Monday, March 19, 2012

PULP FICTION ….


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 Mass market mid-century paperback gems are a testament to a brazen social history. Political correctness aside, the titles alone are worth the price of admission but coupled with equally provocative images in wonderful retro cover art makes these one of the latest hottest must haves to any book collector. Genres range from westerns to mysteries and romance.  As for a sign of the times there is nothing like a title the likes of Bond of Flesh or Spinsters in Jeopardy to jump off the page, with images of wanton women, gun-slinging men and Dr. No or Flash Gordon, and were what sold the book purely on cover art and title alone in a highly competitive pulp fiction market.


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The paperback era began in the late 1930’s and continues today but the collector higher value draw is to the early editions of this paperback revolution which took the well established refined book stores by a storm. Mass marketing and the concept of vendor returns on unsold inventory enabled inexpensive titles to be had in supermarkets, corner drug stores, commuter station shops and any sort of vendor who had space to offer the craze. 


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 There are many things to consider when collecting beyond just price and condition. Established authors back in the day, with solid hard cover fame, also had a mass market appeal resulting in many editions to any given title. Others wrote under pen names for the pulp trade and discovering the who’s who of who wrote what under which name and then targeting your collection accordingly can be half the fun. The same is true for the artists of the day with many contributing to the desirable highly sought after cover art. Values can range from a couple of dollars to tens of thousands and although many can still be found at thrift stores and tag sales this hot market treasure is fast getting swept up with many titles now on the resale collector markets for strong values and climbing.



Click to link to more paperbacks 


Values can range from a couple of dollars to tens of thousands and although many can still be found at thrift stores and tag sales this hot market treasure is fast getting swept up with many titles now on the resale collector markets for strong values and climbing.