 Cdn. So I sprang for them and still am a proud owner of those editions, and I still don't own any other Conan books or comic books, although I have recently bought the Conan audio CD's (all of REH's original stories) produced by Tantor Media. They have 3 collections under these titles: The Coming of Conan The Cimmerian, The Bloody Crown of Conan, and The Conquering Sword of Conan, but I haven't listened to them yet.
Valeria Spirit
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Post by thedarkman on Sept 22, 2016 16:56:51 GMT -5
Hi, Deuce - Just saw this, so I don't have anything prepared but - It was the Gnome Press editions in my local library in Easton, Pa. that introduced me to REH and Conan. I always had fond memories of them. I bought a few of the Lancer softcover Conans when they were put out, but I was not all that impressed with the additional stories contributed by L. Sprague de Camp (much as I liked his other fantasy stuff) and Lin Carter, so I only bought a couple of those. To me the Gnome Press books were the *real* Conan stories. Well, I knew that the originals had appeared in Weird Tales, but the only copy of Weird Tales I ever bought had The Thief of Forthe, sort of a second-rate Conan knockoff. That was published after REH's demise, when the magazine was looking around for something to fill the Conan niche. I never bought any of the comic book Conans. Anyway, some years ago, I happed upon a used bookstore in Halifax called Kaya Books. For some reason I mentioned the Gnome Press Conan editions, and lo and behold! He just happened to have all five books in their original dustjackets. Cost for all of them was $1000 Cdn. So I sprang for them and still am a proud owner of those editions, and I still don't own any other Conan books or comic books, although I have recently bought the Conan audio CD's (all of REH's original stories) produced by Tantor Media. They have 3 collections under these titles: The Coming of Conan The Cimmerian, The Bloody Crown of Conan, and The Conquering Sword of Conan, but I haven't listened to them yet. Valeria Spirit Give the audio versions a go at your first opportunity. They are top notch and a pleasure to listen to. And since they are mostly short stories, you can work your way through them in smaller chunks of your time. |
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Post by deuce on Oct 4, 2016 10:00:47 GMT -5
Hi, Deuce - Just saw this, so I don't have anything prepared but - It was the Gnome Press editions in my local library in Easton, Pa. that introduced me to REH and Conan. I always had fond memories of them. I bought a few of the Lancer softcover Conans when they were put out, but I was not all that impressed with the additional stories contributed by L. Sprague de Camp (much as I liked his other fantasy stuff) and Lin Carter, so I only bought a couple of those. To me the Gnome Press books were the *real* Conan stories. Well, I knew that the originals had appeared in Weird Tales, but the only copy of Weird Tales I ever bought had The Thief of Forthe, sort of a second-rate Conan knockoff. That was published after REH's demise, when the magazine was looking around for something to fill the Conan niche. I never bought any of the comic book Conans. Anyway, some years ago, I happed upon a used bookstore in Halifax called Kaya Books. For some reason I mentioned the Gnome Press Conan editions, and lo and behold! He just happened to have all five books in their original dustjackets. Cost for all of them was $1000 Cdn. So I sprang for them and still am a proud owner of those editions, and I still don't own any other Conan books or comic books, although I have recently bought the Conan audio CD's (all of REH's original stories) produced by Tantor Media. They have 3 collections under these titles: The Coming of Conan The Cimmerian, The Bloody Crown of Conan, and The Conquering Sword of Conan, but I haven't listened to them yet. Valeria Spirit Cool story, Val! Wish I had a set like that. I'd say you should also buy a cheap, used set of Del Reys for reading copies just to minimize wear n' tear on your Gnomes. But hey!, they're your books.  |
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Post by valeriaspirit on Oct 6, 2016 18:27:32 GMT -5
Hi, Deuce - Just saw this, so I don't have anything prepared but - It was the Gnome Press editions in my local library in Easton, Pa. that introduced me to REH and Conan. I always had fond memories of them. I bought a few of the Lancer softcover Conans when they were put out, but I was not all that impressed with the additional stories contributed by L. Sprague de Camp (much as I liked his other fantasy stuff) and Lin Carter, so I only bought a couple of those. To me the Gnome Press books were the *real* Conan stories. Well, I knew that the originals had appeared in Weird Tales, but the only copy of Weird Tales I ever bought had The Thief of Forthe, sort of a second-rate Conan knockoff. That was published after REH's demise, when the magazine was looking around for something to fill the Conan niche. I never bought any of the comic book Conans. Anyway, some years ago, I happed upon a used bookstore in Halifax called Kaya Books. For some reason I mentioned the Gnome Press Conan editions, and lo and behold! He just happened to have all five books in their original dustjackets. Cost for all of them was $1000 Cdn. So I sprang for them and still am a proud owner of those editions, and I still don't own any other Conan books or comic books, although I have recently bought the Conan audio CD's (all of REH's original stories) produced by Tantor Media. They have 3 collections under these titles: The Coming of Conan The Cimmerian, The Bloody Crown of Conan, and The Conquering Sword of Conan, but I haven't listened to them yet. Valeria Spirit Cool story, Val! Wish I had a set like that. I'd say you should also buy a cheap, used set of Del Reys for reading copies just to minimize wear n' tear on your Gnomes. But hey!, they're your books. Hi, Deuce! Good idea! Actually I'd like to get the authoritative versions of all the REH collections, and they are affordable in paperback. My bad - I do have some of his stuff on my kindle, and I've got about four different bios of REH in my TBR pile. But I keep finding other things to read - right now, Arnold's autobiography Total Recall (it's good!) and a new biography of Bram Stoker (author of Dracula) written by an old friend of mine, David J. Skal. The title is Something in the Blood. It's a real doorstop of a book - contains tons of new info on Stoker that Skal has discovered, and I think you would be particularly interested on all the info about Stoker's Anglo-Irish background. He was born and brought up in Clontarf, a Dublin suburb, and he was acquainted with and had interesting parallels throughout his life with Oscar Wilde. I'm a slow reader, and all these goodies are distracting me from all the REH and Conan I should be reading! :-) Val |
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Post by deuce on Oct 30, 2016 20:56:14 GMT -5
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Post by deuce on Jan 23, 2017 19:35:27 GMT -5
A quote from venerated scifi/fantasy novelist, Andre Norton:
"In the 1950's I worked for Gnome Press, reading manuscripts for Martin Greenberg for about three years. This was a time when I was otherwise unable to work, due to continuing attacks of vertigo. Marty would send manuscripts to me, and I would read them in bed."
Odds are she had some contact with the Conan manuscripts, though Spraguey was doing most of the work on those. She went on to join Lin Carter's Sword And Sorcerers Guild of America (SAGA), along with Moorcock, Vance, Jakes and others. She mentioned REH/Conan a few times in essays, but never said anything explicitly about her time at Gnome Press.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2017 14:01:16 GMT -5
I remember the first time I laid eyes on these volumes at the 'Fantasy Centre' down Holloway Road, London. I could not afford them at the time.
The Fantasy Centre was a great little bookshop, but, unfortunately closed down a few years ago (I think it was in 2009).
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2018 1:25:54 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2018 1:33:58 GMT -5
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Post by deuce on Oct 24, 2018 12:32:51 GMT -5
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Post by johnnypt on Oct 24, 2018 12:51:57 GMT -5
Gnome had Conan AND Foundation...and lost them both...  |
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Post by deuce on Nov 3, 2018 23:21:46 GMT -5
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