Steeger Books, the leader in vintage pulp reprints, announces five new vintage fiction collections taken from the pages of the pulp magazines. These five collections feature the works of authors such as Norvell Page, Donald E. Keyhoe, and H. Bedford-Jones and featuring series characters like The Spider, John Solomon, and Eric Trent. They also include all of the original cover and interior illustrations, and most include an informative introductions by pulp scholars as Will Murray and Thomas Krabacher.
All five titles will also be available at the Mike Chomko, Books table at the Windy City Pulp & Paper Convention on April 21.
The Camp-Fire: The Complete Correspondence From the Pages of Adventure, 1918-1920
Edited by Arthur Sullivant Hoffman; cover by Edward Hopper; introduction by Thomas Krabacher; illustrated by Thomas B. Clarity, Rollin Crampton, Will Crawford, James Daugherty, Walter de Maris, Israel Doskow, Charles B. Falls, T. Victor Hall, Edward Hopper, Hibberd V.B. Kline, Jo L.G. McMahon, John R. Neill, C.F. Peters, George M. Richards, Remington Schuyler, Arthur Schwieder, Charles Edward Searle, Morgan Stinemetz, T.S. Tousey, W.C. Tuttle, DeAlton Valentine, and R. Phillips Ward
Bequeathed the mantle of “The No. 1 Pulp” by Time Magazine, Adventure Magazine’s editor Arthur Sullivant Hoffman believed that adventure fiction and literary quality need not be mutually exclusive. A core reason for the popularity of Adventure was The Camp-Fire: the letter column which by post-war 1918 blossomed into a lively community comprised of adventurers, outdoorsmen, pioneers, explorers, and Adventure writers as well, all sharing first-hand knowledge of history and life from the late Nineteenth and Twentieth centuries.
This collection includes every installment of The Camp Fire from 1918-1920, totaling 70 complete columns. Each is presented in its original magazine format and includes illustrations by such Adventure contributors as Edward Hopper. And it includes an introduction by Adventure aficionado Thomas Krabacher.
496 pages | $80.00 7″x10″ casewrap hardcover
The Complete Railroad Crime Cases of Scientific Sprague (Deluxe Edition)
Written by Francis Lynde; illustrated by E. Roscoe Shrader & Gene Mack
For the first time: one of early pulpdom’s most popular scientific detectives is collected in a comprehensive deluxe edition. Originally appearing in the pages of Street & Smith’s The Popular magazine, Calvin “Scientific” Sprague was a US Government chemist who battled robber barons, saboteurs, criminal syndicates, and the menace of fantastic weapons using his own arcane methods of scientific detection and advanced technology as the train lines stretched West. It is very possible that memories of Scientific Sprague may have been a hitherto-unattributed inspiration for Street & Smith’s later scientific detective creation, Doc Savage.
Written by Francis Lynde, the first half of the Scientific Sprague saga was collected in hardcover soon after publication in The Popular magazine, but the rest of the series has—until now—remained unreprinted. This deluxe edition includes over a dozen Scientific Sprague adventures, along with illustrations taken from the stories’ appearances in newspapers. This deluxe edition also collects dozens of examples of Francis Lynde promotional advertisements, reviews, and author profiles.
462 pages | $85.00 | 8.5″x11″ casewrap hardcover
The Complete Adventures of Eric Trent, Volume 2
Written by Donald E. Keyhoe; illustrated by Ed Smalle and Al McWilliams
Donald E. Keyhoe returns to chronicle the super-spy sagas of the high-flying Eric Trent! Running for only 12 stories in the pages of Flying Aces, the series continued Keyhoe’s tradition of fast-paced air war adventures, this time featuring a character who hasn’t seen print since these stories’ original publications! Volume 2 collects the final seven stories from 1941–42: “Squadron of the Dead,” “Lure of the Liberators,” “Death Dives the Douglas,” “Ryan Retribution,” “Death Flies Blind,” “Death Flies the Beam,” and “On Haunted Wings.”
268 pages | 6″x9″ | $24.95 softcover | $34.95 hardcover
The Spider: The Complete Series, Volume 3 (Deluxe Edition)
Written by Norvell W. Page, writing as Grant Stockbridge; cover by John Newton Howitt; introduction by Will Murray; illustrated by John Fleming Gould
THE RISE OF THE SPIDER! In the Fall of 1933, upstart Popular Publications released their challenge to Street & Smith top-selling crime fighter, The Shadow. The Spider walked darker streets and battled more vicious criminals than The Shadow ever imagined. His hard-boiled exploits ran from the Great Depression into World War II, and thrilled ten-year-old Stan Lee, future creator of Spider-Man.
This unique volume collects the next five Spider novels, wherein author Norvell Page continued a long period of consistently action-packed, emotionally powerful stories of millionaire criminologist Richard Wentworth and his suave yet sinister alter ego, the Spider. Driven, relentless, and without mercy for criminals, the Spider dares Underworld dens of horror and iniquity no other investigator braved. With a new introduction by modern Spider novelist Will Murray.
322 pages | $85.00 | 8.5″x11″ casewrap hardcover
John Solomon, Incognito and The Wisdom of Solomon: The Adventures of John Solomon, Volume 10 (The H. Bedford-Jones Library)
Written by H. Bedford-Jones; cover by John Coughlin
John Solomon, the mysterious ship’s chandler and secret agent, returns in two more rare adventures by author H. Bedford-Jones: “John Solomon, Incognito” and “The Wisdom of Solomon.” Continue the story of John Solomon with this next book in the series, complete & uncut from the pages of People’s Magazine. Includes the original illustrations.
218 pages | 6″x9″ | $24.95 softcover | $34.95 hardcover