Tales of Science and Sorcery

Sauk City, Wisconsin: Arkham House, 1964 Hardcover. Black cloth "Novelex" binding with gold lettering to spine. With original, un-clipped dust jacket. Octavo (5" x 7 ⅜"). 256pp. *** Publisher Arkham House was established in 1939 in Sauk City, Wisconsin, by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei specifically to publish stories by H.P. Lovecraft and others whose works had mostly been printed in the "Weird Tales" magazine and remained unavailable in book form. *** Clark Ashton Smith was a poet and a sculptor, before gaining popularity as a short-story writer for "Weird Tales". This collection contains stories which are more science-fiction than fantasy. The story "Master of the Asteroid" is reminiscent of Jules Verne's "From the Earth to the Moon" (1865), with its explanation of space travel (and space junk), although perhaps with some Lovecraftian horror creeping in at the edges... *** The dust jacket design is by Wisconsin artist, Frank Utpatel. *** Condition: A Fine, fresh copy with no ownership marks or underlining, in a Fine dust jacket, now protected in mylar. Binding tight. Bookplate of renowned bibliophile Richard Manney to front pastedown. Richard Manney was famous for buying the best copies he could, from Shakespeare folios to Arkham House collectibles. A portion of his library was sold at Sotheby's in 1991. *** Bleiler: The Guide to Supernatural Fiction, 1488; L.W. Currey: Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors, page 454. Nielsen 84.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Fine. Illus. by Frank Utpatel.