PulpRack

As noted in the first part of “The Gault Papers,” posted previously at The PulpRack, the following information was compiled and posted to the Internet by the late R.T. "Ditch" Gault under the title "Bibliographic Information on Talbot Mundy's Tibetan, Jimgrim, and Tros Story Series." See more info about the Gault Papers at that previous post. Now, on to Gault’s JimGrim essay:

Bibliographic Information on Talbot Mundy's Jimgrim Series

Stories concerning James Grim (Jimgrim) formed the longest sustained series written by Talbot Mundy. The series ran from 1922 until 1932. Jimgrim supposedly died in Jimgrim (1930-31). Mundy did not take this seriously, knowing full well that he could bring him back whenever he needed to. Later titles with Chullunder Ghose as the protagonist are seen, here, as final parts of the "Jimgrim Saga." Also included are several precursors to the Jimgrim saga that were written before 1922, utilizing characters who were eventually worked into the Jimgrim universe.

The Jimgrim books were not published in logical or sequential order. All stories, known, are given below in the order they were published in Adventure magazine. This is believed to be the general sequential order of the stories as well.

Not all of the Jimgrim stories that appeared in magazine form were published in book editions. More Jimgrim stories appeared in English book editions than in American editions. This may hint that the Jimgrim stories were more popular in England than in America.

Most of these stories were defined by the magazines as "novels," though many of them would be defined today as "short novels." A typical Mundy installment in Adventure ran from 50,000 to 60,000 words. None of the Jimgrim stories are listed as "Short Stories" in Grant's bibliographies of Mundy's works, so all Jimgrim magazine stories have been considered uniformly throughout.

All original Jimgrim stories were published in Adventure unless otherwise noted. Reprints and later editions have been ignored. Date at extreme left is the year of first publication.

Early Works that relate to the "Jimgrim Saga":

1914.
A Soldier and a Gentleman.
Adventure: November 1914. No book publication.
Introduces the Princess Yasmini, heroine of King -- of the Khyber Rifles (1916) and early Jimgrim tales. Yasmini is a well-known prototype (and also an archetype) known as the "dangerous woman." In most of the stories in which she appears she is often a double agent, playing off two employers while proceeding with her own agenda.

1915.
Winds of the World.
Adventure: 3 installments, July - September 1915.
First English ed: Constable & Co (1916). First American ed: Bobbs Merrill Co (1917). Princess Yasmini.

1916.
King -- of the Khyber Rifles.
Everybody's Magazine, 9 installments beginning May 1916.
Frist ed: Bobbs-Merrill Co. (1916). First English ed.: King, of..., Constable & Co. (1917). Many subsequent rpts.
Introduces Athelstan King, who appears in the Jimgrim tales. King is the prototype of Mundy's British colonial secret service agents.

1921.
Guns of the Gods.
Adventure: 4 installments, 3 March - 3 May 1921.
First American ed.: Bobbs-Merill Co, (June 1921). First English ed.: Hutchinson & Co. (November 1921).
The youth of Princess Yasmini.

The Jimgrim Saga:

1921.
Jimgrim and Allah's Peace.
Adventure: “Adventure of El Karak,” 10 November 1921, and “Under the Dome of the Rock,” 10 December 1912.
First English ed.: Hutchinson & Co. (1933). First American ed.: D. Appleton-Century Co (1936).
First appearance of Jimgim in Mundy's work. In the early stories he is an American who works for the British Secret Service in the near-east.

1922.
Almost all of Mundy's output for this year were Jimgrim related stories.

1922.
The "Iblis" at Lud. 
Adventure: 10 January 1921. No book publication.

1922.
The Seventeen Thieves of Elalil.
Adventure: 20 February 1921.
First English ed.: Hutchinson & Co. (1935). No American book ed.

1922.
The Lion of Petra. 
Adventure: 20 March 1922.
First English ed.: Hutchinson & Co. (1932). First American ed., D Appleton-Century Co. (1933).

1922.
The Woman Ayisha. 
Adventure: 20 April 1922.
First English ed.: Hutchinson & Co (1930). First American ed.: The Hundred Days and the Woman Ayisha, The Century Co. (1931); dust cover lists title as The Hundred Days (see below, 1930).

1922.
The Lost Trooper. 
Adventure: 30 May 1922.
First English ed.: Hutchinson & Co. (1931). No American book ed.

1922.
The King in Check. 
Adventure: 10 July 1922.
First English ed.: Hutchinson & Co. (1933). First American ed.: D. Appleton-Century Co. (1934).

1922.
A Secret Society.
Adventure: 10 August 1922.
No book publication.
Jimgrim resigns from the British Secret Service to be a free agent.

1922.
Moses and Mrs. Aintree.
Adventure: 10 September 1922.
No book publication.

1922.
The Mystery of Khufu's Tomb. 
Adventure: “Khufu's Real Tomb,” 10 October 1922.
First English ed.: Hutchinson & Co. (1933). First American ed.: D. Appleton-Century Co. (1935).

1922.
Caves of Terror.
Adventure: “The Grey Mahatma,” 10 November 1922.
First American ed., Garden City Publishing Co. (1924). First English ed.: Hutchinson & Co. (1932).
No Jimgrim, but with related characters King, Rasmden, and Yasmini. The first Jimgrim-related story to be set in India rather than in the near-east.

1922.
Benefit of Doubt.
Adventure: 10 December 1922.
See Jungle Jest (below, 1923).
Related to Jimgrim tales because of appearance of King. First appearance of Cottswold Ommany, hero of Om.

1923.
Jungle Jest. 
Adventure: “Benefit of Doubt” (above), “Treason,” 10 1923, and “Diana Against Ephesians.” First two stories appeared before The Nine Unknown (below), and the last story directly after.
First English ed.: Hutchinson and Co. (1930). First American ed.: the Century Co. (1930).
Cottswold Ommany.

1923.
The Nine Unknown. 
Adventure: 5 installments, 30 March - 10 August 1923.
First American ed.: Bobbs-Merrill Co., (March 1924). First English ed.: Hutchinson & Co. (June 1924).
Jimgrim arrives in India with style. The first of Mundy's genuinely mystical books.

1923.
The Marriage of Meldrum Strange.
Adventure: 10 October 1923. First English ed.: Hutchinson & Co. (1930). No American book ed.
Strange was Jimgrim's millionaire backer after he left the British. Lots of the regular characters, plus Ommany.

1923.
The Hundred Days. 
Adventure: “Mohammed's Tooth,” 10 December 1923.
First English ed.: Hutchinson & Co. (1930). First American ed.: The Hundred Days and the Woman Ayisha (1931).
Two novels in one volume (see Woman Ayisha, above).

1924.
Om: The Secret of Ahbor Valley
Adventure: 6 installments, 10 October - 30 November 1924.
First American ed. Bobbs-Merrill Co. (1924). First English ed. Hutchinson & Co. (1925).
Not properly a Jimgrim novel, but Ommany and some of the supporting characters appear in Jimgrim stories. Mundy's sole published output for 1924.

1925.
Mundy's entire output for 1925, and the first quarter of 1926, were stories about Tros of Samothrace, which would ultimately be published as Tros of Samothrace (1934), which had more than 949 pages in the American ed.

1926.
The Devil's Guard.
Adventure: Rasmden, 5 installments, 8 June - 8 August 1926.
First American Edition: Bobbs-Merrill (1926). First English ed.: Rasmden, Hutchinson & Co. (1926).
Jimgrim and Co. go to Tibet searching for Shambhala.

1927.
The Red Flame of Erinpura. 
Adventure: 1 January 1927.
First English ed.: Hutchinson & Co. (1934). No American book ed.
Chullunder Ghose is the protagonist.

1930-31.
Jimgrim.
Adventure: King of the World, 7 installments, 15 November 1930 - 15 February 1931.
First American ed.: The Century Co. (March 1931). First English ed. Hutchinson & Co. (April 1931).
Global adventure tale with settings in southern France, Egypt, India, Nepal, and Tibet. Jimgrim supposed dead in explosion of villain's monastery near lake Koko Nor.

1931.
The Babu. 
Adventure: 10 October 1931.
No book ed.
Chullunder Ghose tale.

1931.
Case 13.
Adventure: 1 January 1932.
No book ed.
Chullunder Ghose tale.

1931.
Chullunder Ghose the Guileless. 
Adventure: 1 March 1932.
No book ed.
Chullunder Ghose tale.

1933.
C.I.D. 
Adventure: 4 installments, 1 March - 15 April 1933.
First English ed.: Hutchinson & Co (June 1932). First American ed.: The Century Co. (November 1932).
Chullunder Ghose tale. The Adventure installments were published after the book edition was already on sale, an unusual order of things.

1934-5.
Mundy's long association with Adventure magazine, and his prolific period as a writer, were coming to an end. Mundy's only new major work for Adventure came in 1935 when he produced a new Tros of Samothrace series for them. This was eventually the novel The Purple Pirate (1935).

- by R.T. Gault

Links:

Tom Roberts’ Black Dog Books is publishing a series of books in its Talbot Mundy Library. Several volumes already are available, which include some of the stories listed above.

There is a Kindle edition of The JimGrim Novels, which includes six novels, at Amazon.

Last Adventurer: The Life of Talbot Mundy by Peter Beresford Ellis is also available from Amazon. This biography may be in short supply. Click here to learn more from Amazon.

Talbot Mundy: Messenger of Destiny by Donald M. Grant is also available from Amazon. This book may be in short supply. Click here to learn more from Amazon.

Talbot Mundy, Philosopher of Adventure: A Critical Biography by Brian Taves is also available from Amazon

Labels: JimGrim, R.T. Gault, Talbot Mundy