Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Captain Philip Strange Volume 1: Strange War
Strange War by Donald Keyhoe, Age of Aces Books: 2011
The newest release from the crew at Age of Aces revives a WWI aviation character who had dropped into obscurity. The Weird War adventures of Captain Philip Strange were chronicled in the pages of Flying Aces magazine, published by Periodical House, by Donald Keyhoe, best known today for his UFO writings published during the 1950s. Strange’s stories appeared from 1931 through 1939.
Keyhoe does a fine job building a dramatic character in Strange: An intelligence operative with G-2, he has flashing green eyes and a penetrating gaze—Strange spent many years during his youth touring theatres as a Mental Marvel, and his extraordinary mental powers warn him of danger both in the air and when dealing with spies and traitors on the ground. Like all the best pulp-fiction spies—G-8 and Kent Allard among them—Strange is a master of disguise who penetrates enemy lines at will and returns with knowledge of plots and plans in every adventure.
The six stories included in Volume 1 provide plenty of super-science plots, the fiendish spies and villains, and the psychological warfare that will satisfy thrill-seeking fans of pulp-era aviation fiction, Doc Savage readers, and Jonny Quest viewers. The book opens with an introduction by noted aviation pulp collector and scholar Sid Bradd. What follows that introduction—a Spad-terrorizing pterodactyl, invisible aircraft and flying bombs of green fire, a Red Demon who hypnotizes Allied airmen to attack their own armies—should thrill any fan of pulp hero fiction. Strange combats all these terrors and more in ways that fully earn him the epithet assigned him by the Germans: The Brain-Devil.”
The Age of Aces crew offers another fine-looking package. Dave Kalb and Bill Mann's care in crafting a nice, readable layout is obvious, and Chris Kalb’s designs—both exterior and interior—equal the fine job he provided on AoA’s Spider volume (The Spider vs the Empire State, by Norvell Page) and recall some of the fine design work Jim Steranko applied to the great Weird Heroes volumes packaged by Byron Preiss in the 1970s.
This is a fun book. I picked this up at PulpFest 2011, and it was the first item I started reading once I reached home. As a result, I look forward to future Brain-Devil volumes from Age of Aces.
Labels: Age of Aces, Captain Philip Strange, Donald Keyhoe
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
A postscript to The Gault Papers
As noted in the posting of the first section of The Gault Papers, R.T. "Ditch" Gault based a great deal of his information on the biography of Talbot Mundy by Peter Berresford Ellis, The Last Adventurer: The Life of Talbot Mundy (Donald Grant, 1984), and the bibliography of his works by Donald Grant, ed., Talbot Mundy: Messenger of Destiny (Donald Grant, 1983). Not yet published at the time Gault compiled his bibliographic essay -- nor yet before his death -- was Brian Taves' critical biography, Talbot Mundy, Philosopher of Adventure: A Critical Biography (McFarland & Company, 2005).
In researching his book, Brian delved into more sources than Ellis had available and uncovered a great deal of material that Ellis didn't cover. Brian traveled to many place Mundy had lived and talked to people who knew Mundy, including his widow and stepson.
Brian is now working on another book, this one about silent film producer Thomas Ince. Mundy worked with Ince. The new book, due in the Autumn, describes how Mundy began working at Ince's studio and how the two men met in Africa.
Ellis' book was sorely needed at the time it was published. It's still good reading, but it has become a bit dated now. Seventy-one years after Mundy's death, there is still more to learn about this grand old fictioneer who shook the pages of Adventure magazine and whose works still thrill readers today.
Links:
Brian's thesis-centered Winds From the East: A Talbot Mundy Reader is also available from Amazon.
His forthcoming book, Thomas Ince: Hollywood's Independent Pioneer, will be available in November 2011.
In researching his book, Brian delved into more sources than Ellis had available and uncovered a great deal of material that Ellis didn't cover. Brian traveled to many place Mundy had lived and talked to people who knew Mundy, including his widow and stepson.
Brian is now working on another book, this one about silent film producer Thomas Ince. Mundy worked with Ince. The new book, due in the Autumn, describes how Mundy began working at Ince's studio and how the two men met in Africa.
Ellis' book was sorely needed at the time it was published. It's still good reading, but it has become a bit dated now. Seventy-one years after Mundy's death, there is still more to learn about this grand old fictioneer who shook the pages of Adventure magazine and whose works still thrill readers today.
Links:
Last Adventurer: The Life of Talbot Mundy by Peter Berresford Ellis is available from Amazon. This biography may be in short supply.
Talbot Mundy: Messenger of Destiny by Donald M. Grant is also available from Amazon. This book may be in short supply.
Talbot Mundy, Philosopher of Adventure: A Critical Biography by Brian Taves is also available from Amazon.
Brian's thesis-centered Winds From the East: A Talbot Mundy Reader is also available from Amazon.
His forthcoming book, Thomas Ince: Hollywood's Independent Pioneer, will be available in November 2011.
Labels: Brian Taves, Peter Berresford Ellis, R.T. Gault, Talbot Mundy, Thomas Ince
Saturday, August 20, 2011
The Gault Papers Part 4: Mundy's Omnibus Editions & Nonfiction
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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 those previous posts.
The information below wraps up Gault's bibliographic material on Mundy. It appeared at the end of his other citations and comments. I've set it apart from the other sections, as its focus differs slightly from that of the other bibliographic areas he developed. By the way, the accompanying illustration comes from the Classics Illustrated edition of King of the Khyber Rifles.
Talbot Mundy Omnibus Editions
1933.
All Four Winds
Hutchinson and Co. (1933) 1232 pages.
Contains King -- of the Khyber Rifles, Jimgrim, Black Light, and Om.
1936.
Romances of India
A. L. Burt (1936) 1033 pgs. McCelland & Sewart (1936) 1033.
Contains King -- of the Khyber Rifles, Guns of the Gods, and Told in the East (1923).
Nonfiction
1947.
I Say Sunrise.
No magazine publication.
Published post-humuously. First British ed.: Andrew Dakers Ltd. (London, 1947), 182 pgs. First American ed.: Milton F. Wells (Philadelphia 1949), 187 pgs.
- Reprints:
S. J. R. Saunders (Toronto 1949), 187 pgs. DeVorss & Co. (1964), 182 pgs., trade pb.; early printings of the DeVorss ed. had same cover as Dakers ed. My copy of DeVorss' 6th printing (1983) lists only the copyright date for 1947. DeVorss ed. is most likely a rpt. of the British first ed.
Mundy's personal mystical philosophy.
Thus Spake the Devil, which he planned to publish under the pseudonym "Malloy Grayson." He was unable to sell it, and later completely rewrote the ms., and it is that version which was eventually published as I Say Sunrise. *(NOTE 1)
* NOTE:
1. Peter Barresford Ellis, Last Adventurer, p. 208.
- R.T. Gault
LINKS:
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
Winds From the East is a Talbot Mundy reader compiled by Brian Taves. It's available from Amazon.
Labels: Adventure, R.T. Gault, Talbot Mundy
The Gault Papers Part 3: Mundy's Tros Saga
As noted in the first two parts of “The Gault Papers,” posted elsewhere 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 those previous posts. Now, on to Gault’s Tros essay:
Bibliographic Information on Talbot Mundy's Tros of Samothrace Series
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Shortly after Mundy finished Om he began planning a novel that he called Queen Cleopatra. He put the project aside, and instead produced a massive epic based around one of the supporting cast members of his projected novel, a Greek sailor-adventurer named Tros of Samothrace. Mundy's aim may have been to create interest for his Cleopatra novel in the pages of Adventure (abbreviated below as A). The series sparked a hot historical debate that ran for a decade. Mundy's revisionism, especially his view of Rome as a proto-fascist state, was ahead of its time.
The Tros Saga
1925-6.
Tros of Samothrace.
- 1. Tros of Samothrace, A: 10 February 1925.
- 2. The Enemy of Rome, A: 10 April 1025.
- 3. Prisoners of War, A: 10 June 1925.
- 4. Hostages to Luck, A: 20 August 1025
- 5. Admiral of Caesar's Fleet, A: 10 October 1925.
- 6. The Dancing Girl of Gades, A: 10 December 1925.
- 7. Messenger of Destiny, A: 10 February 1926
- 8. Messenger of Destiny, A: 20 February 1926.
- 9. Messenger of Destiny, A: 28 February 1926.
These nine installments were rewitten as Tros of Samothrace.
First American ed.: D. Appleton-Century Co. (September 1934), 949 pgs. First English ed.: Hutchinson & Co. (October 1934), 960 pgs; Buccaneer Books, 1995.
The length of the final novel gives some idea of the scope of the work. The novel spans from 55 BC, as Caesar makes plans to invade Britain, and ends with the failure of those invasion plans.
1929.
Queen Cleopatra.
Not published in magazine form.
First American ed.: Bobbs-Merrill (February 1929), 426 pgs; and a special edition limited to 265 copies, signed by author, also dated February 1929. First English ed.: Hutchinson & Co. (March 1929).
As in original plan, Cleopatra is the main protagonist, but Tros' role may have expanded due to the popularity of the Adventure series. Ends with the assassination of Caesar, and Cleopatra's escape from Rome.
1935.
The Purple Pirate.
- 1. Battle Stations, A: 1 May 1935.
- 2. Cleopatra's Promise, A: 15 June 1935.
- 3. The Purple Pirate, A: 15 August 1935.
- 4. Fleets of Fire, A: 1 October 1935.
These four installments were rewritten as Purple Pirate. First American ed.: D. Appleton-Century Co. (October 1935), 367 pgs. First English ed.: Hutchinson & Co. (November 1935), 496 pgs; Amereon Ltd, 1991.
This novel concerns civil wars after Caesar's death. Ends before Cleopatra's death.
Two paperback reprints of the Tros Saga have generally confused many readers who haunt used bookshops.
The Avon printings of the late 1960s:
Avon published Tros of Samothrace in four volumes, breaking them at the same place that Mundy did:
- 1. Tros (1967) comprised installments 1 & 2; reprinted by Tandem Books (London 1971).
- 2. Helma (1967) comprised installments 3 & 4; reprinted by Tandem Books (London 1971).
- 3. Liafail (1967) comprised installments 5 & 6; reprinted by Tandem Books (London 1971).
- 4. Helene (1967) comprised installments 7, 8 & 9; reprinted by Tandem Books (London 1971).
Avon also reprinted The Purple Pirate and Queen Cleopatra (both 1970) with wonderful and sexy Frank Frazetta covers.
The only kind thing that can be said about the Zebra Books' reprinting of the Tros Saga is that they did keep it in print. Zebra published Tros of Samothrace in three volumes, breaking the stories in illogical mid-points of the Mundy originals:
- 1. Lud of Luden (September 1976), comprised installments 1, 2, and the first half of 3 (Prisoners of War). Numerous misprints and spelling errors.
- 2. Avenging Liafail (October 1976), comprised the last half of installment 3, plus 4 and the first half of 5 (Admiral of Caesar's Fleet). Numerous misprints and spelling errors.
- 3. The Praetor's Dungeon (November 1976), comprised the last half of installment 5, with 6 through 9. Numerous misprints and spelling errors.
- 4. Purple Pirate (January 1977). Order of the novels is misrepresented on the cover. Extremely badly printed (almost unreadable), with ultra fine print, monstrous proof and copy reader's errors, and the usual misprints and spelling errors. An incredibly bad production all round.
- 5. Queen Cleopatra (April 1978). Order of the novels is misrepresented on the cover. The usual stupid errors, but much improved over Purple Pirate.
Zebra Books was hot on series novels and liked to number their Science Fiction and Fantasy books, even if they didn't need numbers (a lamentable trend begun by Pinnacle Books in the late 1960s). Zebra numbered their covers of the Tros series Volume 1 through 5, but got the order of the last two wrong, listing Purple Pirate as vol. 4 and Queen Cleopatra as vol. 5! This must have confused the hell out of the readers to learn that Caesar was dead in Vol. 4, and finally assassinated in Vol. 5. Maybe somebody else will reprint the saga again, and do it right.
- by R.T. Gault
Links:
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
Winds From the East is a Talbot Mundy reader compiled by Brian Taves. It's available from Amazon.
There are some Tros eBooks available for the Kindle at Amazon, but I don’t know which versions or editions on which they are based.
Labels: Talbot Mundy, Tros
Thursday, August 18, 2011
The Gault Papers Part 2: Mundy's Jimgrim Saga
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
Winds From the East is a Talbot Mundy reader compiled by Brian Taves. It's available from Amazon.
Labels: JimGrim, R.T. Gault, Talbot Mundy
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
The Gault Papers: Talbot Mundy's Tibetan Stories
One of the writers whose work first prompted me to launch a pulp-related Website was Talbot Mundy. So it feels right for me to kick off this PulpRack blog with R.T. Gault's Mundy information.
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." After Gault's death, the site disappeared. Yet the info it contained is quite valuable to readers of Talbot Mundy, and several sites had linked to Gault's information. Thanks to Carl William Thiel, who had saved the info from Gault's site, I was able to present it at my original PulpRack Website, and I'm pleased to be able to present it here. I've edited it slightly to provide some consistency in mechanics and grammar.
Also, to make using the information easier, I've broken the single, long file into four documents: "Mundy's Tibetan Stories," "Mundy's Jimgrim Saga," "Mundy's Tros Saga," and "Omnibus Editions & Nonfiction." I'll post each section separately to the PulpRack.
As each post goes live, you'll be able to click on the tags at the bottom of the post to go to the sections you wish to see.
With thanks to Mike Chomko, once upon a time the publisher of the pulp fanzine Purple Prose and now one of the organizers of the PulpFest pulp convention, I was able to contact the Gault family. Karen Gault kindly responded in this manner:
"What a pleasant surprise to get your EMail! I enjoyed looking through your site and am happy that someone saved Ditch's site info on Mundy and is using it to reach an interested audience. You may use it with my blessing."
Our thanks to Mike and especially to Karen.
Now, onward to R.T. Gault's info. -- Duane
Bibliographic Information on Talbot Mundy's Tibetan Story Series
Talbot Mundy (born William Lancaster Gribbon in 1879) was one of the most interesting and colorful of the writers during the great age of adventure pulp fiction. Mundy worked as a British colonial civil servant, journalist, and later a poacher and a general scoundrel until his arrival in New York in 1909. I suspect (but cannot prove) that he may have also been an agent for the British Colonial Secret Service at some time in his somewhat shady history. After his arrival in America he became a U.S. citizen under the name Talbot Mundy, and began a new life as a writer of "cracking good tales," mostly for the pulp magazine Adventure.
Another important step for Mundy was his long association with Katherine Tingley's splinter Theosophist commune at Point Loma, California. He died in 1940.
The definitive biography of Talbot Mundy is by Peter Barresford Ellis, The Last Adventurer: The Life of Talbot Mundy (Donald Grant, 1984), and the definitive bibliography of his works is by Donald Grant, ed., Talbot Mundy: Messenger of Destiny (Donald Grant, 1983). [Not published at the time Gault wrote his essay, but available now is Talbot Mundy, Philosopher of Adventure: A Critical Biography by Brian Taves (McFarland & Company, 2005). -- Duane]
Most of the information presented here was developed as a result of my interest in Mundy as a "mystical novelist."
These three series -- his Tibetan novels, his JimGrim series, and his Tros of Samothrace stories -- contain or relate to most of the more mystical of Mundy's work, though I have surely missed a few. Most of the bibliographic information comes from Donald Grant's exhaustive Mundy Bibliography (noted above), but much of the organization and comments are mine. I have also attempted to add any new printings and information that have become available since 1983. Comments and corrections are welcomed.
Talbot Mundy's Tibetan Novels
Early Tibetan novels:
1923.
Om: The Secret of Ahbor Valley, written at Point Loma, Ca., in late 1922, early 1923.
Published in Adventure, 10 October - 30 November 1923.
First American Edition: Bobbs-Merrill Co. (1924) 352 pgs. First British ed.: Hutchinson & Co. (1925), 352 pgs.
- Reprints:
MacKinlay, Stone & Mackenzie: *(NOTE 1) (circa 1924), 393 pgs, with frontis. photo of Mundy.
Theosophical Press (Point Loma, 1931), 392 pgs. Crown Publishers (1962), 392 pgs, pb.
Avon Books (1967), 336 pgs, pb.
Cedric Chivers, Ltd (London), 348 pgs.
Point Loma Publications (1980), 392 pgs. trade pb.; with intro by Peter Barresford Ellis; opening poem "squeezed" onto one page.
Carroll and Graf (1984), 392 pgs, pb.; opening poem "squeezed" onto one page as in the Point Loma (1980) ed., suggesting that it was reproduced from that ed. *(NOTE 2)
1926.
The Devil's Guard, published in Adventure under the title Rasmden, 8 June 1926 - 8 August 1926.
First American ed: Bobbs-Merrill Co. (1926) 335 pgs, identified as the first edition. First British ed., as Rasmden (Spring 1926), 286 pgs.
- Reprints:
A. L. Burt Co (1927), 335 pgs.
The Oriental Club (Philadelphia 1945). 291 pgs; with Foreword by Milton F. Wells.
Avon Books, (1968), 255 pgs, pb.
1930-31.
Jimgrim, published in Adventure under the title King of the World, 1 December 1930 - 15 February 1931.
First American ed.: The Century Co.(March 1931) 385 pgs.; identified as first printing.
Hutchinson & Co. (April 1931) 312 pgs.
- Reprints:
A. L. Burt (1933), 385 pgs.
Royal Books (New York), as Jimgrim Sahib, 319 pgs, pb.
Avon Books (1968), 288 pgs. pb.
Later Tibetan novels:
1937.
Thunder Dragon Gate published in American Weekly, 8 installments, beginning 24 January 1937.
First British edition: Hutchinson & Co. (March 1937). First American ed.: D. Appleton-Century Co. (1937), 335 pgs. First Canadian ed.: Ryerson Press (1937). Pagination different for all eds.
1938.
Old Ugly Face, published in Maclean's (Canada), 3 installments beginning 15 April 1938.
First Book ed: D.Appleton-Century (Feb 1940). First British Ed.: (London, Hutchinson) June 1940. Canadian ed.: (Toronto, Ryerson Press), 1940; same pagination as the Appleton ed.
Reprint:
(Philadelphia, Wells & Shakespeare), 1950; same pagination as the Appleton ed.
Sequel to Thunder Dragon Gate.
Old Ugly Face is the last work of major fiction that Mundy published before his death in 1940. It is the only novel that Mundy wrote in longhand first. Neither Grant nor Ellis seems to have noticed (or mentioned) that Thunder Dragon Gate and Old Ugly Face are related to each other.
Relating to the Tibetan novels, Mundy wrote nonfiction pieces for Adventure providing background to his stories. These usually appeared in a regular feature entitled "The Camp Fire." *(NOTE 3)
- 10 January 1923, "The Camp Fire"; background on Ommany to tie in with short novel Treason.
- 10 October 1924, "The Camp Fire"; 2,000-word essay on background of Mahatmas, Ahbor Valley, and ancient wisdom. An extract from this was published in The Theosophical Path (Point Loma) in the February 1925 issue. Some selective quotes in Grant and Ellis.
- 8 June 1926, "The Camp Fire"; 4,000-word essay on eastern theology, dugpas, and philosophy to tie in with serial Rasmden (book title: The Devil's Guard). *(NOTE 4)
- by R.T. Gault
*NOTES
1. Grant, Talbot Mundy, p. 214: "Nine Talbot Mundy titles were published by McKinlay, Stone and Mackenzie in matched bindings. McKinlay, Stone and Mackenzie was an affiliate of Review of Reviews (Hearst), and sales of these editions were primarily mail order."
2. The Carroll and Graf ed. is not listed in Grant's bibliographies of Mundy material (see note below)
3. Penn State Library's Rare Books and Special Collections owns the Arthur Sullivan Hoffmann papers. Hoffmann was the editor of Adventure for many years, and the man most responsible for Mundy's long-running success in that magazine. Ellis' biography makes great use of Penn State's Hoffmann papers.
4. All bibliographical material from Donald M. Grant, Talbot Mundy: Messenger of Destiny (1983) unless otherwise noted.
Links:
Om: The Secret of Ahbor Valley seems to be out of print. There may be some used copies of various editions available 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.
Talbot Mundy: Messenger of Destiny by Donald M. Grant is also available from Amazon. This book may be in short supply.
Talbot Mundy, Philosopher of Adventure: A Critical Biography by Brian Taves is also available from Amazon.
Labels: JimGrim, R.T. Gault, Talbot Mundy, Tibetan, Tros
Saturday, August 6, 2011
PulpFest 2011
Welcome to the new home of The PulpRack.
The process for maintaining the former Website-based PulpRack was becoming too clunky for me to manage in a timely manner--the demands on my time have become greater in recent years, and using my blogs is a quicker and more efficient method for me to put info out into the world, so I allowed the PulpRack Website to go moribund. Actually, I didn't really know if it had any traffic anymore.
However, at PulpFest in Columbus, Ohio, more than one person said, "I tried to access the PulpRack the other day, and it wasn't there." So, here we are.
I'm kicking off this relaunch of the PulpRack in its new incarnation as a blog with a brief PulpFest 2011 report. In the following weeks, I'll be posting new stuff interspersed with reposts of items that originally resided on the PulpRack Website. People apparently still refer to bibliographies and other items that were posted there. My original intention for the PulpRack was to serve as a reference site. With the proliferation of information-access apps and whatnot through mobile devices and the ubiquity of the Internet, I thought my site had become a redundant resource. But apparently not.
So, onward to PulpFest!
This was my first PulpFest. My last pulp convention was PulpCon 35 in 2006. Both of the guests of honor at that convention (Philip Klass [May 9, 1920 – February 7, 2010] and Anastassios Kyriakakos aka Ernest Chiriacka [1913-2010]) have died since that time.
Walker Martin has posted an entertaining PulpFest report at Laurie Powers' enjoyable blog, Laurie's Wild West. I'll just add a few remarks to complement that report from my perspective.
I was thrilled to see a pulp convention that was dynamic and thriving. Unfortunately, the last couple of PulpCons I attended had dwindling attendance. Many vibrant dealers and fans who had been at the PulpCons I had initially attended are now gone: Howard DeVore, Harry Noble, Jack Deveny, et al. Some are now in a fragile state: Al Tonik--whose PulpCon reports I read in fanzines which were the source of my knowledge about pulp fandom--is no longer able to attend; Nick Wooda Carr--whose articles on pulp westerns taught me tons about that genre--moves very slowly these days; and Don Hutchison--the Dapperest Gentleman in Pulp Fandom, author of The Great Pulp Heroes and editor of Scarlet Riders and It's Raining More Corpses in Chinatown--is showing his age, though still demonstrates grace and panache.
But PulpFest 2011 also had a lot of younger folks in attendance, many who were attending their first pulp convention and had only recently learned about the world of pulp culture. And they were very interested and enthusiastic and eager to learn more and to participate in fandom. I was also pleased to see an expanded number of dealers and types of products available. This is all good news for the continued health and growth of our eccentric hobby. (Maybe -- after I've looked around and seen the focus of some other hobbies -- pulp fandom isn't so eccentric as we fans occasionally like to imagine.)
I was pleased to see available a greater number of books reprinting pulp stories. That there is a market for these kinds of books demonstrates the viability of this realm of writing that pulp fans love, and that the writing is, at heart, good: I recognize that's a pretty generalized statement, and it probably deserves a posting all its own. But the best pulp writers demonstrated a verve and mastery of narrative that's just as dynamic and entertaining to readers today as at the time their works were originally published.
Now, back to PulpFest itself.
(I said above "a few remarks," but looks like I've gotten a bit more long winded than I expected when I started writing this post.)
Okay, back to brief. PulpFest 2011 rocked. Great people, excellent programming, fun times. I hadn't intended to spend a lot of cash on items, except for maybe two reprint books. I ended up buying three reprints, two old paperback anthologies of western stories, a Have Gun Will Travel tie-in novel by Noel Loomis (after Chuck Welch decided to pass on it), and three pulp magazines. I would have purchased more if the budget would have allowed such a spree, but I anticipate I'll be contacting some of the small press publishers in attendance for an order or two in the coming months as my coffers allow. As it is, I have plenty of pulp reading ahead of me for the coming weeks.
I gave a reading as a "new pulp fictioneer" from three of my works in progress: an excerpt from Space Detective, an alternative-1950s SF/hard-boiled detective novel I'm working on with British artist Mike Fyles; a chapter from Shalimar Bang, about a contemporary pulp-styled action-adventure team; and a short chapter from a western novel, The Express Agent. The audience was interested, the Q&A lively, and the experience overall was very enjoyable. I look forward to doing another reading someday.
I also joined five other new pulp fictioneers -- Dr. Art Sippo, Greg Gick, Win Scott Eckert (of Wold Newton fame), Wayne Reinagel, and Bill Craig -- in a panel moderated by Airship 27's Ron Fortier. The topic was new pulp writing. Quite a number of people were in the audience, and again the crowd was enthusiastic and very nice. Ron did a great job moderating, and all the panelists did a fine job providing background on new pulp-styled writing and offering encouragement to the audience members to learn and read more.
I'm looking forward to next year's 'Fest!
The process for maintaining the former Website-based PulpRack was becoming too clunky for me to manage in a timely manner--the demands on my time have become greater in recent years, and using my blogs is a quicker and more efficient method for me to put info out into the world, so I allowed the PulpRack Website to go moribund. Actually, I didn't really know if it had any traffic anymore.
However, at PulpFest in Columbus, Ohio, more than one person said, "I tried to access the PulpRack the other day, and it wasn't there." So, here we are.
I'm kicking off this relaunch of the PulpRack in its new incarnation as a blog with a brief PulpFest 2011 report. In the following weeks, I'll be posting new stuff interspersed with reposts of items that originally resided on the PulpRack Website. People apparently still refer to bibliographies and other items that were posted there. My original intention for the PulpRack was to serve as a reference site. With the proliferation of information-access apps and whatnot through mobile devices and the ubiquity of the Internet, I thought my site had become a redundant resource. But apparently not.
So, onward to PulpFest!
This was my first PulpFest. My last pulp convention was PulpCon 35 in 2006. Both of the guests of honor at that convention (Philip Klass [May 9, 1920 – February 7, 2010] and Anastassios Kyriakakos aka Ernest Chiriacka [1913-2010]) have died since that time.
Walker Martin has posted an entertaining PulpFest report at Laurie Powers' enjoyable blog, Laurie's Wild West. I'll just add a few remarks to complement that report from my perspective.
I was thrilled to see a pulp convention that was dynamic and thriving. Unfortunately, the last couple of PulpCons I attended had dwindling attendance. Many vibrant dealers and fans who had been at the PulpCons I had initially attended are now gone: Howard DeVore, Harry Noble, Jack Deveny, et al. Some are now in a fragile state: Al Tonik--whose PulpCon reports I read in fanzines which were the source of my knowledge about pulp fandom--is no longer able to attend; Nick Wooda Carr--whose articles on pulp westerns taught me tons about that genre--moves very slowly these days; and Don Hutchison--the Dapperest Gentleman in Pulp Fandom, author of The Great Pulp Heroes and editor of Scarlet Riders and It's Raining More Corpses in Chinatown--is showing his age, though still demonstrates grace and panache.
But PulpFest 2011 also had a lot of younger folks in attendance, many who were attending their first pulp convention and had only recently learned about the world of pulp culture. And they were very interested and enthusiastic and eager to learn more and to participate in fandom. I was also pleased to see an expanded number of dealers and types of products available. This is all good news for the continued health and growth of our eccentric hobby. (Maybe -- after I've looked around and seen the focus of some other hobbies -- pulp fandom isn't so eccentric as we fans occasionally like to imagine.)
I was pleased to see available a greater number of books reprinting pulp stories. That there is a market for these kinds of books demonstrates the viability of this realm of writing that pulp fans love, and that the writing is, at heart, good: I recognize that's a pretty generalized statement, and it probably deserves a posting all its own. But the best pulp writers demonstrated a verve and mastery of narrative that's just as dynamic and entertaining to readers today as at the time their works were originally published.
Now, back to PulpFest itself.
(I said above "a few remarks," but looks like I've gotten a bit more long winded than I expected when I started writing this post.)
Okay, back to brief. PulpFest 2011 rocked. Great people, excellent programming, fun times. I hadn't intended to spend a lot of cash on items, except for maybe two reprint books. I ended up buying three reprints, two old paperback anthologies of western stories, a Have Gun Will Travel tie-in novel by Noel Loomis (after Chuck Welch decided to pass on it), and three pulp magazines. I would have purchased more if the budget would have allowed such a spree, but I anticipate I'll be contacting some of the small press publishers in attendance for an order or two in the coming months as my coffers allow. As it is, I have plenty of pulp reading ahead of me for the coming weeks.
I gave a reading as a "new pulp fictioneer" from three of my works in progress: an excerpt from Space Detective, an alternative-1950s SF/hard-boiled detective novel I'm working on with British artist Mike Fyles; a chapter from Shalimar Bang, about a contemporary pulp-styled action-adventure team; and a short chapter from a western novel, The Express Agent. The audience was interested, the Q&A lively, and the experience overall was very enjoyable. I look forward to doing another reading someday.
I also joined five other new pulp fictioneers -- Dr. Art Sippo, Greg Gick, Win Scott Eckert (of Wold Newton fame), Wayne Reinagel, and Bill Craig -- in a panel moderated by Airship 27's Ron Fortier. The topic was new pulp writing. Quite a number of people were in the audience, and again the crowd was enthusiastic and very nice. Ron did a great job moderating, and all the panelists did a fine job providing background on new pulp-styled writing and offering encouragement to the audience members to learn and read more.
I'm looking forward to next year's 'Fest!
Labels: PulpCon, PulpFest, reading, Ron Fortier
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