For some recent Pulp sales we follow the gun-powder smell over to BLACK MASK and see ten arresting prices.
If it wasn’t stated before, the quotation marks on the condition were the dealers description of issue in question. Sometimes they only state “Good shape” or “As shown in pics,” which usually isn’t much to go on, especially if only the front cover is shown.
BLACK MASK – June 1930 sold for $99.00
Authors: “Glass Key” (part 4 of 4) by Dashiell Hammett;
“Tainted Power” (29th “Race Williams” (and here) of 82 (with 5 being serials) and 4th “The Flame” appearances) by Carroll John Daly (here’s a fun bit of trivia that serves no purpose, but: “The Men in Black” appears in DIME DETECTIVE MAGAZINE – Oct. 1938 a “Race Williams” story and the very next “Race Williams story is “The Quick and the Dead” in DIME DETECTIVE MAGAZINE- Dec. 1938);
“Hell’s Kettle” (33rd “Ed Jenkins” appearance of 74) by Erle Stanley Gardner;
“Signals of Storm” (4th “Jo Gar” appearance of 29) by Ramon Decolta (pseudonym of Raoul F. Whitfield);
“Red Dice” by Hapsburg Liebe
“This copy has a trimmed fc (front cover – DLS), NO bc (back cover – DLS), most of spine gone with tape to spine and cover. Paper is very nice.”
This issue has a lot of bad things going for it, except for the authors; Large “COMPLIMENTARY COPY” stamped on the cover, two round coffee (?) cup stains and dirty.
Even in this condition Bookery states: $180.00 – $450.00 – $900.00
BLACK MASK – June 1932 sold for $229.50
Authors: “The Amateur Murderer” (Part 3 of 4) (36th “Race Williams” story appearance of 82) by Carroll John Daly; “Cooking Crooks” (44th “Ed Jenkins” of 74 and 2nd “Norma Gay” of 2 appearances) by Erle Stanley Gardner; “The Siamese Cat” (19th “Jo Gar” appearance of 29) by Ramon Decolta (pseudonym of Raoul F. Whitfield); “Fast One 2: Lead Party” (2nd “Gerry Kells”/”S. Granquist” appearance of 4) by Paul Cain;
“Man Killer” (1st “Don Free” appearance of 3) by Raoul F. Whitfield (so he has 2 stories in this issue);
“One for the Book” (7th “Johnny Hi Gear” appearance of 8) by Stewart Stirling (pseudonym of Prentice Winchell)
“Condition: Front cover: Edge wear and short edge tears; corner creases; a few stress marks; light soiling along the top edge; separation from the spine for the top inch or so, and for the bottom inch and a half. Back cover: Bottom right corner mangled but still all there, a gouge in the woman’s hat and a much smaller one top center, edge wear, light surface soiling. Spine: Missing the bottom inch and a half; otherwise moderate wear and light surface soiling. I will include – at no extra cost – a new replacement piece for the spine bottom, scanned from another 1932 issue at 600 dpi onto actual pulp cover stock. Pages: Light tan, flexible, clean.”
Bookery states: $40.00 – $100.00 – $200.00 (for the Paul Cain story)
BLACK MASK – Jan. 1934 sold for $73.01
Authors: “A Guest of the House” (54th “Ed Jenkins” of 74 and 10th “Ngat T” of 22 appearances)
by Erle Stanley Gardner;
“Private War” (1st “George Killeen” appearance of 5) by Roger Torrey;
“Trouble-Hunted” (4th “Bill Lennox” appearance of 28) by W. T. Ballard;
“High Murder” by Raoul Whitfield; “Let Me Tell It” by Donald Barr Chidsey
“British Edition. The stories and format are exactly the same as the American edition.
The ads on the inside front cover and both sides of the back cover have been replaced by ads of British merchants.
The front cover is lightly soiled with moderate to heavy edge wear and reading creases along left edge.
Spine has stress lines, rubs and a ¼” missing at the bottom. Back cover is soiled with moderate edge wear. Interior is tightly bound and relatively clean (pages 40 and 41 have light stains). Pages are cream to light tan. Edges are toned but still quite supple.”
Bookery: $30.00 – $75.00 – $150.00
BLACK MASK – Nov. 1934 sold for $92.00
Authors: “The Eyes Have it” (44th “Race Williams” appearance of 82) by Carroll John Daly;
“Hot Cash” (59th “Ed Jenkins” appearance of 74) by Erle Stanley Gardner;
“Room Service” (5th “Cleve Corby” appearance of 5) by Eugene Cunningham;
“Law and Disorder” (11th “Dal Prentice” appearance of 12) by Roger Torrey;
“In Dead Man’s Alley” (10th “Bill Lennox” appearance of 28) by W. T. Ballard
“Nice bright covers – trimmed at right. Spine with a couple of small chips. Front cover creased with tiny chips and tiny edge tears. Rear cover also with tiny edge tears. Edges toned. Pages supple – not brittle… I would call this about good.”
Bookery: $30.00 – $75.00 – $150.00
BLACK MASK – Jan. 1937 sold for $306.00
Authors: “Try the Girl” (6th “Carmady” appearance of 6) by Raymond Chandler;
“Little Guy” (20TH “Jerry Tracy” appearance of 27) by Theodore A. Tinsley (2 stories were done by Edward Churchill in 1934);
“Bulldog” by Max Brand (pseudonym of Frederick Faust) (reprinted from COLLIER’S – Feb. 23, 1924);
“Shooting Going On” by Cornell Woolrich; “Murder Frame” by Roger Torrey
“GOOD-VG. Light overall wear especially along the cover edges; pages more browned than usual, again especially along the edges, with chipping noticed on a few page tips. Otherwise basically in solid condition.”
Bookery: $100.00 – $250.00 – $500.00
It’s Raymond Chandler’s final appearance in BLACK MASK and to make up for that it’s Cornell Woolrich first!
BLACK MASK – Oct. 1938 sold for $66.00
Authors: “Forced Landing” (11th “Oliver Quade” appearance of 15) by Frank Gruber;
“This Way to the Morgue” (1st “Murray Gifford” appearance of 2) by Frederick C. Davis;
“Gardenia Kill (9th “Pat McCarthy” appearance of 14) by Roger Torrey;
“The Death Pool” (8th “Miles Standish Rice” appearance of 16) by Baynard H. Kendrick
Bookery: $20.00 – $50.00 – $100.00
BLACK MASK – Nov. 1938 sold for $55.99
Authors: “Station K-I-L-L” (25th “Jerry Tracy” appearance of 27) by Theodore A. Tinsley;
“Good condition. Used. The cover has some wear, small tears and creases. Page foxing.”
Bookery: $15.00 – $35.00 – $75.00
BLACK MASK – Dec. 1938 sold for $64.00
Authors: “Stop the Presses”
(2nd “Murray Gifford” appearance of 2) by Frederick C. Davis; “Concealed Weapon” (10th “Pat McCarthy” appearance of 14) by Roger Torrey; “Smoke in Your Eyes” by Hugh B. Cave; “Come Clean” by Donald Wandrei;
“Careless Killer” (3rd “Beeker” appearance of 7) by Dwight V. Babcock
“Good condition. Used. The cover has some wear, small creases. Page foxing.”
This issue may have been returned because the same dealer listed another copy with the exact same cover, but added pictures of he inside pages. Unless this was a different issue but he re-used the same cover image for some reason. That one only sold for $19.50.
“Fair condition. Used. The cover has some surface, edge, cover wear and tear. Pages are foxing. ”
The top and bottom pages are darkened/stained/foxed (?) like 2 1/2 – 3 inches on each side. However both buyers gave the dealer positive feedback so who knows.
BLACK MASK – Oct. 1940 sold for $52.00
Authors: “C-Jag” by Cornell Woolrich;
“Money to Burn” (5th “Rex Sackler” appearance of 29) by D. L. Champion;
“The Man Who Turned Up Missing” by Donald Barr Chidsey;
“Killer in Camp” by J. Lane Linklater”
Condition: Original Magazine with wear with original cover/pages. Lots of creasing small chunkupper right back cover gone, Otherwise, NO repairs, clippings or missing pages in the magazine.”
Bookery: $20.00 – $50.00 – $100.00
ENJOY PULPS – David Lee Smith