Film & TV source books
PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK.
Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney: F.W. Cheshire, [1967]. Octavo, boards. First edition. Australian historical fiction concerning the disappearance of students from a girls boarding school while on a picnic, set in 1900. Filmed in 1975 by Peter Weir. The novel was written in the form of a true story.
THE JACKET (THE STAR ROVER).
London: Mills & Boon, Limited, [1915]. Octavo, pp. [1-4] [1] 2-333 [334: printer's imprint] [335-336: ads] 1-[32]: ads [note: the 32 pages of ads are signatures 22 and 23 and are not an inserted catalogue], inserted color frontispiece, original green cloth, front panel ruled in blind, spine panel stamped in gold, bottom edge rough-trimmed. First edition, first printing with "Published 1915" on copyright page. The British edition preceded the U.S. edition. The British edition was deposited in the British Library 4 August 1915 and was listed as "ready" in Athenaeum 7 August 1915. The U.S. edition, titled THE STAR ROVER, was published by Macmillan in October and a copy was received by the Boston Athenaeum 14 October 1915. The protagonist is tortured in prisoner and develops the ability to go into a trance like state and travel through an astral plane exploring past lives. "Possibly the most curious of London's novels. ... Some of the phantasmagoric episodes have considerable power. The book reveals an unexpected side of Jack London. Not only was he the victim of poverty in his youth, as his concern for social justice might suggest, he was the illegitimate son of a spiritualist and an astrologer." - T. Collins in Smith (ed), Twentieth Century Science Fiction Writers (1981), p. 343. Loosely based on the experiences of a San Quentin prisoner London came to befriend. Filmed as a silent picture in 1920. Anatomy of Wonder (1976) 2-110 and (1981) 1-119. Barron (ed), Fantasy Literature 3-223. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 1031. Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 518. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 142. Schlobin, The Literature of Fantasy 674. Survey of Science Fiction Literature V, pp. 2159-62. In 333. Bleiler (1978), p. 126. Reginald 09153. BAL 11962. Baird and Greenwood, An Annotated Bibliography of California Fiction 1664-1970 1544.
KING KONG.
London: Arthur Barker Limited, [1977]. Octavo, boards. First British hardcover edition. Novelization of the feature film based on the work of Edgar Wallace and Merian C. Cooper.
THE OSTERMAN WEEKEND
New York: World Publishing, [1972]. Octavo, boards. First edition. The author's second novel. Thriller novel involving conspiracy and manipulation. Filmed, and by most critical accounts, not well, in 1983 and directed by Sam Peckinpah. Hubin, p. 516.
THE UNINVITED.
Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Doran and Company, Inc., 1942. Octavo, pp. [i-vi] vii-viii [ix-x] [1] 2-342, original blue-green cloth, spine stamped in gold. First U.S. edition. The author's best known novel, a ghost story-haunted house novel which became a bestseller here in the U.S.; published in the U.K. as UNEASY FREEHOLD (1941). Filmed in 1944 with Ray Milland. Ashley, Who's Who in Horror and Fantasy Fiction, p. 124. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 1064. Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, p. 275. In 333. Bleiler (1978), p. 128. Reginald 09409A.
THE UNINVITED.
Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Doran and Company, Inc., 1942. Octavo, pp. [i-vi] vii-viii [ix-x] [1] 2-342, original blue-green cloth, spine stamped in gold. First edition. A brother and sister move to rural Devon and purchase Cliff House in which they find it is haunted by a ghost. The author's best known novel which became a bestseller U. S. (first published in the U. K. as UNEASY FREEHOLD, 1941). Filmed in 1944 with Ray Milland. Ashley, Who's Who in Horror and Fantasy Fiction, p. 124. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 1064. Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, p. 275. In 333. Bleiler (1978), p. 128. Reginald 09409A.
THE EXECUTIONERS.
New York: Simon and Schuster, 1958. Octavo, cloth backed boards. First edition. Basis for the two films titled "Cape Fear."
FORCE 10 FROM NAVARONE.
Garden City: Doubleday & Company, Inc., [1968]. Octavo, cloth. First U.S. edition. Sequel to the Guns of Navarone. Made into a feature film.
THE NAKED AND THE DEAD.
New York, Toronto: Rinehart and Company, Inc., [1948]. Octavo, boards. First edition. The author's first book. A novel of WW II centered on a combat platoon in the pacific. Basis for the 1958 feature film of the same name.
HOUSE OF GAMES: THE COMPLETE SCREENPLAY.
New York: Grove Press, 1972. Octavo, wrappers. First edition. Paperback original. Includes the screenplay, illustrations and an introduction by the author who makes his directorial debut with this picture.
THE BAD SEED.
New York, Toronto: Rinehard and company, inc., [1954]. Octavo, cloth backed boards. First edition. A mother suspects her daughter of being guilty of murder. "A very popular novel...The Bad Seed established the pattern of the 'evil child' novel that was to become one of the most popular subgenres in contemporary dark fantasy." Barron (ed.) Horror Literature 4-211. The novel was adapted to stage and later film (1956) directed by Mervyn LeRoy. Anatomy of Wonder (1987) 3-271. Hubin (1994), p. 549.
THE REAL GONE GIRLS.
[New York: Lancer Books, Inc., 1966]. Small octavo, pictorial wrappers. First edition. Lancer 72-996. The adventures of Steve Victor, The Man From O.R.G.Y. The fourth in the series. A spy satire series, capitalizing on James Bond and spy craze of the 1960s. Filmed in 1970 from a screenplay by the author.
MARY REILLY.
New York, London, Toronto, Sydney, Auckland: Doubleday, [1990]. Octavo, cloth backed boards. First edition. A reworking of Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. "A splendid literary conceit, a psychological thriller of the first rank: the spellbinding journals of an introspective Victorian maid--whose employer is none other than Dr. Henry Jekyll. Martin's triumph here is in making the Jekyll/Hyde melodrama, with all its lure, merely vivid backdrop for the equally alluring psychosexual odyssey of heroine..." - Kirkus review 15 January, 1989. Nebula award nominee. Filmed in 1996 with Julia Roberts in the title role. Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-714.
MARY REILLY.
New York, London, Toronto, Sydney, Auckland: Doubleday, [1990]. Octavo, cloth backed boards. First edition. A reworking of Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. "A splendid literary conceit, a psychological thriller of the first rank: the spellbinding journals of an introspective Victorian maid--whose employer is none other than Dr. Henry Jekyll. Martin's triumph here is in making the Jekyll/Hyde melodrama, with all its lure, merely vivid backdrop for the equally alluring psychosexual odyssey of heroine..." - Kirkus review 15 January, 1989. Nebula award nominee. Filmed in 1996 with Julia Roberts in the title role. Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-714.
BADGE OF EVIL.
New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, [1956]. Octavo, boards. First edition. Filmed as the memorable film noir; Touch of Evil by Orson Welles, with Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh.
I AM LEGEND.
New York: Walker and Company, [1970]. Octavo, boards. First hardcover edition. On a label affixed to the front free end paper this copy is inscribed and signed by Matheson to a well known early fan. "In a future world where a virus has infected nearly everyone with vampirism, mortal Robert Neville spends his nights defending his fortified bunker...and his days slaughtering sleeping vampires. Matheson's influential novel was one fo the first to propose a scientific rationale for vampirism." - Barron (ed), Fantasy and Horror (1999) 6-257. "One of the central novels in shaping contemporary horror fiction" - Barron (ed), Horror Literature 4-217. Made in to several mediocre feature films. Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-720. Barron (ed), Fantasy and Horror (1999) 6-257. Jones and Newman (eds), Horror: The 100 Best Books 54. Survey of Science Fiction Literature II, pp. 986-90. King list, p. 390. Winter List, p. 270.
THE SHRINKING MAN.
London: David Bruce & Watson, [1973]. Octavo, boards. First hardcover edition. Introduction by Kingsley Amis. Filmed in 1957 from a screenplay by the author, slated for a possible remake. Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 3-121. Barron (ed), Horror Literature 4-219. Pringle, Modern Fantasy: The Hundred Best Novels 18.
THE SHRINKING MAN.
London: David Bruce & Watson, [1973]. Octavo, boards. First hardcover edition. Introduction by Kingsley Amis. Filmed in 1957 from a screenplay by the author, currently slated for a possible remake. Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 3-121. Barron (ed), Horror Literature 4-219. Pringle, Modern Fantasy: The Hundred Best Novels #18.
THE SHRINKING MAN.
London: David Bruce & Watson, [1973]. Octavo, boards. First hardcover edition. Introduction by Kingsley Amis. Filmed in 1957 from a screenplay by the author, currently slated for a possible remake. Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 3-121. Barron (ed), Horror Literature 4-219. Pringle, Modern Fantasy: The Hundred Best Novels #18.
THE SHRINKING MAN.
New York: Fawcett Publications, Inc., [1956]. Small octavo, cover art by Mitchell Hooks, pictorial wrappers. First edition. Fawcett Gold Medal S577. Paperback original. Filmed in 1957 from a screenplay by the author. Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 3-121. Barron (ed), Horror Literature 4-219. Pringle, Modern Fantasy: The Hundred Best Novels 18. King list, p. 390. Winter list, p. 270.
THE SHRINKING MAN.
London: David Bruce & Watson, [1973]. Octavo, boards. First edition. Introduction by Kingsley Amis. Filmed in 1957 from a screenplay by the author, currently slated for a possible remake. Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 3-121. Barron (ed), Horror Literature 4-219. Pringle, Modern Fantasy: The Hundred Best Novels #18.
THE SHRINKING MAN.
London: David Bruce & Watson, [1973]. Octavo, boards. First edition. Introduction by Kingsley Amis. Filmed in 1957 from a screenplay by the author, currently slated for a possible remake. Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 3-121. Barron (ed), Horror Literature 4-219. Pringle, Modern Fantasy: The Hundred Best Novels #18.
THE SHRINKING MAN.
New York: Fawcett Publications, Inc., [1956]. Small octavo, cover art by Mitchell Hooks, pictorial wrappers. First edition. Fawcett Gold Medal S577. Paperback original. Filmed in 1957 from a screenplay by the author. Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 3-121. Barron (ed), Horror Literature 4-219. Pringle, Modern Fantasy: The Hundred Best Novels 18. King list, p. 390. Winter list, p. 270.
ASHENDEN: OR THE BRITISH AGENT.
Garden City: Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc., 1928. Octavo, pp. [1-6] 1-304 [305-306: blank], original blue cloth, front and spine stamped in orange. First U. S. edition. A Haycraft-Queen cornerstone volume; Queen's Quorum #78. Maugham's book is based on first hand knowledge of the world of espionage as he was a British agent during World War I. States Eric Ambler: 'the first fictional work on the subject [the life of a secret agent] by a writer of stature with first-hand knowledge of what he is writing about' see Who's Who in Spy Fiction by Donald McCormick, pp. 137-39.
BLOOD RELATIVES.
New York: Random House, [1975]. Octavo, cloth backed boards. First edition. Signed on the half title page by McBain. An 87th Precinct novel. Filmed in 1978 with Donald Sutherland with the setting moved to Montreal.