Robert E. Howard Readers discussion

Here is a list of upcoming publications from the REH Foundation. I emailed them to ask if there were any plans for a James Allison collection of reincarnation stories, and there is! Note, these are not titles, but topics.

A book of Pirate Stories
Four volumes of Boxing Stories
Autobiographical (Post Oaks and Sand Roughs, etc.)
Reincarnation (James Allison, etc.)
Celtic adventures (Cormac Mac Art, etc.)
Two volumes of Humorous Westerns
A collection of Straight Westerns
Leftovers (various odds and ends, including those recently found in Glenn’s papers)

Great information Vincent! I have purchased everything they have so far except for the "A Rhyme of Salem Town" which I will most likely purchase soon although I have all of the material in other publications. Paul Hermann, Rob Roehm, and company do an awesome job as a labor of love to get everything written by Howard out. The Post Oaks and Sand Roughs is the one I am waiting for the most. I have every Donald M Grant book by Howard except that one. The cost is prohibitive for an old copy of it now.

Your collection is a bit more complete than mine (I don't have the complete letters yet, or any of the poetry books by the REH Foundation), but I am also looking forward to Post Oaks and Sand Roughs as well.

The "Letters" are beginning to run out. There are only 2-3 copies of volume 1 left.
Complete Poetry has been printed twice. It ran out fast both times. A few years ago the "Howard Days" in Cross Plains theme was Howard's Poetry and the first printing was already sold out. I was able to get a copy of the 2nd printing. Very hard one to get. Everything else is still available.

BTW Glenn Lord died recently and Paul Hermann has been digging through his collections for new stuff. It will all get published eventually thru Robert E Howard Foundation. To keep up with new info go to the Conan.com forum. Paul Hermann is posting info has he goes.....
http://www.conan.com/invboard/index.p...

I am hoping for a third printing of Complete Poetry as I missed out on it and would like to have it. I bought a copy of volume 1 of Letters the other day, but it hasn't arrived yet.

I remember a couple of years ago an extra copy of the Poetry was found and sold on ebay to raise money. It went into the $hundreds of dollars. Can't remember the exact amount (maybe $250-300?). I think it would go higher now.
I suggest emailing Paul Hermann through the REH Foundation website and see if it is possible to do another printing someday.
I never see it on ebay except in the once instance mentioned above.
Also I suggest checking out this website and purchasing a paperback copy of Selected Poetry edited by Frank Coffman for $23.50. He is actually a college English professor who is at all of the REH Days. Big fan of Howard.
http://www.lulu.com/shop/frank-coffma...
This website (Lulu) is where many books can be published in small amounts and printed as they are sold. It seems to be the website of choice for many of the contributors to Howard Lore.

I did email him a few months ago. At the time, he was aiming at a 3rd printing early next year.

I'm so happy that the Foundation exists and is publishing the books. Between them and Del Rey, it looks like we'll actually have something approaching a complete collected Howard by the time they're finished.

(Now here's hoping they start doing ebook reprints at some point in the future.)

Michael wrote: "BTW Glenn Lord died recently and Paul Hermann has been digging through his collections for new stuff. It will all get published eventually thru Robert E Howard Foundation. To keep up with new info ..."

BTW when Paul finishes going thru everything it will be sold in pieces on ebay to help the family. So stay posted.

Joseph wrote: "I'm so happy that the Foundation exists and is publishing the books. Between them and Del Rey, it looks like we'll actually have something approaching a complete collected Howard by the time they'..."

ditto on that!!!

I hope they keep up the good work of releasing collection of stories that isnt in print with publishers. Like El Borak juvies, Weird Menace,poetry collections etc. The westerns,boxning stories are mostly in print.

I questioned their decision to do volumes on Westerns and boxing as well, then I realized that my REH Westerns are spread out through at least four volumes, and the Boxing stories are spread throughout at many other volumes... it would be nice to have them collected.

Just to get a complete collection of Steve Costigan stories, you'd have to buy at least 8 different books, many of which only have one or two stories unique to that volume - you'd have up to six or seven different copies of most of the stories. There are four Steve Costigan stories (and three Costigan fragments) that I can't get because of the obscurity of their publication in a fanzine, so this may be my chance.

If you get the collected volume, do you get rid of or keep the other 8 books with those stories in? (I think I may know the answer!)

"get rid of"? I do not understand those words, at least in the context of books.

I do have the Bison Press boxing & Western volumes, but I'm assuming those are very, very far from complete.

Lol - My thought, too, but Vincent may surprise us!

Get rid of? Absolutely not! I spent time and money to collect them, so they are part of the collection. They are like my Gnome Press Conan's or the Ace/Lancers... superseded, but still a proud part of my collection and a part of the publication history of REH.

I have the Bison Press volumes also, and they are far from complete. To get all the Steve Costigan stories, you would need to have Boxing Stories, The Complete Action Stories, The Incredible Adventures Of Dennis Dorgan, The Last of the Trunk, Waterfront Fists And Others: The Collected Fight Stories Of Robert E. Howard, The Book of the Howard Review, and REH Fight Magazine #4. I have all but the last two.

And that doesn't even begin to give ALL of his boxing stories...

I occasionally do 'get rid of' some, but that means passing them along to my adult son so they can lounge on his shelves.
;-)

I knew it :-)

Vincent wrote: "I questioned their decision to do volumes on Westerns and boxing as well, then I realized that my REH Westerns are spread out through at least four volumes, and the Boxing stories are spread throug..."

Of course its better to get complete boxning,westerns but those books are easy to find as paperbacks,hardcovers by Bison,Wildeside press etc. Rare Howard stories that are not likely to appear in regular publisher is my goal to get complete Howard stories if i can. I have ordered just this month A Gent from Bear Creak,Waterfront boxning stories. Those are cheap along with the other westerns i have, i dont need more.

I need to buy more Weird Menace,detective,EL Borak juvie etc.

Of course i like to support only Howard foundation but i cant afford the full prize shipping right now and never with books already in print much cheaper.....

Looking forward to all of those REH foundation is a life saver for hardcore Howard fans, Steve Harrison's Casebook is still my personal fav (at least until the 2 Costigan volumes), his take on detective stories keeps me on the edge of my seat.

Hi everyone,

I went to REH Days this year (June 7-9). It was my first visit and the first time I'd ever met other REH fans in my life. I learned a lot about the world of fandom. Since we're on the topic of upcoming REH books:

1. You can see upcoming and recently published editions of REH's unedited works here:
http://www.rehfoundation.org/

2. These books are mailed from Cross Plains, TX. According to one of the book editors at REH Days, the REH books being shipped out of Cross Plains has actually kept the Post Office open during the past few years of federal Post Office closures. Cool, huh?

3. Books purchased from the REH Foundation Press help keep Howard's work alive by supporting a group that is actively working to collect and assemble as much of Howard's work as they can find. Surprisingly (to me), bits and pieces of 'new' stuff are popping up all the time!

Thanks.

p.

In addition to the schedule of upcoming boxing books, the REH Foundation site says "We hope to announce a volume of straight and weird Western tales soon, which, again tentatively, should ship in August or September. Stay tuned for updates."

Michael wrote: "Great information Vincent! I have purchased everything they have so far except for the "A Rhyme of Salem Town" which I will most likely purchase soon although I have all of the material in other pu..."

I was lucky to get a copy of both of these early.

Does anyone know what the delay is about concerning the third and fourth volumes of boxing stories from the REH Foundation?

I don't know and haven't seen anything on it either. I have been wondering about it myself.

Hey, Guys,

The delay is on the production end. The work is done, and all that's left are the covers (which I think we can all agree are worth the wait) and the set-up for printing. I know Tom is working on them now, and schedule permitted, we'll see volume 3 here before the end of the year. Hang in there.

Thank you for the update! It's a great series of books, and I'm just feeling impatient - I want to read them!

No problem. Trust me on this: we want them out there just as much as you do!

Thanks so much for the update!

Still no ebook versions? I'd love to read these and would be happy to support the Foundation, but living in a shoebox in Tokyo I can neither spare the physical space nor the shipping expense.

Phil, I'm sorry, but there are no plans for ebooks at this time. This is on high from Paradox, not the Foundation Press, or any of the Howardists, or anyone else. We'd all love them too, for obvious reasons. But until that time, you can at least enjoy all 11 Dey Rey volumes in affordable ebook format. Those have all been vetted, arranged, and worked on by the same editorial team. Granted, it's not everything, but it IS a big chunk, about 70% or more, of all the keystone stuff.

Disappointing news, but thanks for the response.

I do hope/assume they'll change their position eventually. In the meantime, I have the physical books, at least, and they're lovely things indeed.

They really are lovely things. Personally, I think the cover to Fists of Iron: Round 2 should be as definitive to Steve Costigan as Conan the Adventurer was to Conan. I wonder if the REH Foundation would be open to selling the covers as prints or posters or bookmarks... I also really love the cover to Adventures in Science Fantasy, among others.

Tom Gianni does sell his covers as posters. And they are lovely and very affordable. Go by his website, or check him out a convention, and he'll have them there for you to purchase.

Fantastic! I didn't know he had a website for that!

I'm so excited! Volume 3 will be out soon! And check out that cover!

http://www.rehfoundation.org/

I am a little surprised that "Blow the Chinks Down!" and "Dark Shanghai" aren't included. They were Steve Costigan stories, right? Or did Action Stories change the character name like they did for "The Sign of the Snake"?

It doesn't give a release date, but still... So happy right now!

Yes, the names were changed by Fiction House. The stories are printed with the titles Howard intended for them to have, as with all the rest of the texts that Patrice, Rusty, et.al. have worked on. It's all moving towards a unified set of texts for the purpose of study and review.

But, yes, yes, how's that for curb service! You asked, and BOOM! Like that, the cover shows up! Can't wait to see what Volume Four looks like.

It is a brilliant cover. I really like Tom Gianni's work. He has captured Steve perfectly, to my mind. I am so impressed at how all of you track down the true titles and texts. I am so glad the cover was shared so quickly.

Will volume 4 be Kid Allison stories? What else might be included? Will it include the boxing stories from The Last of the Trunk and Sentiment: An Olio of Rarer Works?

This last volume contains all of the Kid Allisons, the later boxing stories like Fists of the Desert, and a few remnants. Kid Allison is the big draw, here, in that there's stuff that's going to be seen for the first time, ever, and also, in different formats, too. It's pretty interesting. And, when you consider just how much he wrote, it's a little embarrassing that it took this long to get it all together.
Well, it SHOULD be embarrassing. But when Gruber and I teamed up, over ten years ago, to promote these stories, they all thought we were nuts.

We'll we all appreciate it Mark. There was a time I actually thought I had everything written by REH. I hadn't even scratched the surface!

Thank you, Mark, for all the information.

Most welcome. And, not to toot my own horn, but if you want some more of the funny boxing stuff, and don't mind if it's not REH proper, there's always this:
http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Sail...

Looks like fun, Mark. I'll take a flyer on it. Not sure when I'll get to it, though.

I'm reading Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail right now & Theodore Roosevelt is a truly heroic figure. His capacity for understating the harshness of life on his ranch is incredible.
- It's generally a 'goodly ride' of 40 miles in 5 hours between his north & south ranch houses.
- Being thrown by half broken horses wasn't unusual. He picked up a couple of injuries that way. Once a broken rib & another time he broke the point of his shoulder so he couldn't lift his arm up properly. Neither injury was serious nor did they stop him from working...

Wow.

thanks Mark, I will order the book. I heard you read one of your stories a few years ago at REH Days in Cross Plains. It was a hoot.

I'm glad I took a flyer on Mark's book. It was a lot of fun. I gave it 4 stars here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

So glad you liked the stories. Thanks for the great review!

You deserved it. I put it up on Amazon, too. I always add a star since their system is slightly different & their readers are less discriminating.
;)

I placed an order for The REH Foundation's next book, Swords of the North. I'm really looking forward to this one.