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Post by ChrisLAdams on Aug 27, 2019 7:38:48 GMT -5
Among the Merritt material I recently acquired was copy #1 of the New Collectors Group printing of Merritt's "The Fox Woman" along with Hannes Bok's "The Blue Pagoda," which finished Merritt's tale. This was the presentation copy sent to Merritt's widow, Eleanor. Glued to the front free endpaper was a review of the book cut out from the February 2, 1947 issue of the New York Herald Tribune. But what really makes this copy unique is the original Bok drawing on page 27, shown here. Just incredible there, Doug. Does it contain the plain jacket?
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Post by dougellis on Aug 27, 2019 21:50:54 GMT -5
It lacks the jacket, unfortunately. But I'll struggle on!
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Post by dougellis on Aug 27, 2019 21:58:40 GMT -5
Attached is page 54 of "The Snake Mother" manuscript, which has the ending of the chapter, "In the Lair of Huon". As can be seen by Merritt's text at the bottom, he'd intended this to be the installment break when the serial ran in Argosy. However, the editors put the break at the end of the prior chapter, so "In the Lair of Huon" became the first part of the second installment of the serial, rather than the last part of the first installment, as Merritt had intended. And thanks, Chris, for your kind offer to help out! Attachments:
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Post by ChrisLAdams on Aug 28, 2019 7:25:26 GMT -5
Attached is page 54 of "The Snake Mother" manuscript, which has the ending of the chapter, "In the Lair of Huon". As can be seen by Merritt's text at the bottom, he'd intended this to be the installment break when the serial ran in Argosy. However, the editors put the break at the end of the prior chapter, so "In the Lair of Huon" became the first part of the second installment of the serial, rather than the last part of the first installment, as Merritt had intended. And thanks, Chris, for your kind offer to help out! It's just incredible to see these hand-corrected pages, Doug. You're a fortunate man!
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Post by deuce on Aug 28, 2019 10:47:10 GMT -5
He has work online here; which story would you suggest I read first? Gutenberg is not the place to go when it comes to Merritt, Haggard, Mundy or virtually any other classic pulp-style adventure. Roy Glashan was/is a major contributor to Gutenberg, but his site is better-curated, better-looking and all-around a better experience than Gutenberg (IMO). I know many other people who agree. freeread.com.au/@rglibrary/authors.htmlI found a lot of great stuff at Roy's site that I might not have read for the simple reason that Roy has great taste. I second the motion to start with The Ship of Ishtar.
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Post by deuce on Aug 28, 2019 10:49:49 GMT -5
I agree with you, Chris, that books reproducing the typed, handcorrected manuscripts would be cool, but I'm not sure there'd be enough of a market. And strange you mention "The Metal Emperor." I have the manuscript of that, but entitled "The Metal Horde," and it has slight differences from the Gernsback published version. That book is definitely on the radar! For sure, this one might be a good Kickstarter project, make sure the funds are there before taking the leap. I think sprinkling with good quality reproductions of the original art plus the manuscript might be a lure; for sure, the market would need to be tested out. You've got material most Merritt fans will never see, let alone be able to own. A work such as this is as close as 'the rest of us' would ever get. Looking forward to see what you guys do in the future, Doug. I'll support your endeavors however I can. Whoa! I turn my back and Doug Ellis blows up the Merritt thread! This is awesome news and I'm right there with Chris in supporting whatever moves you want to make with Merritt's work, Doug. I know it's in good hands.
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Post by sorcerer on Aug 28, 2019 20:14:00 GMT -5
Gutenberg is not the place to go when it comes to Merritt, Haggard, Mundy or virtually any other classic pulp-style adventure. Roy Glashan was/is a major contributor to Gutenberg, but his site is better-curated, better-looking and all-around a better experience than Gutenberg (IMO). I know many other people who agree. freeread.com.au/@rglibrary/authors.html
You may well be right; I think of them both as "Gutenberg."
In my defense, Glashan and Gutenberg frequently link to one another, and since my browser settings turn off most images and force all pages to display gold text on russet background, they do both run together to me.
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Post by dougellis on Sept 2, 2019 12:49:14 GMT -5
From the A. Merritt files we acquired a few weeks ago comes this letter. Dated February 27, 1920, it's from Munsey pulp editor Bob Davis, accepting Merritt's "The Metal Emperor," which ran in Argosy All-Story Magazine as "The Metal Monster." Attachments:
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Post by dougellis on Sept 8, 2019 15:53:18 GMT -5
Here's an interesting letter from the A. Merritt files. Dated November 20, 1928, it's to Merritt from his agent, Ann Watkins, primarily concerning the movie adaptation, and a reprint edition, of "Seven Footprints to Satan." Merritt ultimately hated the film,and the proposed sequel mentioned here never got written. Nor did the prospective projects for Colliers or Liberty. Attachments:
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Post by dougellis on Sept 11, 2019 20:24:18 GMT -5
When he passed away, A. Merritt left two novels unfinished, "The Fox Woman" and "The Black Wheel". These were ultimately finished by pulp author and artist Hannes Bok and published by New Collector's Group. Here's a letter from Bok to Eleanor Merritt, dated November 26, 1946, mentioning both projects. And if you're a Bok fan, check out the new Kickstarter from Bob Garcia of American Fantasy, which is publishing three of Bok's fantasy novels in hardcover for the first time! You can find details at: Attachments:
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Post by dougellis on Sept 15, 2019 10:53:27 GMT -5
A few days ago, in going through the A. Merritt papers I recently acquired, I found this check from Merritt to his favorite artist, Virgil FInlay. Dated May 19, 1941, it's for $25 and, as noted by Merritt at the lower left of the check, was for the original Finlay cover for "Dwellers in the Mirage," which appeared on the April 1941 issue of Fantastic Novels. On the back, it's endorsed by Finlay, so it contains the signatures of both of these fantasy greats. Unfortunately, the cover wasn't among the items I acquired! Shortly after his death, most of his library was sold, and I suspect this painting was sold at that time. However, a friend of mine now owns the original. I'm picturing that here with the check. I assume that when Finlay sent the painting to Merritt, he added all the additional text in white. Attachments:
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Post by sorcerer on Sept 15, 2019 18:45:28 GMT -5
(By the way, I did say that I'd let you know what I thought of Ship of Ishtar - I didn't finish it. Likely the pacing was too slow.)
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Post by zarono on Oct 22, 2019 11:37:40 GMT -5
Do anyone know if there's any connection between Merritt's story "The Drone" and REH's "The Hyena", did one inspire the other or were they even aware of each other's story? I think REH's The Hyena was published first but I'm not sure.
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Post by dougellis on Dec 17, 2019 22:10:41 GMT -5
Most of Abraham Merritt's fiction ran in the Munsey pulps, "All Story Weekly" or "Argosy" (under various name variations) but he did have one story published in "Weird Tales." This was "The Woman of the Wood" ("Weird Tales," August 1926), which Munsey editor Robert Davis rejected as "plotless." The readers of "Weird Tales" disagreed; they voted it the best WT story of 1926, and it was later voted by the readers as the most popular story to appear in "Weird Tales" from 1924 to 1940. Among the Merritt material I acquired this past summer was a partial draft (actually parts of two or maybe three drafts) of an early version of "The Woman of the Wood." Unfortunately, it's incomplete; I only have the first 18 manuscript pages, which covers roughly the first 40% of the story. While most of the draft essentially follows the published version (with many differences, and lots of edits in Merritt's hand), the first two-and-a-half pages have no equivalent in the published version. I think Merritt likely cut them as they were primarily background, and they delayed the real start of the story. I thought I'd post the first page of that manuscript here. Attachments:
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Post by dougellis on May 18, 2020 11:38:28 GMT -5
I'm very pleased to announce that Adventure Pulp LLC has just signed an agreement with Oasis Audio to do the works of A. Merritt as audiobooks, under their Paperback Classics Imprint! Other authors in their library include Edgar Rice Burroughs and Otis Adelbert Kline, so Merritt is in good company! The first titles should be available this Fall.
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