Red Arrow - Murder-on-Hudson

The second book published by Red Arrow Books is Murder-on-Hudson by Jennifer Jones, first published New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1937. Pseudonym of Margaret Lane (1907 – 1994) and Enid Johnson (1892 – 1969).

Murder-on-Hudson is 288 pages long and is 111 mm (4 3/8") wide by 179 mm (7 1/16") tall, the same size as the early Penguins. The page collation is:

[1] half-title,
[2] BY THE SAME AUTHOR [list of one book],
[3] title page,
[4] copyright page,
[5] about Red Arrow Books,
[6] "The persons, places ... fictitious.",
7-8 contents,
[9] "Sworn Statement",
[10] blank,
11-280 Murder-on-Hudson,
[281-288] blank.

The copyright date is 1939.

There are four variant covers: two text, a "Book Club" edition and an illustrated one. One text version has a red spine and back cover, the other a brown spine and back cover.

LA Bantam Illustrated Covers Part IV

The first three posts in this series highlighted seven of the nine illustrated covers published in 1941 by Bantam Publications of Los Angeles. Here are the last two. Like all but one of the first seven the art is not signed. The back covers are similar to six of the other seven with the the book in hand not listed.

These are the two most famous and expensive Bantams although not the most uncommon. They are the first appearance of The Shadow and Tarzan in mass market format.

Bantam 21

Bantam 21 back

Bantam 23

Bantam 23 back

LA Bantam - Tarzan in the Forbidden City

The 23rd book published by Bantam Publications is Tarzan in the Forbidden City by Edgar Rice Burroughs. First published Tarzana, CA: ERB, 1938 as Tarzan and the Forbidden City. The Bantam edition is abridged.

In common with all but one of LA Bantam's books Tarzan in the Forbidden City 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] copyright page,

3-100 Tarzan in the Forbidden City.

The copyright date is 1940.

In common with most LA Bantams there are variant covers, three with text and one illustrated. The text covers are dark blue/light green, strong yellowish green/light orange yellow and strong yellowish green/light blue. The illustrated cover is below.



LA Bantam - The Shadow and the Voice of Murder

The 21st book published by Bantam Publications is The Shadow and the Voice of Murder by Maxwell Grant. Pseudonym for Walter Gibson. Paperback original. First published in the February 15, 1940 issue of The Shadow as “Voice of Death”.

In common with all but one of LA Bantam's books The Shadow and the Voice of Murder 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] List of Chapters,
3-100 The Shadow and the Voice of Murder.

The copyright date, 1940, is noted on the title page.

In common with most LA Bantams there are variant covers, three with text and one illustrated. The three text covers are strong blue/light orange yellow, strong yellowish green/light blue and strong yellowish green/light orange yellow. The last two text and illustrated covers are below.



La Bantam Bibliographically Speaking Part II

In part I of the blog I discussed the differences between various issues (variants) of the books published by Bantam Publications. Here I'll look in detail at one of the books.

Book 22, The Green Death and other stories by Brett Hutton, has five variant covers, four with text and one illustrated. The text covers are strong blue/light blue, strong blue/light gray, strong blue/light green and strong yellowish green/light blue.

Aside from the colours, there are two sets of text covers. The strong blue/light blue and strong yellowish green/light blue versions have the following:

• "Green Death" all in capitals
• the cover blurb not italicized and large type face
• a blank Bantam eye
• the title in small type face on spine
• list of 11 books on back cover.

The strong blue/light gray and strong blue/light green versions have the following:

• "Green Death" capital and lower case with a smaller "G" and "D"
• the cover blurb italicized and small type face
• a black Bantam eye
• the title in large type face on spine
• list of 12 books on back cover with the book titles in slightly larger type face.

The text block is identical in all variants. So far I have seen no way to establish any printing priority for the text cover issues of the second group of books - 21 through 28.

The difference in the blue colour below is not evident on the books.



LA Bantam - 10 Cents Revisited Part IV

Since my last post on Bantam Publications and the 10 cents their books cost I've picked up a couple of the copies that had a red 10 cent sticker added to the top right corner of the front cover. That means I now have information on three and partial on a fourth.

There are a couple of patterns to note. All four books are from the first group published in 1940 (numbers 1 to 20). The back cover ad on the three below is the earliest version seen only on the first group of Bantams. No conclusions from this small sample but as I find more we'll see if they hold up.

Bantam 9

Bantam 9 back

Bantam 17

Bantam 20



Red Arrow - Thirteen at Dinner

The first book published by Red Arrow Books is Thirteen at Dinner by Agatha Christie, first published as Lord Edgware Dies in 1933 by the Scottish-British publisher Wm. Collins. The American edition with the new title was published New York: Dodd, Mead, 1933. 

Thirteen at Dinner is 288 pages long and is 111 mm (4 3/8") wide by 179 mm (7 1/16") tall, the same size as the early Penguins. The page collation is:

[1] half-title,
[2] BY THE SAME AUTHOR [list of seven books],
[3] title page,
[4] copyright page,
[5] about Red Arrow Books,
[6] blank,
[7-8] contents,
[9] dedication,
[10] blank,
11-283 Thirteen at Dinner,
[284-288] blank.

The copyright date is 1939.

There are variant covers: two text, a "Book Club" edition and an illustrated one. One text version has a red spine and back cover (see below), the other a brown spine and back cover.