Robert E. Howard Readers discussion

I saw "Conan the Wanderer" for sale on eBay. The seller is asking nearly $70 for this paperback version. Is it me, or does that price sound preposterous? How in the name of the seven hells is that book worth so much money?

http://r.ebay.com/SdSkoT

Since there are 11 copies of the 1968 edition (I think, didn't check them all.) on Amazon starting at $4.01 delivered, I'd say that's a rip off, especially for that condition.

Maybe he's just putting it on there at that price thinking that someone will get drunk & buy it because it looks cool.

Yes, that is a ridiculous price for that book.

Ha, I just noticed the seller dropped the price down to $22.71, Maybe the fool realized his error; nevertheless, $23 is still too high of a price for "Conan the Wanderer". Well, at least he added a "Best Offer" option, the bonehead.

Interestingly enough, I noticed that some of the original ACE "Conan" books are selling for as much as $12 a book. That's not as extravagant as the asking price of $22.71, but it's still more than I would have guessed for that old series of books.

I've seen other paperbacks for mighty high prices, but usually they had limited publishing runs. Karl Edward Wagner's books run high, for instance. Most Conan paperbacks have been published many times, though. I guess there might be a few with unique artwork or editing that would tweak some interest, though.

You're probably right about the "Conan" paperbacks, Jim. Though some of them are 30+ years old, they have been published over and over again. In any event, I just can't imagine them being worth all that much. On the other hand, some of Howard's other works in paperback are pricey. For instance, I bought my paperback edition of "Heroes of Bear Creek" for $75.




Unfortunately, I haven't bought enough Wagner paperbacks to make a comment on them.

Ouch! That's a pile of money, Ó Ruairc. I generally watch & wait for a decent price, but it depends on the book, my mood & finances. I think I paid $30 for mine, which I thought was a lot.

It took years of waiting & looking, but I finally found #329 (I think) of Zelazny & Bode's limited boxed edition of Here There Be Dragons & Way Up High for $100 delivered. Yeah, that much for 2 kids books! Still, there were only 1000 printed & it took years to come about. After collaborating, they had a disagreement about percentages & the project got shelved until after Bode died. I've seen the book sell for $300 - what I paid for my Stanley #45 multi hand plane - but that was too much for a book I knew I'd read only a couple of times, even though I love the stories & Bode's artwork. So I set myself a limit of $100 & stuck to it. I bid on several & didn't get them over the years.

It took me over a year to find Exorcisms & Ecstasies by & about Karl Edward Wagner for $60 so I could get a copy for my son. It was normally selling for $200 then. I picked up my copy for $5 new at a remnants store. There were 2 other copies there. I've kicked myself for years over not buying them then.

I always put any book I want, no matter how rare & expensive, on my PaperBackSwap & BookMooch wish lists, too. I've gotten a couple that way. The first edition paperback of The Eternal Mercenary by Barry Sadler was incredibly expensive, as was the first Deathlands book by Axler. I got both for regular swaps, but I've had most of Wagner's books & quite a few of Howard's on there for years without a single hit, though. Maybe some day...

You see weird things at times. I've seen people selling my books on Amazon for a much higher price than the new ones, and they weren't even signed editions. Of course, my signature might decrease the worth of a book. :)

I see the Conan books all the time at used book stores I frequent. No more that 5 bucks.

Surfing eBay for R.E.H. books is interesting, though. There's a number of them listed at a variety of prices. Looking back on the prices I have paid for some of these books, I now realize I should have been a more judicious buyer in the past. For all of that, there is no way in hell I would have paid more than $5 for any of the 12 ACE/Lancer books.

I usually check prices against AbeBooks & Amazon, too. Both represent a lot of smaller stores, so their lower prices are usually as good as it gets. If nothing else, they're a good reality check, the Internet & Ebay being what they are.

I am noticing a lot of REH books on ebay that are seriously overpriced. I saw someone selling his collection of REH Foundation books for $200 each - for books that are still in print and available from the foundation for around $50. Ridiculous. I really feel for the people buying these things without checking around for the real value of the books - or finding out if they are still in print from the publisher or not.

The Last of the Trunk was $225, but now marked down to $168.75. Still available from the foundation for $59.

I also noticed a set of the three volumes of letters for $771. Yes, the first volume is out of print, but the other two are available for about $50 each - so is the out of print first volume really worth $671.00?

Ouch! Buyer beware. Best to google things & get a feel. I don't always go with the lowest price as some of the vendors are pretty shady, but it certainly helps avoid getting totally ripped off.

Prices seem to be varying more. I bought all the boys a quadcopter for Xmas. The videos were pretty cool & it flies amazingly well. I bought them for under $70 delivered just before Thanksgiving & they were up to $105 just after Xmas. Now down to $100.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3IN11Q/r...

I spent years looking for Cruises with Kathleen by Donald Hamilton, author of the Matt Helm series. I FINALLY found it a couple of years ago & paid a lot ($30 - $40) for a used copy with no dust jacket. I read it recently, loved it, & checked Abebooks.com for it. Found 2 copies with dust jackets & had them delivered to my house for under $10 - for both of them. What's up with that? I doubt someone found a few cases of 1980 book, but it sure seems like it.

Not really on topic, but SearchTempest.com is a specialized search engine for Craig's List, Ebay, & more. You can put in a distance radius from your zip code. Has anyone else tried it?

I've never heard of that search engine. I'll have to try it.

Sometimes I wish eBay had a comments section so I could say something about the REH Foundation and direct people to them.

It's the free market system at work. I ususlly check the prices on ebay against AbeBooks, Amazon, etc or just google the item before committing.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VOICES-IN-THE...

This is a very rare book by Necronomicon Press of poetry by REH. Still seems a bit high though.

$375 is pricey for a book!

Phew, too costly for me! It is interesting, though. 500 copies made, this is the 3rd one. The description says the 2nd copy was in the collection of Robert Bloch, and the first copy was in the collection of E.E. Doc Smith, whoever that is.

I could be wrong, but I think I once read something that mentioned Robert Bloch not being a big fan of R.E.H.'s writings, specifically his Conan tales.

Ó Ruairc wrote: "Phew, too costly for me! It is interesting, though. 500 copies made, this is the 3rd one. The description says the 2nd copy was in the collection of Robert Bloch, and the first copy was in the coll..."

It's true; Bloch famously lambasted the Conan stories in the letters-column of WEIRD TALES in 1934. It prompted Lovecraft to take Bloch to task a little:

I haven’t had time to read the present issue of W T, but noticed your provocative epistle in the Eyrie. I fear you are just a bit too hard on our distinguished massacre specialist, since some of his stuff has a really distinguished poignancy. Who else can so well convey an idea of unholy antiquity in primal cyclopean ruins? And can anyone deny a certain touch of genuine poetic vision in “The Queen of the Black Coast?” What is more—of all the repeatedly-used stock characters of the WT bunch—Jules de Grandin & so on—it is certain that Conan, hate him as you will, has the most aesthetic justification. He is the least wooden & artificial of all—that is, he reflects more of his creator’s actual feelings & psychology than any other. De Grandin is merely a puppet moulded according to cheap popular demand—he represents nothing of Quinn. But in the moods & reactions & habits of Conan we can clearly trace the sincere emotions & aspirations & perspectives of Howard. De Grandin always acts as a synthetic marionette, but Conan often acts as a living & distinctive human being. Of course, the artistry of Howard is only partial. he is not thoroughly trained, & he writes frankly for a popular pulp audience. Much about Conan is indeed mechanical & absurd—but beyond all that there is a certain genuineness & spontaneousness which can’t be denied or argued away. However—it is to be remarked that a character of this type is probably out of place in weird as distinguished from adventure fiction—that is, the constant exploitation of such a type is out of place. I can agree with you that the placing of supreme emphasis on the head-cracking & gore-spattering activities of a primitive nomad scarcely contributes much to the weird effect of the scenes through which he hews his way. Howard ought to separate his two gifts—his command of dark, brooding effects, & his sympathetic understanding of the barbarian mind—into separate groups of stories; contributing the one to WT & its congeners, & the other to magazines of the Adventure class. Of course, he does write a great deal of wholly non-weird stuff for things like Action Stories, Fight Stories, &c. He has a prize-fighter character called Steve Costigan who seems to be quite a rival of Conan in his virile affections. Actually, as a creator of vigorously self-expressive & more or less sincere & spontaneous fiction of a certain sort, Howard undeniably stands higher than such absolutely [text erased] puppet-showmen & herd-caterers as Edmond Hamilton, Quinn, Kline, & the latter-day Price. Dividing the WT group into sheep & goats, we can’t avoid placing REH in the upper tier along with Smith, Moore, the old-time Price, & the late Whitehead.

- HPL to Robert Bloch, Nov 1934, LRBO 119, LRB 55-56

Wow! That is an awesome rejoinder by HPL. I had never read that. Thanks for offering it up.

Thanks, Bobby.

10-4

Whoa, H.P.L. nailed it! Thanks for posting this interesting bit from Lovecraft, Bobby.

"Distinguished massacre specialist", ha, ha, ha, ha....

One thing you can say for De Grandin, you could be guaranteed if a woman appeared anywhere in one of his stories she was sure to have ALL here clothes ripped off by the end. Not that he or Towbridge would get the least rise out of it...