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The Big Panic: The Story of Edwin Self and Pedigree Books
Edwin Self spent his working career in publishing, turning to the cheap paperback market in the years after the war. In 1954 he was charged with publishing obscene novels along with three authors and the owner of the company who printed the books.
This previously unpublished article tells the story of the Self's career as a paperback publisher, the court case, and the how he bounced back with a series of novels now much sought by collectors.
This previously unpublished article tells the story of the Self's career as a paperback publisher, the court case, and the how he bounced back with a series of novels now much sought by collectors.
14 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 10, 2014
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 8, 2026
After lucking into a copy of the Pedigree Books edition of A. Merritt's Burn Witch, Burn I became interested in a) why was this book so darn rare? and b) who was the artist who knocked out this killer cover? As it turns out, those questions are more difficult to answer than I knew.
Steve Holland does an absolutely bang-up good job telling the story how Edwin Arthur Self eventually formed the imprint Pedigree Books. It was fascinating to learn how seriously "smut" was taken back in the day. As it turned out, Self and a couple of his authors were fined and sentenced to prison after being found guilty of potentially contributing to the delinquency of minors . . . and not a single person was named as having fallen prey and succumbed to Self's publications.
It was in coming out of prison and beginning a new life that Self fired up the old printing press and started afresh with Pedigree. An interesting tale about the man who created some of the most rare and collectable paperbacks in the world.
My thanks to Steve Holland for entertaining my questions about print runs and artists, and for an entertaining read.
Steve Holland does an absolutely bang-up good job telling the story how Edwin Arthur Self eventually formed the imprint Pedigree Books. It was fascinating to learn how seriously "smut" was taken back in the day. As it turned out, Self and a couple of his authors were fined and sentenced to prison after being found guilty of potentially contributing to the delinquency of minors . . . and not a single person was named as having fallen prey and succumbed to Self's publications.
It was in coming out of prison and beginning a new life that Self fired up the old printing press and started afresh with Pedigree. An interesting tale about the man who created some of the most rare and collectable paperbacks in the world.
My thanks to Steve Holland for entertaining my questions about print runs and artists, and for an entertaining read.
Displaying 1 of 1 review