Book Collection : Darkman

[Darkmaniscoming]

The more i come to this site, the more I find great things.....

I going to spend rainy days organizing some neat stuff and sharing some of the incredible things I've found, gathered and collected, over the last couple of decades to help me remember how the hell my house got filled floor to ceiling with "shtuff". ....I hope some of the pictures and info that gets in here will be of some help and/or interest to people as over the years, I've learned many a thing from just researching online and speaking to people.

Although I will start primarily with books, I hope its ok to extend some of the input into this thread not just to books by King or books in general, as I have many other items that were signed in my presence and provenance may be of interest to people, that i obtained over 20 years working in the music industry.

Lets call it this a "pop culture" collection that includes vintage books from about the mid 1800's to signed "shtuff" from current musical celebrities ....and had some impact on me for whatever reason....

Most of the items here will never be for sale, but from time to time, some items may be available, it will be noted (if thats ok?) anyone from DT interested in these, will have advance notice.

So where do i start?
I guess age before beauty, I'll start with my oldest beautiful books......

Hope you like looking at my "shtuff"

darkmaniscoming

[Darkmaniscoming]

The oldest books in my collection are related to my fascination with the artist GUSTAVE DORE ( 1832-1883 ) and were all printed at some point in the last quarter of the 1800’s although you wont find printing dates on many.

Popular because of the many incredible full page illustrations, these large size heavy folios were sold door to door believe it or not by mass publishers such as Collier, Cassle and Thompson and Thomas, each trying to outsell each other.

Countless printings were made and often on very cheap stock, but covers were as elaborate as possible to attract buyers. Remember it was a big deal to own a book at this time for many.

Although many of these were over produced and it is relatively easy to find a copy, seldom is it not in disrepair because of their large size and inferior quality. Mint copies can reach 4 digits, but I believe that a decent copy with all pages attached and some impression of it’s 130 year old cover, is certainly worth $30 to $100 depending of course on condition for the shear brilliance of the illustrations alone.

During this time Dore did hundreds of these detailed images and was commissioned for popular titles such as Don Quixote, Paradise Lost, Dante’s Inferno, Purgatory & Paradise, and many more. It is incredible to think that someone could actually do as many brilliant illustrations as Dore did, in one lifetime, especially considering he worked primarily with wood engraving and steel engraving in order to produce the illustrations...he also only lived to 51 years of age?
I will post a few here from these volumes, but I strongly recommend researching his life and work further as it's a world of its own.
The artist could capture serious religious scenes for the Bible as well as outright comical bizarre images for "Droll Stories" which had to be obviously very risqué for the time. Just amazing!

Pictured here is a double set of Dante’s Purgatory, Paradise and Inferno by Collier, still holding much of its ornate cover foil stamp
A still tight but disintegrating "red" cover copy of Milton’s Paradise Lost by Thompson. The Bible Gallery by Cassell, still tight with deep emboss , still retaining some foil and another tan variant of Paradise Lost, also by Cassell.

There are countless other variants in several colors from the same period.
Interesting old books, to say the least....

[Darkmaniscoming]

I also keep vintage 1930's copies of these titles as well as a brand new replica of Paradise Lost which is bookmarked to my favorite images for quick reference and to keep my dirty paws off the old ones as much as possible...

The illustrations are reprinted spectacularly in these printings as well.

[Darkmaniscoming]

As well as being quite competent in illustrating a scene of Holy Angels fighting Demons from the pits of hell, Dore was commission for many books which were comical parodies of "modern" life, as well as the plain bizarre.

Pictured here is vintage copy of "The Works of Rabelais", "Droll Stories",
Leather bound ornate Spanish "Don Quixote" and "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen...which contain illustrations of some truly bizarre stuff, especially for the time period.

[Darkmaniscoming]

Some of the hundreds of religious engravings by Dore.

[Darkmaniscoming]

Along with illustrating an incredible rendition of Poe's "The Raven", Dore's most difficult work to obtain is a vintage copy of Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" neither of which have joined my collection yet.
Although several variants also exist with these titles, again all fighting for first edition rights, any decent copy of these two from the 1800's can reach the four digits.

I do have a replica printing of "Rime" which these pictured plates come from.
After viewing these, I'm sure any Dark Tower fan would have to agree that Dore would have been an excellent candidate to illustrate for King's masterpiece had destiny put them on the planet at the same time.....

The thing about Dore's work is that you can look at an illustration for years and always find something new somewhere in the detail. These images here do not do justice to the pieces, find a nice resolution picture on the web to view, I guarantee you will want to see another one.

I think that's it for Mr. Gustave Dore, hope you look him up some time.

[Darkmaniscoming]

Stemming from the Dore illustrated "Adventures of Don Quixote De La Mancha"
are two additional vintage copies of the Cervantes classic.

One is the first printing of an 1866 English Edition illustrated by Tony Johannot
the other is a turn of the century ornate edition as retold by Judge Perry and illustrated by Walter Crane. Also pictured is a neat little suede printing of Poe's "Raven"

[Darkmaniscoming]

At one time I had built up a substantial Frank Baum "Oz" collection which is a very complicated field. Many Oz books are tired reprints worth very little, but many are very rare and can be lucrative. I recommend purchasing:
BIBLIOGRAPHIA OZIANA, A CONCISE BIBLIOGRAPHICAL CHECKLIST OF THE OZ BOOKS BY L. FRANK BAUM AND HIS SUCCESSORS.
to anyone interested in this field.
You can get it at:
http://www.oakknoll.com/detail.php?d_booknr=86827

Here are some of the amazing turn of the century original editions that I have found over the years. Although some have moved on to other good homes, I still consider them a part of my collecting experience.....

Original first 1903 printing "The Wizard of Oz" Frank Baum, illustrated by W.W. Denslow.

[Darkmaniscoming]

Original first edition 'Scarecrow of Oz" Reilly & Britton...not to be confused with Reilly and Lee reprints.
All I can say is if you ever see ANY Reilly and BRITTON Oz edition for a dollar at a yard sale, even if it looks a little beat up like this one, PAY THE DOLLAR AND RUN REAL FAST!!

[Darkmaniscoming]

Here's some less common early century reprint editions that are still very collectible.

[biomieg]

Awesome! I also love Doré's work. I have a feeling this thread will indeed be showcasing an eclectic collection, and I can't wait to see it all

[Darkmaniscoming]

A few more Oz early prints...notice two copies of "Rinkitink" in different colors. Color can help determine what printing you have in this very complex field of collecting. A few of the many wonderful full page color illustrations by John Neil are pictured as well.
That's a quick look at a small selection of the most popular childrens books from 1900-1925 by Frank Baum....

[Darkmaniscoming]

Extending from the Oz book collection is a few more early children's classics.

Very rare turn of the century English "Cinderella" with tipped in color plates illustrated by Millicent Sowerby and "Snow White" featuring illustrations from the original "motion" picture 1939.

[Darkmaniscoming]

Another collectible illustrator I discovered is Heath Robinson, who is credited with some of the earliest illustrations of bizarre "outrageous gadgets".

1925 "Adventures of Uncle Lubin" which he both authored and illustrated and an early printing of "Arabian Nights"

[Darkmaniscoming]

I've always collected copies of Bram Stokers "Dracula"
I have too many copies of Dracula reference books to picture so here's a few.

Pictured is the 1927 very common photo-play edition which is constantly misrepresented as the real first. Tough to find with a decent dust jacket.
Also a later variant as well as a deluxe Heritage press slipcase edition.

[Darkmaniscoming]

This is the real cover of the first edition of "Dracula" for reference. If you ever find it you could trade it for a small house.

Also pictured is an English 1912 - 12th edition which is still a desirable printing of this title.

[herbertwest]

a friend of mine owns the first french edition of it... it's quite impressive to see the first edition of such a mythical book :-)

[e_taylor]

I'm sure Bob (carlosdetweiller) would love to see the rest of those Dracula books, he has a huge collection of them too!

Nice stuff so far!

[Darkmaniscoming]

One of the strangest books I've ever come across is this mutilated copy of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein". It is an English 1868 edition that was found under a water heater. I've never been able to find any data on this copy and if anyone knows anything here, i would appreciate any info. Note the incorrect spelling of "Shelley" on the title page.

[Darkmaniscoming]

T. E. Lawrence, was a British officer renowned especially for his liaison role during the Arab Revolt of 1916–18. His vivid writings, along with the extraordinary variety of his activities and associations, have made him the object of fascination throughout the world as "Lawrence of Arabia"
"The Seven Pillars of Wisdom" is the autobiographical (some say bs) account of his experiences of British soldier while serving as a liaison officer with rebel forces during the Arab Revolt. The original printing of 1926, is less than 200 copies and extremely rare. ($$$$)


Pictured is the original version of 1935 that was published for general circulation after Lawrence was killed in a motorcycle accident. This is the correct "rough cloth" heavy volume indicating first print. Very hard to find an original dust jacket as it was a paper wrapper that nobody really kept at the time. Beside it is the later more common smaller deluxe version as well as an ornate Folio Society later print. "Revolt in the Desert" also pictured is the follow up from in its large format first edition. Many of the smaller cheaper reprints of both these titles are listed as firsts on Ebay and have destroyed the true value of these early adventure classics.

An interesting, controversial character. I like those.

[Darkmaniscoming]

I've been very lucky in acquiring rare 1st printings from this era which for me, starts around 1950. Many of these titles CAN be found at yard sales, church sales, thrift shops etc.

One of my most incredible finds:

1950 first printing of C.S. Lewis "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe."
in what is considered to be fantastic shape, unfortunately only the cover of the DJ was included tucked inside the book.
(It is also pictured in a fantastic replica of the original DJ)

[Darkmaniscoming]

Truman Capote....what do I say? A great writer.

Pictured are first editions of his amazing work.
Be very leery of any signed copies of these, a four year old could forge one.
There are authentic signed limited editions but very costly.
I keep reading copies of several titles as well.

These titles are all available for purchase in true 1/1.
PM me if interested.

[Darkmaniscoming]

Although known primarily for his "Sci-Fi" classics, many of Ray's non-spaceship stories are equally brilliant.

Three of my favorite Bradbury titles:

"Something Wicked this Way Comes" S&S 1962 1/1
"Death is a Lonely Business" 1985 Franklin S/L
"Fahrenheit 451" UK 1954 (sixth impression )

A very nice sample of Ray's signature from Franklin is also pictured.

[Darkmaniscoming]

Other titles that have been signed by Ray....
Two authentic signatures for reference.

[Darkmaniscoming]

The Ray Bradbury Chronicles Volumes 6 & 7 (NBM)
Two awesome hard cover graphic novels full of many of Ray's best short stories.
These were limited to 1000 copies and these are both number 51.
Looking for the other 51's if they are exist..

Pictured as well are the limitation pages signed by all the contributors.