As you know I’m a collector of sorts . . .
Have been since I was a tiny tot, be it sweet cigarette cards, lolly-pop sticks, MacDonalds freebies and so on, you get the picture? In fact, if there were free cards with anything, I collected them. This of course morphed into the comic, book and record collecting as I got older. I’m sure there are many of you out there who will have collected something at some stage in your lives, some of them quite normal and others a little strange.
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I never catalogued anything, mainly due to lack of time but maybe some of you have. Taking it one step further, there are many famous collections around the world which are catalogued and are either housed in various museums or are privately owned and kept in sealed rooms to be viewed by the collector. So it is with all this in mind that I would like to bring to your attention the very strange and unusual catalogue of THE DAGON COLLECTION edited by Nate Pedersen
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NATE PEDERSEN is an award-winning writer and historian in Savannah, Georgia. With Lydia Kang, MD he is the co-author of QUACKERY: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything (Workman, 2017), PATIENT ZERO: A Curious History of the World’s Worst Diseases (Workman, 2021), and the forthcoming PSEUDOSCIENCE: A Strange History of How Not to Think (Workman, 2024). Nate and Lydia’s books have been published in 12 languages around the world.
As collaborative art projects, Nate edited the Lovecraftian anthologies THE STARRY WISDOM LIBRARY: The Catalogue of the Greatest Occult Book Auction of All Time (PS, 2014) and SISTERHOOD: Dark Tales and Secret Histories (Chaosium, 2021). Nate also contributed a story to THE LEAVES OF A NECRONOMICON edited by Joseph S. Pulver, Sr.
Nate is also the Manager of Archival and Reference Team at Georgia Historical Society in Savannah. A native of Minnesota, he has a bachelor’s degree in cultural anthropology and a master’s degree in library and information studies from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
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Here’s a little publishing history about the putting together of this catalogue from the editor Nate Pederson.
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A follow-up to THE STARRY WISDOM LIBRARY, entitled THE DAGON COLLECTION upcoming from PS Publishing.
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A little over ten years ago, Pete and Nicky Crowther took a chance on a wild idea I had: an anthology that was a series of histories of famous occult books in Lovecraft's fiction, but presented as a fake auction catalogue published in 1877.
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It was an elaborate, esoteric idea that essentially violated all the rules of publishing: Without an easily digestible pitch, the idea was overly esoteric and academic, heavily design-focused, and with an extremely limited potential audience. And yet, to my immense surprise and delight, the Crowthers said "Sure, let's do it!" That willingness to take a chance on a harebrained idea from an inexperienced editor is one of those beautiful things about the independent publishing world. Those beautiful risks can sometimes lead to the creation of beautiful art. And that's what THE STARRY WISDOM LIBRARY became: a piece of collective art, where the sum is truly larger than the parts, with contributions from the leading voices in Lovecraftian fiction, illustrations by Liv-Rainey Smith, and period design by Andrew Leman. With PS's support, the anthology found an enthusiastic audience and continues to sell well today.
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I'm happy to announce in this newsletter that the companion book to THE STARRY WISDOM LIBRARY, which has been in the works for seven years, will finally be published in 2024: THE DAGON COLLECTION.
The anthology is once again presented as a fake auction catalogue, however this time it is 1929, shortly after the events in "The Shadow Over Innsmouth." The feds have just raided the Esoteric Order of Dagon Lodge. Now they've contracted with Pent & Serenade, Occult Auctioneers, to sell the items secured in the raid. In addition to books, this auction also features weaponry, art, jewelry, nautical items, textiles, and objects both strange and prosaic once owned by the Dagon cult.
The design skills of Andrew Leman of H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society have brought the catalogue to life in all its 1920s period glory. Rebecca Baumann of the University of Indiana provided the cataloging of the objects. Liv Rainey-Smith and Eduardo Valdes-Hevia contributed illustrations. Leading voices in horror and Lovecraftian fiction again contributed stories, including:
- F. Paul Wilson, Jesse Bullington, John Langan
- Gemma Files, Livia Llewellyn, Michael Cisco
- Nick Mamatas, Ramsey Campbell, Selena Chambers
- Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and, in a bittersweet note . . .
- Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. (to whom the book is dedicated), in what may be his final unpublished story.
- An introduction by S. T. Joshi
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Our civilization may well be able to deal with single threats such as the occasional vampire, werewolf, or ghost; but those “forgotten Old Ones”—who, let us recall, dwell “not in the spaces we know, but between them”—are a menace precisely because they are ready to initiate a “great replacement” far more ominous than anything yet contemplated by merely human races. We need to face the truth that doom hangs perennially over us. I quote again that unknown commentator: “Who knows the end? What has risen may sink, and what has sunk may rise. Loathsomeness waits and dreams in the deep, and decay spreads over the tottering cities of men.”
All this may have little to do with the catalogue you hold in your hands—but I’m telling you, we are in danger! God, that hand! The window! The window!
— S. T. Joshi Rare Books & Manuscripts Division Armitage Library, Miskatonic University Arkham, Massachusetts January, 2022
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I'm enormously proud of this anthology and am so excited to share it with the world. With immense gratitude to Pete and Nicky for their trust in my vision, I'm happy to announce pre-orders are open for THE DAGON COLLECTION.
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I'll start this week's update with news of the remarqued copies of DIFFERENT SEASONS by Stephen King. I’m pleased to say that Eli John the artist for this title has now completed all of the remarques and will be bringing the books over to PS Towers on Thursday 25th January. We’ll get them wrapped and posted out to you as soon as possible.
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GLASS SHATTERS FIST by James Cooper
We now have copies of the trade paperback collection of GLASS SHATTERS FIST by James Cooper in stock and all preorders have been mailed out this week.
The signed hardcover edition is already with Biddles. James emailed me a couple of days ago to say the signed signing sheets are in the post.
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MYSTERY MURDER MADNESS MYTHOS edited by Glynn Owen Barrass & Brian M. Sammons
Both the editions of the anthology MYSTERY MURDER MADNESS MYTHOS edited by Glynn Owen Barrass and Brian M. Sammons are almost completed at the printers. We should have the trade paperback very soon whilst the hardcover will be going to Nigel at Biddles to have the two signing sheets tipped in.
That’s it for this week. Hopefully, I've not forgotten anything but never fear, I’ll update you next week if I have.
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Hi there everyone, I hope 2024 is going to be a great year for all you collectors out there. Here are some cracking books on offer to start the new year, beginning with four by that quite well-known author, J.R.R. Tolkien.
THE ADVENTURES OF TOM BOMBADIL is a 6th impression published by George Allen and Unwin, FARMER GILES OF HAM is an 8th impression from 1971, THE SIMARILLON which was first published in 1977, and lastly, THE FATHER CHRISTMAS LETTERS, first published in 1976.
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And from another giant of the genre, we have three signed books from Harlan Ellison; a 1st edition copy of APROACHING OBLIVION published by Walker and Co in 1974; STRANGE WINE, published by Harper and Row in 1978, and a 1st edition of ALONE AGAINST TOMORROW published by the Macmillan Co in 1971.
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Following in the Ellison theme we have THE ESSENTIAL ELLISON edited by Terry Dowling. This is a 1st edition from 1987 by Nemo Press and we have a Bluejay special edition publication by St Martin's Press of THE BEAST THAT SHOUTED LOVE AT THE HEART OF THE WORLD which is a short story collection including one of Harlan's most famous stories "A Boy and his Dog".
Lastly, on the Ellison theme, we have THE BOOK ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER by Christopher Priest. Published by Fantagraphic Books in 1994 and a 1st printing, this is about the third volume of this famed triptych of science fiction anthologies DANGEROUS VISONS. The first two were published but the third never was.
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A couple of offerings from Michael Marshall Smith include a signed PC copy of CAT STORIES—a published 1st edition by Earthling Publications—containing three stories centered around cats and THIS IS NOW, a 1st edition from 2007 that was published to coincide with the author's appearance as Guest of Honour at the World Horror Convention in Toronto.
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To finish, we have four books in "The Riverworld" series by Philip Jose Farmer. All these are Book Club Editions. TO YOUR SCATTERED BODIES GO, THE FABULOUS RIVERBOAT, THE DARK DESIGN and THE MAGIC LABYRINTH .
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Another bumper newsletter comes to a close. I think you’ll agree that THE DAGON COLLECTION is a wonderful way to start the new year and we have many more fantastic titles still to come. Don’t delay ordering your copy.
Take care, have a fun weekend and we’ll be back next week with more news. If you’ve been watching the news over the past month you will have seen that this part of the world has had more than its fair share of rainfall and at the moment the greensward is playing host to a family of ducks.
Pete & Nicky
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PS
In keeping with recent weeks, we've used artwork from past, current and future publications throughout the newsletter.
Artwork by Francois Vaillancourt for GLASS SHATTERS FIST forms the backdrop for "Nicky's Newsround". The background image is from THE DAGON COLLECTION, whilst Tomislav Tikulin's cover art for MYSTERY, MURDER, MADNESS, MYTHOS is the backdrop for Pete and Nicky's sign-off.
Check out the artists and more of their stunning work:
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