Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Lovecraft, H. P.. THE OUTSIDER AND OTHERS Custom Clamshell Case Only. Arkham House, Sauk City, 1939.
Price: US$220.00 + shipping
Description: 1st Edition Clamshell Collector's Case book not included. Custom Clamshell Case Only. Excellent Custom Clamshell Case [Not A Book] For The First Edition. Elegant Black Nuba with Custom Gilt-Stamped Titles to spine. Embossed multi-layered, multi-image [sculpted] design on the side inspired from the DJ's complex illustration by Virgil Finlay. Finished in rich Black velour on the interior. A superb & unique protective clamshell case for this memorable first edition. 1st Edition Clamshell Collector's Case book not included.
Seller: TBCL The Book Collector's Library, Montreal, QC, Canada
Price: US$3605.00 + shipping
Description: Octavo. Limited to only 1268 copies of this early Lovecraft classic. 553pp. A very good copy of a work with nightmarish creatures with unequalled stories of the macabre that sweep beyond all barriers to those undiscovered lands out of space and time. When Lovecraft died in 1937, his friends August Derleth and Donald Wandrei began to assemble his known writings, stories, poems, essays and with its appearance brought the genius to a much wider public. The book quickly sold out and has become a cornerstone for the serious Lovecraft collector. Bound in black cloth, spine lettering gilt, corners lightly bumped, previous owner's name on front pastedown, C.F. Hunt, March 30, 1959. A very good copy without the rare dust jacket.
Seller: Alcuin Books, ABAA/ILAB, Scottsdale, AZ, U.S.A.
LOVECRAFT, H. P.. THE OUTSIDER AND OTHERS. Arkham House, Sauk City, Wisconsin, 1939.
Price: US$6760.00 + shipping
Description: 238 x 160 mm. (9 5/8 x 6 1/4"). xiv, 153, [3] pp.Compiled and edited by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei. Publisher's black buckram, smooth spine with gilt vertical titling, midnight blue (unclipped) dust jacket featuring a fantastical design by Virgil Finlay (signed near foot of front cover). âA little fraying to head edge of jacket, quarter-inch chips to it at head and tail of spine, spine and rear cover of jacket lightly toned, one corner at head of book spine lightly bumped, a couple pages with faint thumbing, very light brown stain to upper fore-edge corner of a score of leaves, but an excellent copy--clean and fresh inside and out with few signs of use--in a very good jacket. This first collected edition of tales by American horror legend H. P. Lovecraft (1890-1937) is deemed "a landmark in weird fiction" by ANB. The compilation of stories originally published in "Weird Tales" pulp magazine was the first book issued by Arkham House press, founded by Lovecraft's friends and fellow writers August Derleth and Donald Wandrei when they were unable to find a publisher for a hardback edition of Lovecraft's tales. Named for the fictional town in which many Lovecraft stories are set, Arkham was established in Derleth's small hometown in 1939, and continued to publish science fiction, fantasy, and horror writing until 2010. According to ANB, "Lovecraft's place in literary history currently resides in his pivotal role in the development of modern weird fiction. His tales are an outgrowth of his philosophical thought. An atheistic materialist, Lovecraft came to feel that human beings occupied an insignificant place in the boundless realms of space and time; in his fiction this conception was expressed by his frequently used term cosmicism. . . . Some of his most powerful tales employ a pseudomythology (labeled the Cthulhu Mythos by Derleth) to convey his cosmicism." The well-preserved dust jacket here was illustrated--and signed--by another legend in the field of American pulp fantasy, science fiction and horror, Victor Finlay (1914-1971), who won the inaugural Hugo Award (given for works of science fiction) for Best Artist. He was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2012. One of 1,200 Copies. First Collected Edition.
Seller: Phillip J. Pirages Rare Books (ABAA), McMinnville, OR, U.S.A.
Lovecraft, H. P.. THE OUTSIDER AND OTHERS. Arkham House, 1939.
Price: US$7453.00 + shipping
Description: THE OUTSIDER AND OTHERS, Arkham House, 1939, first edition, a bright near fine copy in a vg+ Virgil Finlay pictorial dust-wrapper with a bit of wear and some light dust-soil to the rear dust-wrapper panel. The first book issued from this esteemed publisher. 1/1,200 copies.
Seller: THE FINE BOOKS COMPANY / A.B.A.A / 1979, ROCHESTER, MI, U.S.A.
Lovecraft, H.P.. The Outsider and Others. Arkham House, Sauk City, Wisconsin, 1939.
Price: US$7500.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: First Edition, First Printing. This ORIGINAL dustjacket is rich n color with minor wear to the spine. The book is bound in the publisher's blue cloth and is in great shape. The binding is tight and the boards are crisp with minor wear to the edges. The pages are clean with NO writing, marks or bookplates in the book. A lovely copy with the First Issue dustjacket that has the publisher's printed price of $5.00 on the front flap.
Seller: Magnum Opus Rare Books, Missoula, MT, U.S.A.
Price: US$8341.23 + shipping
Description: First edition, sole printing, of the first omnibus edition of Lovecraft's fiction, in the striking dust jacket by the celebrated fantasy illustrator Virgil Finlay. The book was critically hailed for its selection of the author's best stories, from "Dagon" to "At the Mountains of Madness". It also includes his final revised version of "Supernatural Horror in Literature", among the finest literary analyses of the genre's history. Arkham House, named after Lovecraft's fictional New England city, was founded by the late author's friends Derleth and Wandrei to preserve his serialized stories in this hardback edition. Their labour of love marks "the beginning of serious specialist publishing of fantastic fiction in America" (Bleiler). The print run comprised 1,268 copies, and no subsequent edition was published. Provenance: from the substantial occult library of the Arkham House collector and military historian Dr King Lawrence Parker Jr (1929-2006), featuring his Cthulhu-inspired bookplate on the front free endpaper. Parker earned his PhD in military history at Columbia University for his 1970 thesis "Anglo-American Wilderness Campaigning 1754-1764: Logistical and Tactical Developments". Bleiler 1040; Currey, p. 324; Joshi, Eighty Years 1; Joshi, Lovecraft I.A.15; Locke I, p. 143; Nielsen 1. Octavo. Original black cloth, spine lettered in gilt, buff endpapers. With dust jacket by Virgil Finlay. Light bumps and rubbing, contents clean; unclipped jacket bright overall, a little rubbed, shallow chips to ends and corners, a couple of short closed splits to folds: a near-fine copy in like jacket.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
H.P. LOVECRAFT. THE OUTSIDER AND OTHERS. Arkham House, 1939.
Price: US$8995.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: First Edition, First Printing Stunning near fine/fine crisp clean book with vibrant boards with a beautiful near fine first printing dust jacket. The first collection of Lovecraft’s writings and the first Arkham House book. Accompanied by a lovely clamshell case. The book is in bright, crisp condition with navy cloth and gilt titles to the spine. The book has clean cloth, still retaining the original sheen, and the boards have sharp corners (two very slightly pushed), and no edgewear. The binding is tight and square. The end papers are clean with no bookstore stamps, no bookplates, no owner names, and no inscriptions. The internal pages are clean, crisp, bright, and flat with no marks, no stains, no handling marks, no writing, no bent pages, no stains, and no foxing. Stunning clean, bright book internally appearing as unread! The original first edition dust jacket has benefited from very slight restoration by an expert paper conservator and as such presents in near fine condition. The jacket is bright and still retains the strong vibrant colors. The jacket has no rips, no chips, no stains and no foxing. Please see the many detailed images. The dust jacket is NOT price clipped and has a stated price of $5.00. Please see the detailed images. Rare and desirable in this condition with the original dust jacket. The book is accompanied by a lovely clamshell. Presents beautifully on the shelf, in addition to making a wonderful investment. ADDITIONAL IMAGES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST. Please see our ABE store for other landmark Horror and SciFi titles.
Seller: Meier And Sons Rare Books, New Canaan, CT, U.S.A.
Price: US$9500.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: The Outsider and Others by H. P. Lovecraft (First Edition) Firm copy with minor rubbing to corners and spine ends. Bright dust jacket with minor wear to edges and spine ends. Not price-clipped. In clear protective cover. Lovecraft's first published collection. Arkham House's first book published. 1200 copies printed, stated. Original black cloth, spine stamped gilt. Original dust jacket with $5.00 price on the flap.
Seller: Heartwood Books and Art, Fort Lauderdale, FL, U.S.A.
Lovecraft, H.P.. The Outsider and Others. Arkham House, 1939.
Price: US$15000.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: First Edition, First Printing. Includes a SIGNED handwritten postcard by H.P. Lovecraft laid into the book. A beautiful copy. This ORIGINAL First Issue dustjacket is vibrant in color with minor wear to the edges. The book is in excellent shape and appears UNREAD. The binding is tight with NO cocking or leaning and the boards are crisp. The pages are exceptionally clean with NO writing, marks or bookplates in the book. A wonderful copy of this true first edition. We buy Lovecraft First Editions.
Seller: Magnum Opus Rare Books, Missoula, MT, U.S.A.
Price: US$65000.00 + shipping
Description: First Printings, one of 1,268 copies. Two octavo volumes (24cm); black cloth, with titles stamped in gilt on spines; dustjackets; xiv,553,[5]pp. The present offering consists of two unique copies:- Copy 1: Trivial wrinkling to cloth at crown, else Fine. Dustjacket is unclipped (priced $5.00), gently spine-sunned and lightly edgeworn, with shallow loss to base of spine, and some light dust-soil and waviness to rear panel; Very Good+. Inscribed vertically along the left margin of the rear flap by dustjacket designer Virgil Finlay: "This jacket is a photographic composite of early Weird Tales drawings, probably only one or two were for HPL stories - I wish I might have found time for more of his work which I did admire / Virgil Finlay." Housed in a custom half-morocco clamshell case. - Copy 2: Trivial wear to lower board edges, faint dust-soil to upper edge of textblock, with mild offsetting and some faint, scattered foxing to endpapers; Near Fine. Inscribed by Arkham House co-founder Donald Wandrei on front endpaper: "For Priscilla and the goon Donald Wandrei / Christmas, 1939." In the apparently unique trial dustjacket, printed in green instead of blue, with the flaps and rear panel without text; light wear and a few tiny tears to extremities, hint of sunning to spine, with a faint vertical fold along rear joint, and some mild dust-soil to rear panel; holograph printer's measurements (in ink) across base of spine panel; Very Good+. For the sake of completion, offered together with a Fine copy of the replica dustjacket produced in the 1970's by specialty publisher and collector Gerry de le Ree, from Finlay's original plates. Folded and laid into this copy are examples of the publisher's original prospectus (measuring 7.25" x 7.75"), as well as an earlier, mimeographed announcement letter (measuring 8.5" x 11"). Housed in a custom half-morocco clamshell case. The first major collection of Lovecraft's weird fiction and the first production by the legendary Arkham House - a landmark in 20th century genre publishing. The 32 stories written for various pulp magazines were gathered and preserved by Lovecraft's friends, August Derleth and Donald Wandrei, who founded Arkham House in 1939 to preserve and publish the best of Lovecraft's fiction. The stories "range from early exercises in Dunsanian pastiche to the mature and highly distinctive tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, which construct a horrific cosmological and historical context for human history. Luckless protagonists who stumble upon various dire intrusions of Cthulhu and his kin, or who unwisely pursue dangerous inquiries in the appropriate revelatory tomes, are inevitably brought to repulsively stick ends. Lovecraft became the consummate master of the confirmatory ending, in which what has been suspected all along finally becomes manifest" (Barron, Horror Literature: A Reader's Guide 3-132). It took Derleth and Wandrei nearly five years to sell through the modest print run, and The Outsider has not been reprinted since. Enclosed with the present copies are a five letters (written between May 10, 1937 - November 26, 1939) between the Arkham House principals, detailing both the publication history of The Outsider, as well revelatory background information concerning the dustjacket design by Virgil Finlay (1914-1971). In his time, Finlay was among the most in-demand illustrators of fantasy, science fiction, and horror literature in the United States, and his panoramic composition for The Outsider's dustjacket remains among the best executed and most desirable examples in the genre. According to a letter to Derleth from Adolph J. Hyson (of the George Banta Publishing Company), proofs for the dustjacket were struck in three colors - black, bronze blue, and a dark olive green. Both the black and green versions of the dustjacket were vetoed by all involved the black on account of having "a strangely flat and monotonous effect, without depth or life. Second, and more important, certain of the figures, such as the monkey-like and ass-like creatures to the right of the topmost star containing the woman's figure behind the lettering "By", faded away to almost absolute imperceptibility in black, but stood out with fairly well defined clarity in the blue" (DW to VF, Nov.14, 1939). The green jacket was dismissed right out, and described by Wandrei as being "a peculiarly detestable and odious color." It is not clear how many examples of either the black or green trial state dustjackets survived after being scrapped, though all of the predictably few extant examples originated with the personal collection of Donald Wandrei, sold close to four decades ago. Joshi 15.
Seller: Captain Ahab's Rare Books, ABAA, Stephenson, VA, U.S.A.