THE COLLECTING BUG: VINTAGE PAPERBACKS

I've blogged occasionally about collecting vinyl LP records, but the truth is I love to collect other things as well. The clutter in our house is, I admit, entirely my fault.

One of my particular passions is vintage paperbacks. I have a shelf in the basement filled with them, and while most of them are well-used reading copies as opposed to collector's editions, I still love them.

Recently I attended a massive used book sale in Kemptville. On fill-a-box-for-$5 Sunday I spent four hours browsing the tables. I was exhausted at the end but came away with a few treasures. This copy of Fer-De-Lance by Rex Stout was fun to find. It's a little battered, a ninth printing (1944), and not worth much to a collector, but I didn't have a copy and was very pleased to find it. Isn't the cover art striking?

Among the other paperbacks that found their way into my $5 box was this second printing of the U.S. edition (1957) of He Who Whispers by John Dickson Carr. Although I'm somewhat of an indifferent reader of Carr's novels, I was attracted to the cover art on this one.

I belong to a Facebook group dedicated to Vintage Paperbacks and Pulps. I've asked for help in identifying the artists responsible for these cover paintings. When I learn who they were, I'll let you know.

There's a story behind every book, as well as within each book, isn't there?