The auction’s highest price, $11,875, was achieved by this first edition of Shadow Over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft (American, 1890-1937), illustrated by Frank A. Utpatel (American, 1905-1980), Everett, Penn.: Visionary Publishing Company, 1936, which was the author’s first published book ($2/3,000).
Review by Carly Timpson
BERKELEY, CALIF. — On April 30, more than 550 lots of fine literature crossed the block at PBA Galleries in the firm’s 862nd sale. With four highlighted sections — Fine Literature; Zane Grey; Mysteries, Fantasy & Sci-Fi; and Beats & The Counterculture — the auction included rare editions, signed books, ephemera and collectible materials across many bibliophilic categories. Nearly 80 percent of lots found new homes and the auction realized $294,944.
Cataloger William Taylor, Jr, who specializes in Beats & counterculture, poetry and literature, shared that ahead of the auction, “We had a noticeable uptick in advance bidding for the sale, as well as numerous inquiries for additional information on many of the lots, so we knew it was going to be a fun sale.” In fact, he noted that the advanced bids were significantly higher for this sale than those for other similar sales the firm has conducted recently. Before the auction even began on April 30, the total advanced bids totaled $160,000.
“I thought it was a really good sale. What made it kind of special was it was that it had a nice variety of stuff,” Taylor added. “There were a couple consignors with really nice collections, some classic stuff and some stuff we don’t see as often, like the Lovecrafts. And there were some long runs of authors, including Faulkner and Heinlein. Numerous titles by a single author always draw collectors in.”
One of 1,268 copies printed, this first-edition of The Outsider and Others (1939), the first posthumous volume of works by H.P. Lovecraft (American, 1890-1937), was also the first book published by Arkham House (Sauk City, Wis.). It reached $4,375 ($1/1,500).
When the final hammer fell, it was a first edition of H.P. Lovecraft’s first published book that finished with the day’s highest price. Titled Shadow Over Innsmouth, the thrilling 1936 novella was one of 400 copies, of which only 200 were actually bound and distributed. Bound in black cloth with silver gilt lettering, this first edition featured woodcut illustrations by Frank A. Utpatel, a frequent collaborator and correspondent of Lovecraft, and was paired with a later-issue jacket and laid-in errata pages. The shadow ultimately lifted at $11,875 — nearly four times its $3,000 high estimate.
Taylor explained, “The Lovecrafts mostly all came from one collection. Recently, over the last couple of years, we’ve had some nice fantasy and sci-fi sales. It’s bringing more consignors and bidders in the genre since people see we’re doing so well with it. I didn’t know Shadow Over Innsmouth was going to do quite as well as it did, so that was still a nice surprise.”
Other Lovecraft titles to break into the top lots included The Outsider and Others ($4,375) and The Shunned House ($4,063). The Outsider and Others was a desirable first-edition for several reasons: this 1939 volume was the first collection of Lovecraft’s works to be published posthumously (he passed in 1937), it was one of fewer than 1,300 copies printed and it was the first book published by Arkham House. The volume, in its original black cloth lettered in gilt, featured an introduction written by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei, co-founders of the publishing house. The Shunned House, meant to be Lovecraft’s first book, was printed in an edition of 300 copies by The Recluse Press (Athol, Mass.) in 1928 but was not bound or circulated at that time. About 100 copies of the printing made their way to Arkham House, where they were bound and sold in 1961. This edition, with a pasted cancelation notice over the original copyright page, was from that 1961 run, bound in black cloth with gilt lettering.
Signed by author William Gibson (American-Canadian, b 1948), this first hardcover edition of Neuromancer (London: Victor Gollancz Ltd., 1984) closed for $5,938 ($3/5,000).
The auction’s second-highest price was earned by a first UK edition of William Gibson’s Neuromancer. Bound in blue boards and with its original publisher’s jacket, the 1984 book was signed by the author on its title page. The debut novel, went on to earn the 1984 Nebula Award, 1985 Hugo Award and 1985 Philip K. Dick Award. In this sale it finished for $5,938.
“It was nice to see that copy of Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian sell for what it did. McCarthy is really strong right now, and it’s nice to see the prices keeping up,” shard Taylor of the $5,313 result for Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West, which is widely considered to be the author’s masterpiece. According to Taylor, McCarthy has been on the rise lately. “First editions, signed items, things like that are really doing well. He passed away a few years ago and he’s kind of considered like maybe the last great American writer, in the likes of Faulkner and Hemingway,” he explained.
Finishing for $4,688 was a “scarce first edition of one of the classics of the horror genre, which engendered numerous imitations, film versions and popular legends,” as described by the catalog notes. This first edition of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, published in 1897, was a later printing with a few differences in the end pages: the absence of the advertisement for Stoker’s The Shoulder of Shasta as well as some additions and absences in the eight-page publisher’s catalog.
This scarce first edition of Dracula by Bram Stoker (Irish, 1847-1912), London: Archibald Constable, 1897, was a later printing but still exceeded estimates to bring $4,688 ($2/3,000).
Though its $2,250 result was quite high enough to finish in the top ten lots, Taylor reported another notable highlight. “We had a nice first edition of Mary Poppins in the original dust jacket, and that went a fair amount higher than I thought it would. Whenever you have a nice jacket in good condition that helps, especially if it’s something you don’t see so often.” This first American edition of P. L. Travers’ beloved tale was illustrated by Mary Shepard and the catalog described it as a “wonderful example…in very good jacket.”
Taylor also shared the story of a large single-owner collection of volumes by Lewis Carroll, the author best known for Alice in Wonderland. “One was a rare, suppressed copy — the 60th thousand of Through The Looking-Glass [and What Alice Found There]. Carroll really hated this edition because they didn’t print as well as he’d have liked, so he ordered them all to be destroyed, except for maybe a handful that went to libraries. This may be my favorite story of the lots in the auction — ‘the one that didn’t get destroyed.’” One copy, which was sold by Sotheby’s in 2018, bore Carroll’s critical annotation on the title page: “Received Nov. 21/93. / Paper too white / 26 pictures over-printed / 8 of them very bad.” The edition in this auction went out for $3,125.
PBA Galleries’ next auction on May 28 will feature Fine Photography & Art – Fine Press & Bindings – Illustrated & Children’s Books. Counterculture titles will come up for auction again on June 25, in a sale that also includes queer art and literature as well as political posters.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, www.pbagalleries.com or 415-989-2665.
