Your New Pride and Joy!

[Jimimck]

Damn. That is just so very cool and amazing

[Niels]

Awesome. Really like the stories behind it!

[stroppygoblin]

Truly wonderful information Gerald as always, I'm sorry your visit to London was such a brief one, it would have been great to meet up.

Is it ok with you if I include some of the information above into the catalog?

[Pasiuk57]

Gerald. I continue to be blown away by the type of items you post. Especially the story behind the book.
Simply amazing.
Never knew that existed.

[carlosdetweiller]

Wonderful post and pictures, Gerald. Thanks for sharing. It is easy to see who is doing the most work and research in the hobby right now. Items like this don't just fall into a collector's lap (well, maybe once in a million but not often). Your dedication and hard work really pays off for you. Thanks for taking the time to share these treasures with the rest of us. I really enjoyed reading about this one.

[jon10g]

Again truly remarkable stuff!!

[ke7285]

Gerald awesome work on finding such early item's of King work.

[Br!an]

Amazing Gerald! I really appreciate you sharing not only the items you do but their stories.

[webstar1000]

The story is always the best part! Love reading these

[jhanic]

Again, simply awesome, Gerald!

John

[sharki69]

Awesome Gerald ! Great story and amazing items as usual

[TCCBodhi]

Thanks Gerald, as always, for the pictures and the stories that go along with them. I love how there is seemingly always something more to know about these books.

[The Library Policeman]

Gerald, to echo everyone elses sentiments - thanks for sharing these amazing items and their back stories.

This stuff is absolute gold to a Stephen King fan.

[TCCBodhi]

It was a busy Friday. I not only got my Secret Santa items in, but my 2 variants of Skeleton Crew came in as well as an excellent 1st Edition of Thinner.




There are more photos of each to be found on my Collection thread, including the interior artwork from Skeleton Crew (in Copy #7).

[neo_trinity]

Thank you all for your kind words. As a member here once stated, I don’t post very often, but when I do, I try to select items that I think others may find interest in. It’s not always easy as it is getting harder and harder to find unique items after 40+ years of publishing. Still, I persevere and if and when I discover something unique, I will do my best to research the piece and share the story. Some items have a lot of back story, and some collectors know nothing further than whom they purchased it from.

The fourth item that I recently acquired is an example of such an item. While I have tried to discover who “Helen” is to Stephen, I have not been able to ascertain any further information. This is a lovely copy of “Cycle of the Werewolf” signed limited edition. When I saw the book at first, I thought it was the same edition as the one I already had in my collection. On the Title Page there is a warm, personal inscription by Stephen to a friend for New Year’s, 1983. On the limitation page, it is signed again by Stephen and Bernie Wrightson, with the designation “Authors Copy”. When I saw that it was one of four copies, I thought that was strange because I was sure my other copy was one of eight copies produced. Upon my return, I have checked my copy and it was a different edition. That one was a “Publishers Copy” and was indeed one of eight. This was a smaller limitation and whereas my other copy had only a second signature on the Title Page, this one had an inscription.

Interestingly enough, the only other “Authors Copy” I have in my collection is “The Dark Tower 2: The Drawing of the Three”. I am not certain if this designation was done for every other signed limited, but if so, I have never seen another in my travels. Most certainly, they were never offered for sale, so the probability of a recipient of Stephen’s generosity turning around and selling them is not very likely. I thought it was quite a nice find.

The last item I acquired is a UK proof that I have never seen before. I was hoping to photograph it yesterday afternoon, but the weather was beautiful and I decided to take my little man to The World’s Largest Wave Pool for his first time. All going well, we will be diving with sharks very shortly.

I hope you enjoy.
Gerald

[sharki69]

WOW..... Stunning copy

Gerald - Did they closed the park for you ???

[neo_trinity]

WOW..... Stunning copy

Gerald - Did they closed the park for you ???

Speak of the devil, and the Shark will appear. Of course they closed the park for me. I want to shelter my boy against interacting with people for as long as possible!

No, I'm only joking. This is Thailand and for whatever reason, this is as crowded as amusement park pools get on a weekend. Probably wouldn't be the case States-side, but here there is so many options for swimming available, with countless beaches, this is how it is every week.

Gerald

[neo_trinity]

Truly wonderful information Gerald as always, I'm sorry your visit to London was such a brief one, it would have been great to meet up.

Is it ok with you if I include some of the information above into the catalog?

Hi Simon,

Yes it would have been a real pleasure to meet in person, and hopefully if I am back in December, I will try to make it happen. This trip was 2 days only and with the auction, I had only the one day, and that was a real treat trying to circumnavigate the motorways from Stansted. Sure, you can use whatever information you need for the catalog.

Take care.
Gerald

[wizardsrainbow]

I am speechless. That is simply astounding Gerald.

[jhanic]

Amazing! Thanks for sharing (again!).

John

[biomieg]

One item left to unveil. Good times for this Community of Crazed Collectors...

[zelig]

Wonderful item! Thanks for sharing Gerald. And nice pic in the wave pool.

[carlosdetweiller]

The fourth item that I recently acquired is an example of such an item. While I have tried to discover who “Helen” is to Stephen, I have not been able to ascertain any further information. This is a lovely copy of “Cycle of the Werewolf” signed limited edition. When I saw the book at first, I thought it was the same edition as the one I already had in my collection. On the Title Page there is a warm, personal inscription by Stephen to a friend for New Year’s, 1983. On the limitation page, it is signed again by Stephen and Bernie Wrightson, with the designation “Authors Copy”. When I saw that it was one of four copies, I thought that was strange because I was sure my other copy was one of eight copies produced. Upon my return, I have checked my copy and it was a different edition. That one was a “Publishers Copy” and was indeed one of eight. This was a smaller limitation and whereas my other copy had only a second signature on the Title Page, this one had an inscription.

Congratulations, Gerald, on finding another book that I had not seen before. There are a couple of other states of Cycle of the Werewolf that I know of with the designation and limitation written in the same hand (presumably Zavisa's). Besides the eight copies designated Publisher's Copy there are another eight designated Artists Copy. I guess Wrightson had a better agent or negotiated a better deal than King as he seems to have gotten four more copies than King. And then there is an unbound text block with the pages still mostly uncut and unseparated that state they are one of five copies of the Custom Bound Edition. I guess that Zavisa had planned a more elaborate binding for these but I have never seen any that are bound.

[neo_trinity]

The fourth item that I recently acquired is an example of such an item. While I have tried to discover who “Helen” is to Stephen, I have not been able to ascertain any further information. This is a lovely copy of “Cycle of the Werewolf” signed limited edition. When I saw the book at first, I thought it was the same edition as the one I already had in my collection. On the Title Page there is a warm, personal inscription by Stephen to a friend for New Year’s, 1983. On the limitation page, it is signed again by Stephen and Bernie Wrightson, with the designation “Authors Copy”. When I saw that it was one of four copies, I thought that was strange because I was sure my other copy was one of eight copies produced. Upon my return, I have checked my copy and it was a different edition. That one was a “Publishers Copy” and was indeed one of eight. This was a smaller limitation and whereas my other copy had only a second signature on the Title Page, this one had an inscription.

Congratulations, Gerald, on finding another book that I had not seen before. There are a couple of other states of Cycle of the Werewolf that I know of with the designation and limitation written in the same hand (presumably Zavisa's). Besides the eight copies designated Publisher's Copy there are another eight designated Artists Copy. I guess Wrightson had a better agent or negotiated a better deal than King as he seems to have gotten four more copies than King. And then there is an unbound text block with the pages still mostly uncut and unseparated that state they are one of five copies of the Custom Bound Edition. I guess that Zavisa had planned a more elaborate binding for these but I have never seen any that are bound.

Hi Bob,

Yes I know that there are quite a few states of "Cycle" and I only have this new one and the Publishers State. I know that Chris Cavalier had an Artists State, but that was sold before I saw it. I also saw photos of the unbound Custom Bound Edition, and like you said, it was not completed. It would have been nice to see the treatment that Christopher could have done with that, but alas it was not to be.

I have no doubt that Bernie was able to strike a better deal to get 4 more copies, because it is one of the few books that the artists involvement was as important as the authors. Same with "Creepshow". I don't think the text alone would have had the impact the illustrations did for those pieces. I also believe that Christopher was the individual that wrote the limitation page because the writing was done with a fountain pen in ink different from Stephen and Bernie. Also, the writing style is not theirs. Whoever did it, I don't think they were too familiar with a fountain pen because at least my 2 copies, there is heavy indentations at the start and finish of each stroke, which usually goes away with continued use. Personally, I love the fountain pen, but it does take a lot of practice to actually write lovely calligraphy.

Gerald

[neo_trinity]

Wonderful item! Thanks for sharing Gerald. And nice pic in the wave pool.

Thank you all again for your kind words. I will try to post the last item tomorrow morning from the UK collection. After that I will get to photographing a few new items I got when I returned. They were unexpected and so that makes the joy that much more elevated. Yes Paul, we had fun in the wave pool. I remember my first time in a wave pool and probably I am the only one on this board that knows what I am talking about, but I will share the story anyways.

When I was growing up in New York, my parents used to take me each summer to an adventure park in Vernon, NJ called "Action Park". We used to call it "Traction Park" because you could be certain that at least once a summer you would end up in the emergency room at the local hospital. It was everything that could go wrong with an adventure park, that was actually a real place. You had lifeguards sure, but they were 14 -17 year old children that were more interested in girls and getting drunk (during their shift), to really take the job seriously. The Wave Pool there had many drownings, usually every summer. How, for the life of me, did it stay operational so long is a mystery, but it did, and it made my childhood. I was one of the lucky ones, that actually knew how to swim first. The waves were very big, and being able to swim was not a prerequisite to entering the water. The last year I was in the U.S. there was a drowning the day before I visited. I didn't know this on the day I went, but sure enough, the Wave Pool was back open for business. There were other rides, like the cement slalom cart run down the side of the mountain (guess what happens when you pull the brake on your rapidly accelerating cart, and it does nothing?).

Now, I did notice a few lifeguards at the pool yesterday, and I don't think they were sleeping, but I am not so sure as they were wearing glasses. Needless to say, my boy has his own private lifeguard and he calls him 'daddy'. I have learned the hard way that the only person you can trust when you are at adventure park, is your family.

Okay, that's my story.

Gerald