Arkham House. Fall 2024
Arkham House, founded in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei, was the most important and influential publisher of supernatural fiction from the 1940s through the mid-1980s. They began with their initial publication, H. P. Lovecraft's posthumous first collection of short fiction-THE OUTSIDER AND OTHERS in 1939. They achieved their mission of keeping alive the work of H.P. Lovecraft (through numerous volumes) and then went on to publish authors Clark Ashton Smith, August Derleth, Robert Bloch, Ray Bradbury, Robert E. Howard, Frank Belknap Long, Fritz Leiber, Donald Wandrei, and Henry S. Whitehead in the 1940s – a number of these are the author’s first books; Joseph Payne Brennan, E. Hoffmann Price, Ramsey Campbell, Manly Wade Wellman, Brian Lumley and others in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Many of these authors went on to become well known writers of modern supernatural fiction. Arkham House was the major influence on the development of the horror and dark suspense genre into the 1970s and was largely responsible for the growth of the small press publishers of the 1960s onward devoted to the publication of supernatural fiction and poetry.
THE WIND FROM A BURNING WOMAN.
[Sauk City, Wisconsin]: Arkham House Publishers, Inc., [1983]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Six short novels and stories, two of which were Nebula nominees.
THE WIND FROM A BURNING WOMAN.
[Sauk City, Wisconsin]: Arkham House Publishers, Inc., [1983]. Octavo, cloth. Second edition. Six short novels and stories, two of which were Nebula nominees.
BLOODED ON ARACHNE.
[Sauk City, WI]: Arkham House Publishers, Inc., [1981]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. The author's first story collection. "Atmospheric SF, including such standouts as the title story and 'The White Otters of Childhood.' Bishop is one of the more stylish and intellectual writers of American SF ..." - Pringle, The Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction, second edition (1995), p. 44. "Infatuated with strangeness." - Brian Stableford. [Reference: Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-123].
BLOODED ON ARACHNE.
[Sauk City, WI]: Arkham House Publishers, Inc., [1981]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. The author's first story collection. "Atmospheric SF, including such standouts as the title story and 'The White Otters of Childhood.' Bishop is one of the more stylish and intellectual writers of American SF ..." - Pringle, The Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction, second edition (1995), p. 44. "Infatuated with strangeness." - Brian Stableford. [Reference: Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-123].
THE CURSE OF YIG.
Sauk City, WI: Arkham House, 1953. Octavo, cloth. First edition. 1217 copies printed. Collects three stories, largely revised by H. P. Lovecraft, and profiles of Lovecraft and August Derleth. [Reference: Barron (ed), Horror Literature 3-24. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 171. Tymn (ed), Horror Literature 4-20].
LORD KELVIN'S MACHINE.
[Sauk City, Wisconsin]: Arkham House Publishers, [1992]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Sequel to HOMUNCULUS (1986). "Blaylock returns to the Victorian setting of his award-winning novel Homunculus in this tale of obsessive grief, time travel, mad scientists and gentlemanly adventure." - Publisher's Weekly. Steampunk.
PLEASANT DREAMS -- NIGHTMARES ...
Sauk City, Wisconsin: Arkham House: Publishers, 1960. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Inscribed and signed by Bloch to "Bob" - who was Robert A. (Bob) Madle, noted fan and founder of first fandom. Collects fifteen stories. 2060 copies printed. [Reference: Barron (ed), Horror Literature 4-45. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 210. Tymn (ed), Horror Literature 4-31].
KECKSIES AND OTHER TWILIGHT TALES.
Sauk City, WI: Arkham House, [1976]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. 4391 copies printed. Collects twelve stories. [Reference: Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 248. Tymn (ed), Horror Literature 4-41. See Barron (ed), Horror Literature 3-33].
DARK CARNIVAL.
Sauk City: Arkham House, 1947. Octavo, cloth. First edition. 3112 copies printed. The author's first book. Collects twenty-seven stories, most first appearing in magazines, sixteen from WEIRD TALES. Six stories are published here for the first time; "The Maiden," "The Emissary," "Jack-in-the-Box," "Uncle Einer," "The Night Sets," and "Next in Line." [Reference: Barron (ed), Horror Literature 3-34. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction #254. Tymn (ed), Horror Literature 4-42].
DARK CARNIVAL.
Sauk City: Arkham House, 1947. Octavo, cloth. First edition. 3112 copies printed. The author's first book. Collects twenty-seven stories, most first appearing in magazines, sixteen from WEIRD TALES. Six stories are published here for the first time; "The Maiden," "The Emissary," "Jack-in-the-Box," "Uncle Einer," "The Night Sets," and "Next in Line.". [Reference: Barron (ed), Horror Literature 3-34. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction #254. Tymn (ed), Horror Literature 4-42].
DARK CARNIVAL.
Sauk City: Arkham House, 1947. Octavo, cloth. First edition. The author's first book. Collects twenty-seven stories, most first appearing in magazines, sixteen from WEIRD TALES. Six stories are published here for the first time; "The Maiden," "The Emissary," "Jack-in-the-Box," "Uncle Einer," "The Night Sets," and "Next in Line." [Reference: Barron (ed), Horror Literature 3-34. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction #254. Tymn (ed), Horror Literature 4-42].
BLACK MEDICINE.
Sauk City, Wisconsin: Arkham House, Publishers, 1966. Octavo, jacket by Lee Brown Coye, cloth. First edition. 1952 copies printed. Story collection, most of which first appeared in Weird Tales. [Reference: Barron (ed.): Horror Literature 3-42. Bleiler:The Guide to Supernatural Fiction #312].
HEIGHT OF THE SCREAM.
Sauk City, WI: Arkham House, 1976. Octavo, cloth. First edition. 4348 copies printed. Collects eighteen stories. [Reference: Barron (ed), Horror Literature 4-67. Tymn (ed), Horror Literature 4-59. Winter list, p. 268].
THE THIRD GRAVE.
Sauk City, WI: Arkham House, [1981]. Octavo, illustrations by Stephen Fabian, cloth. First edition. 4158 copies printed. "It reads like an offbeat version of a pulp-magazine story from the 1930s, complete with cliched characters and plot situations." - Pringle (ed), St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers, pp. 126-127.
HALF IN SHADOW.
[Sauk City, Wisconsin]: Arkham House, 1978. Octavo, cloth. First U. S. (and first hardcover) edition. Collects fourteen stories from WEIRD TALES including "The Three Marked Pennies." Deletes six stories from the U.K. paperback edition and adds six different stories to this edition. [Reference: Barron (ed), Fantasy and Horror 4-40].
THE ARKHAM COLLECTOR. Summer 1967 - Summer 1971 (numbers 1-10).
[Sauk City, Wisconsin]: Arkham House, Summer 1967 - Summer 1971 (numbers 1-10). Octavo, ten issues, printed self wrappers, stapled. All published. A complete file of the house organ of Arkham House, internationally known for their publications in the science fiction, fantasy and horror genres. A wealth of historical and bibliographical data on the books and their authors as well as short fiction and poetry by H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague de Camp, August Derleth, and others.
THE CHRONICLES OF SOLAR PONS.
Sauk City, WI: Mycroft & Moran: Publisher, 1973. Octavo, cloth. First edition. The final collection of Pons tales. Collects ten stories, foreword by Allen Hubin. [Reference: Hubin, pp. 229-230].
HARRIGAN'S FILE.
Sauk City, Wisconsin: Arkham House, 1975. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Collects all of Derleth's science fiction short stories, most first published in SF magazines during the 1950s. [Reference: Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 530].
THE MASK OF CTHULHU.
Sauk City: Arkham House: Publishers, 1958. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Cthulhu Mythos stories which all but one first appeared in Weird Tales. [Reference: Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction. 521. Tymn (ed), Horror Literature 4-94].
BORN TO EXILE.
[Sauk City, Wisconsin]: Arkham House, 1978. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Fantasy novel.
COLLECTED GHOST STORIES ... With an Introduction by Edward Wagenknecht.
Sauk City, Wisconsin: Arkham House, 1974. Octavo, cloth. First edition. 4155 copies printed. Freeman, a New England writer, best known for her regional fiction, wrote approximately 200 short stories, of which the eleven collected here comprise all of her major supernatural tales. Only six of these stories are present in her 1903 collection, THE WIND IN THE ROSE-BUSH AND OTHER STORIES OF THE SUPERNATURAL. "Neat stories, crisply told." - Brian Stableford. [Reference: Tymn, (ed), Horror Literature 3-258].
THE CLEANSING.
[Sauk City, WI]: Arkham House Publishers, Inc., 2002. Octavo, cloth. First edition. The author's first novel.
DEEP WATERS.
Sauk City: Arkham House: Publishers, 1967. Octavo, illustration by Frank Utpatel, cloth. First edition. Selection of his best sea stories gathered from various collections including MEN OF THE DEEP WATERS and LUCK OF THE STRONG. Three appear here for the first time in a book. [Reference: Barron (ed), Fantasy and Horror 4-68. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 822. Survey of Science Fiction Literature II, pp. 524-28].
SKULL-FACE AND OTHERS.
Sauk City, WI: Arkham House, 1946. Large octavo, jacket art by Hannes Bok, cloth. First edition. This posthumous 475-page memorial collection is Howard's first book published in the United States. It includes a short novel and twenty-one stories, most first published in WEIRD TALES, some featuring Conan, Solomon Kane, Bran Mak Morn and King Kull, as well as others that do not belong to his various series, his article on Conan's world, "The Hyborian Age," his poem, "Lines Written in the Realization That I Must Die," and Howard memoirs by H. P. Lovecraft and E. Hoffmann Price. [Reference: Barron (ed): Horror Literature 3-95. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 853].
CAVE OF A THOUSAND TALES: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PULP AUTHOR HUGH B. CAVE.
[Sauk City, WI]: Arkham House Publishers, 2004. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Biography which includes a bibliography and a photo section.