OSAmag80

T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 8 0
So, in early 2002, Ian was looking through the pulpers bin of the
charity shop in question, and came across an old, dirty, battered
copy of a book called A Gent From Bear Creek, by some chap
named Robert E. Howard. Ian has long been a collector of P.G.
Wodehouse, so he was quite familiar with Herbert Jenkins as a
publisher. But the name Robert E. Howard didn't ring any bells,
and standing there in the shop he guessed that "Howard" might
actually have been a pen name used by famous western writer
Louis Lamour. So, thinking the book might be worth something
on that basis, he paid a few rands for it and attracted more
eccentric stares from the old ladies by leaving a R20 tip in their
collection jar.
Consider the Providence involved here: that particular book -
only the seventh known copy to exist - had been a mere two
hours away from being sent off to the pulpers to be destroyed!
Coming home and doing some research, Ian found the website
for the Robert E. Howard United Press Association, and realized
that Howard was a real person. He emailed the REHUPA
webmaster (who happens to be me - Leo Grin), telling me about
the fmd and asking for more information. I quickly sent him to
his collection of Firsts Magazine (a magazine dedicated to
collecting rare books) and told him to dig out the issue published
two years ago featuring Robert E. Howard.
It was then that the true nature of his find sunk in. Ian had no
idea how popular an author Howard was, how many fans he had,
or how rare and expensive a book he had actually found. As he
later said with a chuckle: "My knowledge of sci-fi and westerns
leaves a lot to be desired. Somewhere I'd remembered the name
but in the wrong context. When I re-read the 'Firsts' article, I did
have the grace to blush!"
After thinking his options over, Ian decided that - rare as the
book was - it wasn't the kind of thing he needed for his own
collection. So he decided to sell it. He told me, however, that he
found E-Bay auctions and the like too impersonal, so he would
be much happier seeing it auctioned off in a venue where real
Howard fans would have a chance at owning it, or at least seeing
one up close for perhaps the only time in their lives.
Ian asked if I would perhaps like to auction the book off for him
in the states, but after thinking it over I had a better idea.
I told Ian the story of Project Pride and the Howard Museum,
and how the people of Cross Plains had worked so hard to
preserve Howard's memory. I also told him of the annual
Howard Days Festival, and how hundreds of Howard fans came
to Cross Plains each year to remember Howard. I suggested that
if he truly wanted the book to be accessible to fans, he might
consider selling it to me for a fair but discounted price, with the
stipulation that I then donate the book the Robert E. Howard
Museum here in Cross Plains.
The decision was not a light one for Ian. After all, if he chose to
sell the book on E-Bay he was guaranteed to make many
thousands of dollars from the sale. But he was touched by what
he had heard about the efforts of Project Pride and Cross Plains,
and so finally he agreed to sell it to me for the relatively cheap
price of $3700. In doing this for the people of Cross Plains, I
estimate that lan sacrificed several thousand dollars which he
would have received if the book had been auctioned publicly.
And so here we are - and here "it" is. The book was officially
donated to Project Pride and the Robert E. Howard Museum
during the 2002 Howard Days festivities. Now Cross Plains
finally has that most precious of all Howard collectibles, the
ultra-rare Herbert Jenkins first edition of A Gent From Bear
Creek. Rather than being locked up in a library's holdings or
disappearing into some rich fellow's collection never to be seen
again, this book can now be seen by Howard fans whenever they
visit the Howard Museum in Cross Plains.
Thanks to a kind and generous man in South Africa, a major
piece of Howard history has finally come home.
The book hunter by Dick Phillips
Gordon
SA Book Connection, 13 Polela Road,
Hillcrest KZN 3610
ian@sabookconnection.co.za
I hope this may be of interest to you. I've just published my first
book 'The Book Hunter' under the nom-de-plume Dick
Phillips. It's a biblio-mystery. I should add that 'the hero' is a
Gooner supporting bookdealer or just maybe, a bookdealer
loving Gooners.
Feedback for the 'Book Hunter'
I prefer to call this 'feedback' rather than a review as a true review
should be objective and this feedback is subjective.
Firstly, I want to say that I really enjoyed the Book Hunter and
really hope that you complete your editing for publication so that
I can add it to my collection.
The use of the first person for all the main characters is an
unusual approach but one that works really well as the reader
feels empathy for each character – including the murderer (to a
point). I like to identify with the main character in each book I
read. It doesn't matter whether the character is male or female; I
'become' that character.
The book was a nice mixture of
personal journeys, the discovery of the
value of books and the gradual building
of knowledge about the books, for
both the characters and the reader.
There is a lot of really useful
information about first editions and
book collecting and it is given in a
way that doesn't destroy the flow of
the story. Much as I enjoy John
Dunning's books there were a couple
of occasions where the technical information interrupted the flow
of the story and I actually skipped a page to get back to the plot
(vowing to get back to the useful information at a later stage).
Your first edition information seemed to be more closely woven
into the story and I didn't skip a single line!
I liked the 'journey' from London to South Africa and the
descriptions of the two countries and the differences between
the two, including the pros and cons of living in two very
different environments. I could relate to that. The whole book
was really gripping and 'unputdownable' and this was particularly
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