Item #11226 THE SHIP OF ISHTAR. Merritt.

THE SHIP OF ISHTAR.

New York, London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1926. Octavo, original red-brown cloth, front and spine panels stamped in yellow. First edition. Although Wentz notes "several printings" and G. Gordon Dewey in FANTASY ADVERTISER, December 1948 notes five "printings," there was but a single printing. "...Putnam had been unable to sell a pitifully small edition of a thousand copies of THE SHIP OF ISHTAR in book form and the sheets for the last three hundred copies were finally purchased by Munsey, and were bound and distributed to readers of ARGOSY-ALL- STORY MAGAZINE." – Sam Moskowitz, Explorers of the Infinite (Cleveland: World, 1963), p. 203. This book is found in numerous variant bindings, no priority established. "...the most fully realized of all his fantasies" – Cawthorn and Moorcock, Fantasy: The 100 Best Books 36. "The most romantic of Merritt's works. Very uneven as a novel. Sometimes fascinating, sometimes dull; pretentious, yet with a knowing wink of humor now and then; finely imagined, if not always executed." – Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 1157. Anatomy of Wonder (1976) 3-42. Barron (ed), Fantasy Literature 3-246. Bleiler (ed), Supernatural Fiction Writers: Fantasy and Horror, pp. 838-39. A bright near fine copy in a very good dust jacket, ragged tear to front panel had been repaired, verso backed with tape, with some bleed through, tape re-enforcement to verso of spine ends with some bleed through touch of rubbing to corners. (11226). Item #11226

Price: $1,250.00

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