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Sundered Worlds time warp...

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  • Sundered Worlds time warp...

    I ran across a copy of Mike's book The Sundered Worlds at a used bookstore yesterday. I was glad to get it, but here's the weird thing. This is the 1966 Paperback Library edition, with a 50 cents cover price so the book is 39 years old, but darned if it doesn't look brand new. Bright cover, (green aliens and silver space ship) no wear or cracks on the spine and bright pages. I'm not really a book collector, so I'd have bought the thing if it was dog eared and dingy. I just wanted to read it. But it was just a tad bizarre to find an almost four decade old paperback that looked like it had been shipped last week. I figure it was probably in someone's collection, and sold at an estate sale or something. Either that or it was dropped by some Moonbeam traveler from a plane of the multiverse where it's still 1966. I think I like that idea better...

  • #2
    It's truly nice to find those old paperbacks in great condition, although usually they turn up in specialist collectors shops. I found a fairly fine copy of the same edition of The Sundered Worlds a few years ago in London. I once had an old Monarch sf paperback by J. Hunter Holly that was over thirty years old and looked brand new, with a bright glossy cover. I've also turned up some fine Essex House Philip Jose Farmer titles... at a price 8O
    'You know, I can't keep up with you. If I hadn't met you in person, I quite honestly would NOT believe you really existed. I just COULDN'T. You do so MUCH... if half of what goes into your zines is to be believed, you've read more at the age of 17 than I have at the age of 32 - LOTS more'

    Archie Mercer to Mike (Burroughsania letters page, 1957)

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    • #3
      Sometimes those old paperbacks were 'bundled' by the publisher or distributor and then lost somewhere in the back of a newsagent's shop, so they can still turn up in pristine condition. Surprisingly frequently, all in all. I remember seeing a shop window absolutely jam packed with film annuals and monthly adventure books (like Sexton Blake) from the 20s all in mint condition, being sold for cover price. The old man had died, his children had found all the stuff unopened in the back of the shop and simply put it out on display to sell it. There's a longer story to that, but I'm racing to hit about thirty deadlines and haven't much time here at the moment!

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      • #4
        Hmm. Don't even have time to log in, it appears. :) MM

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        • #5
          Gawd bless ya, Mr. M. We all knew it was you when you started rambling on! :D
          You see, it's... it's no good, Montag. We've all got to be alike. The only way to be happy is for everyone to be made equal.

          -:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

          Image Hive :-: Wikiverse :-: Media Hive

          :-: Onsite Offerings :-:


          "I am an observer of life, a non-participant who takes no sides. I am in the regimented society, but not of it." Moondog, 1964

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          • #6
            The rest of the story is that I went into the shop and mentioned that some of the magazines must have been give-aways or remainders, since they had the signs (chopped corners and such) and the lady said 'Oh, in that case you can have them for half price.' My mistake was then to tell a dealer about the shop. When I went back it had been cleaned out...
            Some Compact titles, including NW and SF, turn up pristine still, since at some stage in the 60s or early 70s a guy was given the job of wrapping miscellaneous copies in thick, waterproof brown paper. Those 'bundles' were still turning up here and there twenty years later. For all I know, some of the bundles are still unopened in a warehouse somewhere.

            Pre-order or Buy my latest titles in Europe:
            The Whispering Swarm: Book One of the Sanctuary of the White Friars - The Laughter of Carthage - Byzantium Endures - London Peculiar and Other Nonfiction
            Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles - Kizuna: Fiction for Japan - Modem Times 2.0 - The Sunday Books - The Sundered Worlds


            Pre-order or Buy my latest titles in the USA:
            The Laughter of Carthage - Byzantium Endures - London Peculiar and Other Nonfiction - The Sunday Books - Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles
            Kizuna: Fiction for Japan - The Sundered Worlds - The Winds of Limbo - Modem Times 2.0 - Elric: Swords and Roses

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            • #7
              I have a friend who is a record dealer. He tells me of the time he went to a carboot sale and found someone who was selling his entire punk collection for pennies. He had no idea how much some of it was worth. My friend did though and got most of it for next to nothing. I only collected records (not dealt) and no matter what time I got up he always seemed to be there already. I still managed to find a few things he'd missed, though, now and then. The important thing was to get it as soon as you saw something you fancied. It was almost invariably gone when you went back, even if it only took a few minutes to change your mind!
              You see, it's... it's no good, Montag. We've all got to be alike. The only way to be happy is for everyone to be made equal.

              -:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

              Image Hive :-: Wikiverse :-: Media Hive

              :-: Onsite Offerings :-:


              "I am an observer of life, a non-participant who takes no sides. I am in the regimented society, but not of it." Moondog, 1964

              Comment


              • #8
                These days, when I find remarkable collections in shops, and they are cheap, I leave them there, thinking how nice it will be for people without a lot of money to get hold of some of this good stuff. A few years ago in Rochester, NY, I came across a whole couple of shelves of Shasta, Gnome Press, Arkham and other small press sf/fantasy publishers, plus a load of sf pulps. My first impulse was to buy them all. My second was to do what I did and leave them. Even if a dealer comes on them, chances are it will help their business and get them to the right customers.

                Pre-order or Buy my latest titles in Europe:
                The Whispering Swarm: Book One of the Sanctuary of the White Friars - The Laughter of Carthage - Byzantium Endures - London Peculiar and Other Nonfiction
                Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles - Kizuna: Fiction for Japan - Modem Times 2.0 - The Sunday Books - The Sundered Worlds


                Pre-order or Buy my latest titles in the USA:
                The Laughter of Carthage - Byzantium Endures - London Peculiar and Other Nonfiction - The Sunday Books - Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles
                Kizuna: Fiction for Japan - The Sundered Worlds - The Winds of Limbo - Modem Times 2.0 - Elric: Swords and Roses

                Comment


                • #9
                  I once managed to find a battered copy of 'The Sundered Worlds.' The old Compact SF printing for 3/6, my Mum was only a toddler that time. It's strange to think a book this old can survive to find itself in a second hand shop in Brighton to end up in the hands of someone who is in fact a good twenty years younger than the book itself. I scower second hand bookshops all the time wherever I go. Sad as it may seem, any town or city I spend a long term ammount of time in, I will always check out charity shops and second hand shops looking for good bargains.

                  Of course, I can't be sure if the picture of Mike on the back cover makes him look like a student or a sailor. :) No offence intended.

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                  • #10
                    Hey, first thing I do when I hit a new city is grab the yellow pages and find the used bookstores. And I have a circuit of them I visit here in the Atlanta area. Glad to know I'm among friends here.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Even those who have sworn to stop accumulating books do the same. Paris is very frustrating for me in my wheelchair, since so few of the old bookshops make it easy for me to get in! And Paris must have more bookshops than any other city in the world. There's one very close to me where I can buy lots of the 19th century English fiction I love, all at 8E or under, in some funky editions, usually done for the Continental market.
                      I learned that Scott was the only English author of his time ever to be paid for his work. He walked into the bookseller/publisher who was doing his editions and said he was the author. They were so taken aback they paid him a hundred and twenty quid, a pretty substantial sum for the day which must have paid for several trips between Auld Reekie and the City of Light. I'm currently reading a very nice 3 vol ed of The Fortunes of Nigel which was done in paper covers, one volume ending in mid-sentence and taken up in the next.

                      Pre-order or Buy my latest titles in Europe:
                      The Whispering Swarm: Book One of the Sanctuary of the White Friars - The Laughter of Carthage - Byzantium Endures - London Peculiar and Other Nonfiction
                      Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles - Kizuna: Fiction for Japan - Modem Times 2.0 - The Sunday Books - The Sundered Worlds


                      Pre-order or Buy my latest titles in the USA:
                      The Laughter of Carthage - Byzantium Endures - London Peculiar and Other Nonfiction - The Sunday Books - Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles
                      Kizuna: Fiction for Japan - The Sundered Worlds - The Winds of Limbo - Modem Times 2.0 - Elric: Swords and Roses

                      Comment

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