Daninsky's Collection

[bsaenz24]

Wow. Just wow! I didn't know that Mr. Smith created visual art as well as writing. Honestly I could argue that he was the most proficient writer of the weird circle.

I still have to make my way through the 5 volume CAS collection from Night Shade Books.

[mhatchett]

That is a very special collection.

[mhatchett]

Valid points, thanks for the input. I guess maybe I'm just a bit spoiled because the bulk of my collecting has been with Centipede and Subterranean Press, both of which seem to hold (and very frequently increase in) value quite reliably, with a few expected exceptions. So I still sometimes wind up surprised and a little sad to see other really good small publishers whose books (I feel) should hold value, but don't.

I hate to sound like a Pollyanna, I've mentioned this in the past, I rarely view book purchases as financial investments. The value of the books will be my kids problem after I'm gone. I usually keep what I buy. There are exceptions, of course. I think in recent years the book market has been extremely volatile and will continue to be in the foreseeable future.

[Theli]

I still have to make my way through the 5 volume CAS collection from Night Shade Books.

I'm still missing the last two of the collection.

Nice Thunderstorm collection. I love the way they look on the shelves. They do take the extra step to make their products have great shelf appeal. I would buy more from them but, for me, the authors just aren't what I am looking for. I do have some nice copies of their books though and keep my eyes open for when they do stock something that piques my interest.

[Daninsky]

I hate to sound like a Pollyanna, I've mentioned this in the past, I rarely view book purchases as financial investments. The value of the books will be my kids problem after I'm gone. I usually keep what I buy. There are exceptions, of course. I think in recent years the book market has been extremely volatile and will continue to be in the foreseeable future.

Oh I agree completely. I have traded a few books with other collectors, but I'm not sure I've ever re-sold one for profit. I simply dont have enough room in my library for all the books I want to own and read as well as space for making money. I still feel a little sad sometimes, however, when I see beautiful and intriguing small press books selling on Ebay for half what they were listed for a year earlier. It makes me feel like too few people are actually appreciating the books in question, though of course that may not be true.

[RonClinton]

Those CAS pieces are very cool, and you've managed to acquire quite a collection of what I imagine must be rare piece indeed...congratulations!

Btw, you must be very excited about the upcoming Centipede Press book: In the Realms of Mystery and Wonder: The Artwork of Clark Ashton Smith edited by Scott Connors. Signed by Connors with a Clark Ashton Smith facsimile signature. 600 copies, 300 signed. Two volumes in a unique binding inside a box. Probably $175 less 15% -- especially given that it combines two of your collecting passions, CAS and Centipede.

[Daninsky]

Those CAS pieces are very cool, and you've managed to acquire quite a collection of what I imagine must be rare piece indeed...congratulations!

Btw, you must be very excited about the upcoming Centipede Press book: In the Realms of Mystery and Wonder: The Artwork of Clark Ashton Smith edited by Scott Connors. Signed by Connors with a Clark Ashton Smith facsimile signature. 600 copies, 300 signed. Two volumes in a unique binding inside a box. Probably $175 less 15% -- especially given that it combines two of your collecting passions, CAS and Centipede.

I have been waiting anxiously for that book for a good many years, in fact. It seems that it has been in the pipeline forever. A few of these pieces should be in there (at least two were purchased from Scott Connors over the past decade), but several will likely not, which is a shame. The final piece I posted, that eerie landscape, has never been included in any CAS collections and has only sold one time since it was painted in the mid-20's. Smith painted it as a gift to one of his neighbors and it hung on her family's wall until I purchased it from her great-niece a few years ago. I couldn't get quality scans produced and sent to Jerad or Connors in time to get it in the book, alas. Mostly my fault, but its omission from what will likely be the most complete collection of Smith's artwork ever published will gall me for the remainder of my days.

[Theli]

That's too bad! It looks like a really stellar piece. Quite haunting.

[Daninsky]

That's too bad! It looks like a really stellar piece. Quite haunting.

I agree, it is one of my favorite pieces by him. He had several different styles and was completely untrained, so some come off looking quite amateurish while others evoke such a sense of weird otherworldliness that they seem quite well put together. He did hundreds f small sketches and 'doodles' that also find their way into circulation these days, but even they tend to be a bit rare. His actual compositions are almost unicorns, so finding one is a real treat, let alone one as atmospheric and unique as that one.

[One eyed cat]

As evidenced in the photos, I have all but ONE of those Ronald Kelly books. The first one in the series, Undertaker's Moon. My shelf is incomplete without it!! If anyone has copy of the Thunderstorm edition of that book, please do let me know. I'd sure love to buy it off of ya.

I have a new copy of Undertaker's Moon that I am willing to part with. Let me know if you are still looking.

[Daninsky]

I have a new copy of Undertaker's Moon that I am willing to part with. Let me know if you are still looking.

PM'd

[Brian861]

Dan, the sear volume and awesomeness of your collection is overwhelming. That will always be the case for me moving forward

[St. Troy]

...I'm half convinced Jerad is a wizard.

Although I don't own anything from CP, all evidence suggests that you are correct: every photo and description I've seen online (especially CP's Salem's Lot, with which I am obsessed), as well as just about every customer review (buyers don't merely like CP) - all seem to agree that CP is one of the very best out there, in the conversation as being as good as, or better than, any other.

...which adds to the mystery for which we have no reasonable answer: just exactly why won't SK work with them (him) again???

[Daninsky]

...which adds to the mystery for which we have no reasonable answer: just exactly why won't SK work with them (him) again???

Eh, I have not asked Jerad specifically about this, but what has led you to believe that the issue is that King is refusing to work with the publisher? Based on the the company's output and what I know of Jerad, I would be far more inclined to assume that Jerad just isn't trying to work on another King book. The horror market, small press especially, is pretty heavily saturated with King. Like...VERY saturated. Jerad specializes in very small, niche titles, usually ones that have been out of print for decades. The vast majority of the stuff he publishes is not currently being covered by any other publishers and hasn't been for years. He chose Salem's Lot very early on in the history of his press because SL is his absolute favorite King work, if not his favorite genre novel of all time.

Like I said, I haven't asked Jerad about it directly and I certainly haven't discussed it with King (to whom I have absolutely no avenue of communication), but I earnestly believe that the answer to your question is "Because Centipede Press simply isn't interested in publishing King novels." Unless you have information to the contrary?

[St. Troy]

Eh, I have not asked Jerad specifically about this, but what has led you to believe that the issue is that King is refusing to work with the publisher? Based on the the company's output and what I know of Jerad, I would be far more inclined to assume that Jerad just isn't trying to work on another King book. The horror market, small press especially, is pretty heavily saturated with King. Like...VERY saturated. Jerad specializes in very small, niche titles, usually ones that have been out of print for decades. The vast majority of the stuff he publishes is not currently being covered by any other publishers and hasn't been for years. He chose Salem's Lot very early on in the history of his press because SL is his absolute favorite King work, if not his favorite genre novel of all time.

Like I said, I haven't asked Jerad about it directly and I certainly haven't discussed it with King (to whom I have absolutely no avenue of communication), but I earnestly believe that the answer to your question is "Because Centipede Press simply isn't interested in publishing King novels." Unless you have information to the contrary?

After SL, Jerad attempted to do The Shining (as confirmed by SK in the interview quoted below). It certainly is possible that Jerad dropped the idea of publishing King after this rejection, and perhaps what you say about his focus on other title is correct (you know infinitely more about Jerad/CP than I), but my impression of small presses that work with horror is that they would never voluntarily stop publishing works of King altogether as King editions help finance the rest of what they do (given his popularity). None of which should be read as a criticism of CP or any small press, and I do not downplay how good Jerad is at what he does (this seems above question); the economics are what they are and survival in the business world is a difficult thing.

On to King's quote. Although King had written a glowing note to Jerad about SL, he later (January 2007) gave an interview in which he described that edition as being overkill:

I mean…the worst one in a way and I don’t…this guy is gonna read this and be so bummed. This guy Jared Walters did Salem’s Lot in a limited. He basically fucking wore me down because he would come back every six months or so and say, “Please, please, please, please” and I’m very vulnerable to that if people, I mean, if he’d come to me and said that he wanted to do a Dollar Baby I would say, “Yes” immediately but this guy wants to do this big huge book with this, I don’t know, incredible binding done in some endangered species or something and finally the books come out and people like Frank Darabont and other collectors just loved that book and he wants to do The Shining next and so far I’ve just told him, “No”. Because it’d be another book like Salem’s Lot. It’ll weigh twenty pounds, and people will put it on their shelf and look at it and they won’t actually read it.

King's comments here notwithstanding, we know he isn't truly opposed on principal to large heavy editions of his works (hello Cemetery Dance!); accordingly, the general murmurings I've heard have been that SK won't work with Jerad for some unknown reason.

However, and perhaps most importantly, since you (Daninsky) are actually in touch with Jerad, I need to make clear that my "wondering" post was not intended to stir anyone to actually ask him; at the least, we're poking into his business, at the most, we're stoking a painful fire. My comment was very much just that of an outsider wondering about an issue within a very specific niche of the entertainment world, much as two fans might discuss how loud the drums are on a U2 album or something, without ever thinking the comment might get back to the band. I occasionally throw this out there in case someone already has the answer, but I don't want to offend or bother Jerad for something that might be painful or embarrassing etc.