AVON FANTASY READER. (all published).
New York: Avon Book Company (later Avon Book Company, Inc., Avon Publishing Co., Inc., and Avon Novels, Inc.), 1947-52. Small octavo 18 issues, pictorial wrappers. Digest size magazine. A complete set of the Avon Fantasy Reader which consists of 18 issues. Editor Donald Wolheim and the publisherJoseph Meyers considered these to be books rather than a magazine an anthology series and they brought to a mass audience some of the great genre fiction. The story selection came from a wide range of pulp magazines such as Weird Tales, All-Story and Argosy, Thrill Book, Astounding and Amazing as well as stories from hardcover book publications. Authors included William Hope Hodgson, Lord Dunsany, Clark Ashton Smith, H. P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, M. R. James, Ambrose Bierce, A. Merritt, Algernon Blackwood, C. L. Moore, Fritz Leiber and many more. A few original stories were printed, including A. E. Van Vogt, Carl Jacobi, A. Merritt, Robert Bloch, Robert E. Howard and most notably "Ylla" by Ray Bradbury, part of THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES. Tymm and Ashley, Science Fiction, Fantasy and Weird Fiction Magazines, p. 124-132. [Reference: Tymm and Ashley, Science Fiction, Fantasy and Weird Fiction Magazines, pp. 124-132]. Mild toning to cream pages, some lamination separation from front cover of first issue (no peeling), nicks at corners of a number of issues, tape to several issues at rear corners, a bright, nearly fine to fine set. Above average. House in clamshell boxes. (34546). Item #34546
Price: $850.00