The 19th book published by Bantam Publications is The Tower of Flame: An Oil Fields Story [with] Jaragu of the Lost Islands: A High Seas Story by Rex Beach. The first Jaragu story was Jaragu of the Jungle published by Whitman Publishing Company of Racine, Wisconsin as a Big Little Book. This was a 428 page 88 mm (3 1/2") x 105 mm (4 1/8") book with text and B&W illustrations. The LA Bantam Jaragu story picks up where the first story ended. There was only one Jaragu BLB and the LA Bantam appears to be the last Jaragu story. The LA Bantam story is an original, not a reprint. The other story Tower of Flame also appears to be an original. Beach's novel Flaming Gold (New York: Harpers, 1922) was about the oil fields but is a different story.
In common with all but one of LA Bantam's books The Tower of Flame: An Oil Fields Story [with] Jaragu of the Lost Islands: A High Seas Story is 100 pages long and is 110 mm (4 5/16") wide by 152 mm (6") tall. Cover and pages are made from high acid pulp paper. The page collation is:
[1] title page,
2-56 The Tower of Flame,
57-100 Jaragu of the Lost Islands.
The title page has the copyright date - 1940.
In common with most LA Bantams there are variant covers. The strong yellowish green/light orange yellow and strong blue/light orange yellow covers are shown below.
Big Little Book 1424 - 1937
Big Little Book 1424 back
Beach, Rex. Tower of flame [and] Jaragu of the lost islands. © Aug. 8, 1940; AA 352208, Stephen Slesinger, Inc., New York. 45172
ReplyDeleteSlesinger was a promoter ("father of the licensing industry" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Slesinger) who had a habit of licensing bylines of well-known writers and cartoonists, then hiring commercial writers to "ghost-write" material under that byline.
In the case of "Tower of flame" we know who the ghost-writer is: Gaylord Du Bois.
In "A Walk Around Whallons Bay, New York With Gaylord Du Bois" (1981, Eyrie Publications, 99 leaves) we find the following entry in PART VIII, BIBLIOGRAPHY OF GAYLORD'S PUBLICATIONS; NOVELS, ARTICLES, ETC. BY GAYLORD DU BOIS: "Tower of Flame 1940 ghost-written novelette"
Further corroborated in "Who's Who of 20th Century American Comic Books" Copyrighted by Jerry G. Bails, for "DU BOIS, GAYLORD [1899-1993] (writer)" the following entry: "Writer: Tower of Flame 1940 novelette"
Who wrote the JARAGU stories remains a mystery. But, given the Slesinger copyright on the BLB as well, it is a good bet it was ghost-written, and that the Rex Beach byline was simply licensed by Slesinger for a fee paid to Beach.