TALES OF TERROR - INSCRIBED, WITH A 3-PAGE ALS TO HIS PUBLISHER

by Karloff, Boris (editor); Stoker, Bram, Algernon Blackwood, Edgar Allan Poe, and William Faulkner, et al. (contributors)

$6,500 · Offered by Biblio

First edition · Signed

Cleveland and New York: The World Publishing Company / Tower Books, 1943. First Edition. First Printing. Octavo (21cm); dark sage green paper-covered boards, with titling and publisher's logo stamped in black on spine; dustjacket; [8],9-317,[3]pp. Inscribed by Karloff on the front endpaper: "To Don / with every good wish / Boris Karloff / Jan 5/44." Some external wear, shallow chipping to crown, hint of sunning to spine, with some mild bubbling to paper and lower front cover, offsetting and some mild discoloration to endpapers, and the usual tanning to the text edges; Very Good. Dustjacket is edgeworn, with corresponding tears and creasing to upper spine panel, a few tiny nick and tears, and a small splash mark to upper front flap; Very Good or better. Offered together with a three-page ALS from Karloff to Dr. E.M. Sheare (the publisher of this volume), composed in black pen on three sheets of Arsenic and Old Lace letterhead (measuring ca.8.5" x 11") and dated about five months prior to publication (May 20, 1943); 49 lines (280 words), signed "as ever, Boris." Two old folds from mailing smoothed out, some very subtle toning to extremities, else Fine, together with the original mailing envelope. All housed in a custom quarter-morocco drop-backed clamshell case. Scarce first printing of this cheaply-manufactured wartime anthology of "terror stories," all selected by Karloff, who has written a generous six-page introduction. The contents include contributions by Bram Stoker ("Th

• Publisher: The World Publishing Company / Tower Books
• Year: 1943
• Edition: First Edition
• Printing: first
• Binding: unknown

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