Vintage Paperbacks and More!

       Pretty psyched that I've figured out who did the cover for Novel Library No. 39 "No Bed Of Her Own" by Val Lewton (Published in 1949). I've been wondering about this one forever since it's a famous "one hit wonder" vintage paperback by a highly noted film maker.       My original copy had a hint of an initial in the lower right corner so I always wondered if there were offset copies that would reveal the signature. However it doesn't come up for sale often.        So I recently obtained another copy and it show TWO initials clearly, "J" and "A"    Recently Acquired copy with "JA" signature visible   Close up of the "JA" script signature         T hen I found a copy on ebay that shows the top only of THREE initials, that, combined with my clear TWO makes out the initials "JAE"       Recent copy on ebay showing "JAE"  (Yes that is Gary Lov...

       This is the third year in a row that I've flown out to LA from Tampa to the biggest Vintage Paperback show in the country at the Glendale Civic Auditorium. I continue to come out here because I've had such a good time hunting down rare books for my collection and meeting other collectors and dealers. I'm not going to type too much but will try to post lots of pictures that capture the feel of the show and hope it inspires collectors to give it a shot in the years to come.      The trip started out great with a dinner last night with an "Old School" collector, Pat Lee and his lovely wife, Sheila. I met Pat online in a Facebook Paperback Group and could always tell that he was a swell guy and boy did he sure live up to that preconception. He had some great stories about vintage paperback collecting, including attending Lance Casebeer's legendary "Lance Cons".       He knows my colleague Bruce Brenner, who helped greatly in asse...

         When you start to root around the internet more and more looking for art and facts, you may tend to run into more and more interesting stuff!      I encountered Lynn Maguire recently posting on a Facebook group where she was selling original posed photos taken and/or used by her father, legendary PB cover artist Robert Maguire, as studies for his original paintings sold to the paperback publishing houses for use as their cover art.        Ms. Maguire has confirmed something that I have long suspected - that the cover art to one of the hobby's most famous books, Jim Thompson' s "The Killer Inside Me", Lion Books No. 99, was indeed painted by Robert Maguire.          She mentioned that to me that she confirmed this when she found pose photos of the woman lying dead in the foreground of the cover, and several poses of her father as the man in the painting. She indicated that her father very o...

       Sin Pit by Paul Meskil Lion Books No. 198 1st and only Lion Edition March 1954   Sublimely skanky cover art, uncredited but I believe it is by Lou Marchetti.   This very nice copy is probably the greatest one-hit wonder in all of noir. Regarded as a top noir crime/mystery novel and one of my favorite vintage paperbacks. The back cover blurb is so good.          James Reasoner gives it a good go at a review here   Some interesting factoids about Meskil's true crime career here   This copy came from the Vintage Treasure Chest collection, which was a large collection out of Southern Connecticut that came to market on eBay in 2022-2023. I bought a ton of these mostly high grade books at auction and ended up buying out the remainder from the seller when he got tired of listing individual books.

     There is a certain segment of the vintage paperback cover artist cadre that fits in as "one shot wonders". Victor Seach (1912-1990) may be at the head of the class for that segment of illustrators.       The Falcon Books 1st Edition of "Junkie" by Jonathan Craig is one of the most iconic of vintage paperback covers, and its creator is a bit of a cool odd hipster - as you'll see in in a minute.  Junkie by Jonathan Craig. Falcon Books No. 36 1952. Cover art signed Victor Seach.        The Falcon "Junkie" (Not to be confused with the Ace Double Novel containing "Junkie" by William Burroughs, another rare vintage paperback) is a rare digest, certainly rarer than the Burroughs Ace "Junkie". The cover art just oozes 1950's Drug Book goodness. The ever present blonde floozie with a cigarette of unknown contents, her blouse straps fallen off her shoulders, casting a glance back at a conflict in the making as she props herself with...