Arkham House Collecotr #4

Notes on Arkham House Collector # 4

Arkham House THE ARKHAM COLLECTOR Number Four Winter 1969 Limited Edition (Approx. 2500 copies)
The Arkham Collector was a small periodical published by Arkham House starting in 1967. Each issue contained announcements of upcoming books, news clips, essays, poems, story segments, and much more. As such, they offer a fascinating historical insight to Arkham House and their work. Of note, is H.P. Lovecraft always plays a central role (as with the publisher). Some of the more interesting essays on Lovecraft, first appeared in the Collector. It was treated as advertising, and as such, issues were often thrown away, so even with a circulation of around 2500, copies are hard to come by. Remainder issues of The Collector were bound and sold in book form, again decreasing the number of individual issues.
This is issue number four of The Arkham Collector, published in the Winter of 1969 at 50 cents a copy. 36 pages. Contents Include:
Arkham House in 1969
A Lovecraft Revision - Among the papers Robert H. Barlow there was uncovered a ten-page manuscript representing in Barlow's words "A script draft, with Lovecraft's corrections--final text". The story "Till All The Seas" is published in this Collector (included is a copy of a typical Lovecraft revision page -- remarkable!!)
Bleak November Days by Joseph Payne Brennan
Lovecraft's Last Letter
The Purple Door by Walter Shedlofsky
The Thing in the Moonlight I. by H.P. Lovecraft II. by Brian Lumley
To An Infant by H.P. Lovecraft
Memories of Lovecraft: I. Sonia Haft Lovecraft
Memories of Lovecraft: II. Helen Sully (a friend of Clark Ashton Smith's)
In Memoriam: H.P. Lovecraft by James Wade
Bibliographical
The publications measures 5.25" x 7.75". Arkham House, Sauk City, Wisconsin. Nice condition, no writing or tears, just yellowing due to age, toning close to spine, and perhaps a wee bit of shelf wear. According to Leon Nielsen in his invaluable reference book Arkham House Books: A Collector's Guide the value of this Collector is listed at $30.00. We list this one higher, because of the over abundance of Lovecraft material. As such, it is (for us) second only in rarity to issue #1.