Friday, December 16, 2011

Forgotten Books: The Simon Bolivar Grimes Collection by E. Hoffman Price


Way back in the Olden Days, circa 1999, Black Dog Books issued these two chapbooks featuring the rip-snorting adventures of Simon Bolivar Grimes. As you Howardians no doubt know, E. Hoffman Price was one of REH's pals, and an admirer (as am I) of his two-fisted mountain man, Breckenridge Elkins.


After Howard's death, Price created a character inspired by Breckenridge and sent him forth to battle frontier villains and female virtue in over two dozen issues of Spicy Western (and Speed Western) Stories. Price couldn't duplicate Howard's style, and didn't try. But he did manage to capture something of Breck's wide-eyed exuberance and passion for grabbing life by the throat.


These two chapbooks, each containing four stories, are tough to come by these days, but all eight stories - and four more to boot - are collected in Black Dog's deluxe trade pb, Nomad's Trail. Check it out HERE, and be sure to peruse the rest of Tom Roberts' amazing line of pulp classics.


Get a snootful of Forgotten Book action each week via pattinase.


4 comments:

Rick said...

Some spicy illustrations there. Sounds like fun.

Oscar Case said...

They sound interesting and enervating.

Charles Gramlich said...

Cool illos. I've read some of this stuff by Price. He wasn't a bad writer. I only got introduced to him from his relationship with Robert E. howard.

Anonymous said...

That Rick guy even looks a lot like me. Hmmm. Thanks for the chapbook covers and illos. I have this Nomad Trail book, but haven't cracked it yet.