Renowned Mystery Afficianado Art Scott (known to his intimates as The Emperor of the Universe) tipped me off that an amazing assortment of books and other items from currently owned by Mr. Otto Penzler is now appearing on the Heritage auction site. The live auction will take place March 16, but near as I can tell, Internet bidding is now open. I saw a LOT of stuff I want, and don't mind letting you in on it, since I can't afford to bid myself. You can view Part 1 of Otto's booty HERE.
Today we're looking at his Race Williams books. Though I own copies of these myself, exactly zero of them are in dust jacket. Much as I tell myself it's the words inside that count, it's the jackets that jack up the value, and I can't help craving them. Not included in this sale are the second book, The Hidden Hand, the fourth, Tainted Power, and the last, Better Corpses. What's here, though, looks mighty tasty.
These five novels, plus The Hidden Hand and Tainted Power, are included in the first four volumes of the ongoing complete Race Williams collection published by Altus Press. They're available HERE.
Why is he selling them, I wonder.
ReplyDeleteThe EOTU probably knows. I don't.
ReplyDeleteThere's a short video piece elsewhere on the Heritage site where Otto talks about the collection:
ReplyDeletehttps://historical.ha.com/c/auction-home.zx?saleNo=6208&ic=breadcrumb-historical-121913-interior
His explanation for selling is what I would have guessed. He's getting close to eightly, has no heirs, and rather than consign the collection to some library sub-basement, he's putting them out there for collectors to bid for, sitting back and watching the fun.
Thanks, Emp!
ReplyDeleteAh ha. The auction would be fun to watch.
ReplyDelete