Book Collection: Johnny007/John

[Johnny007]

One of the laments I had when I liquidated proofs/books 6-7 years ago was whether it was really worth selling so many books for just a few in return. I knew I would never have the opportunity to buy back my Collectors Edition coupled with the matching portfolio number from the person who purchased it so I made notes of who might have a set and might be willing to sell. That list was short but I remained optimistic. Leonard Shoup in Canada had a set and so did a couple of collectors I knew. However, I had 2+ years of health issues so I wasn't doing my best to recapture previously-owned books. I think Alec beat me to Leonard Shoup. Someone beat me to Mike Pasiuk and on and on it went. One night I began to read through some tdt.org postings and I learned that someone I knew owned a set. I contacted him with an offer and he turned me down flat. But about 2-3 weeks later he returned to me with a cash and book trade offer. I accepted the offer and the deal went through. The set is shown below. You might also see a 2nd King signature dated 3/20/84. There is a huge backstory to it so I'll save that until my next post. Supper beckons me now so I hope you enjoy the pictures below.

John

[ur2ndbiggestfan]

Hooooooowlingly terrific!

[Mr. Rabbit Trick]

Tabitha King submitted photos for the cover of this book. Everything went perfectly until King himself saw the book's cover. He did not like that he appeared to be "grumpy" in the picture. So, at the last minute, all original covers were destroyed and replaced with the "happy" King picture. John Hanic considered this to be a proof copy cover, but I'm not sure about it. This was John's copy. I know Hutch has copy a and Bob probably has one, too. But they are the only copies I'm aware of. Here's a side-to-side look at their covers and spines. The differences are subtle but clearly visible. Hope you enjoy.

John

John got his copy from me.

Alan,

I'm not surprised! You had (and still have) some of the nicest and rarest books out there. I'm still lamenting the eBay "tie" Chris and I had over your UK Night Shift proof back about 10-12 years ago!

John

I was the one who benefitted from your tussle with Chris!

[Stockerlone]

Supersupersuperamazg stuff !!!

[Johnny007]

Holy you know what. Those plant sets are amazing. Simply amazing. And the CotW looks good also. They look better than my first ed.
Can't wait to see what else you have to show us.

Thanks Mike. More COTW will follow soon.

John

[webstar1000]

I LOVE RARE BOOKS... THUS I LOVE THIS THREAD just sayin

[Johnny007]

Always nice to see completed sets of The Plant. One that is very high on my want list.

I also had to go check my copy of On Writing. It's a fine copy, pretty much untouched since I purchased it on release (over 20 years ago!) but its the standard cover.

Thanks Simon! I appreciate it. Not surprised about your On Writing experience. My notes say 10 or fewer but John listed 3 with a question mark on his spreadsheet.

John

[Johnny007]

Hooooooowlingly terrific!

Thanks Steve! Your wit never ceases to amaze me and amuse me!

John

[Johnny007]

Thanks for sharing these rare treasures.

Thanks Jerome. I appreciate the sentiment! Not many comments made but at least I'm getting these out there after years of promises but no follow-on activity. BTW, I thought that I sent a similar message a few minutes ago, but I didn't see it post. Perhaps I failed to hit the correct button...that wouldn't surprise me, lol!

John

[Johnny007]

Tabitha King submitted photos for the cover of this book. Everything went perfectly until King himself saw the book's cover. He did not like that he appeared to be "grumpy" in the picture. So, at the last minute, all original covers were destroyed and replaced with the "happy" King picture. John Hanic considered this to be a proof copy cover, but I'm not sure about it. This was John's copy. I know Hutch has copy a and Bob probably has one, too. But they are the only copies I'm aware of. Here's a side-to-side look at their covers and spines. The differences are subtle but clearly visible. Hope you enjoy.

John

John got his copy from me.

Alan,

I'm not surprised! You had (and still have) some of the nicest and rarest books out there. I'm still lamenting the eBay "tie" Chris and I had over your UK Night Shift proof back about 10-12 years ago!

John

I was the one who benefitted from your tussle with Chris!

Alan -- that was the worst news I ever had in an eBay transaction. I'm glad you and Chris benefitted that day. I still hold out a flicker of hope of finding another...

John

[Johnny007]

Supersupersuperamazg stuff !!!

Thanks Frank! I appreciate it!

John

[Johnny007]

I LOVE RARE BOOKS... THUS I LOVE THIS THREAD just sayin

Hey Kris,

Thank you! I'll try to keep posting some nice books!

John

[Johnny007]

Why is there an additional signature on the title page of the Collectors Edition of The Cycle of the Werewolf? Here's the backstory...

When Land of Enchantment was putting shipping packages together of purchased S/L copies, they noticed King hadn't signed 7 of the copies. LoE talked with King's secretary and she said pack them up and send them...she would have King sign them and return them quickly. The box showed up in King's office but the secretary wasn't there so King opened the box, saw the copies and thought LoE was just sending him a few to have. He unpacked them and placed them on his office shelf. Months went by before LoE called King's office for an update. The secretary said that she hadn't seen the box but the tracking showed it was signed-for and somewhere in the office. After she investigated, she found out what King had done. She told him why the books were sent in the first place and he pulled each one off the shelf, signed it in the normal place and, as well, signed and dated it again with a blue pen. He packed them and returned the books along with an apology letter. And that's how the additional signature on a very few copies of the COTW Collectors Edition came to be.

John

[Johnny007]

Finding the Deluxe Edition set with matching numbers proved to be difficult, as well. Again, many of those who had a matching set weren't ready to sell or they had already sold their sets. I was tired of looking for a matching set in F/F/F condition, so I compromised some quality and matching numbers to secure what's shown below. The Deluxe Edition is #122 and art portfolio is also a low number (51) that can be matched to a Collectors Edition with the same number. I didn't take individual pictures of the Deluxe Edition they are as follows.

John

Deluxe Edition -- middle copy of spines:


Deluxe Edition -- upper left of covers:


Limitation page, portfolio, etc:

[ur2ndbiggestfan]

It must be scary living with all those werewolves!

[MikeDuke]

Wow. One amazining collection. And that's the last few pages. I may hae to start on page one again. I know I did a while ago, but just as a refresher. And did I read that right? You have more than one of red RN Salems'? Because that's what the sentence sounded like to me.
P.S Yea, I have been i tis thread before, but it's still great to go through it again.
It is simply amazing.

[Johnny007]

It must be scary living with all those werewolves!

I put a picture on my book thread of all 2 of my copies, way too much work to pull them down!

Every time I think I should be scared of the werewolves, I think of what would come of a coupling date between Megan Fox and Howard Cosell. That pretty much removes any thoughts of fear or panic.

John

[Johnny007]

Mike,

Thank you! I did own two red roman numeral copies of 'Salem's Lot. I traded away number IV and kept number I.

John

[Johnny007]

The matted and framed picture below is an original Cycle of the Werewolf "prelim" that Berni Wrightson drew/sketched before getting to the final product. As it was related to me, there has been high demand for this prelim since it was first sold. That demand included the family (possibly only the wife, IIRC) and many high-end Wrightson and/or King collectors. I like it and have no plans to sell the piece at this time. I hope you enjoy it, too!

John

[ur2ndbiggestfan]

Is that the, "Ooooo, I've got such a headache, do you have an Excedrin?" famous prelim?

[MikeDuke]

Mike,

Thank you! I did own two red roman numeral copies of 'Salem's Lot. I traded away number IV and kept number I.

John

Yea, but still. Your Salems' collection is fantastic. Do you have 2 black RN as well. I need to go back and check that page out again.

[Johnny007]

No Mike. I have just one black roman numeral 'Salem's Lot. My picture upthread contains the following:

US Doubleday proof - signed
US 1st/1st - signed
US 1st/2nd - inscribed
US 1st/3rd - signed
UK 1st/1st - signed
Centipede Press red roman numeral - I of X
Centipede Press black roman numeral - X of XV
Centipede Press - Printers Copy - signed
Centipede Press - red number copy - 62 of 80
Centipede Press - black number copy - 1 of 300

I hope that helps and thanks for looking and commenting.

John

[Johnny007]

One last post for this thread. A pretty rare version of COTW.

John

[MikeDuke]

No Mike. I have just one black roman numeral 'Salem's Lot. My picture upthread contains the following:

US Doubleday proof - signed
US 1st/1st - signed
US 1st/2nd - inscribed
US 1st/3rd - signed
UK 1st/1st - signed
Centipede Press red roman numeral - I of X
Centipede Press black roman numeral - X of XV
Centipede Press - Printers Copy - signed
Centipede Press - red number copy - 62 of 80
Centipede Press - black number copy - 1 of 300

I hope that helps and thanks for looking and commenting.

John

Wow. You still have all of those, or were some used in that trade you talked about But still, a signed proof, a signed 1st/1st, and those CP ones.
Amazing.

[MikeDuke]

One last post for this thread. A pretty rare version of COTW.

John

6 of 8. Another wow. So no more picks? This is the last of them? An incredible collection John.