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Bell Features and Publishing Artists Part III - René again
The mystery discussed in the last post on early Canadian paperback artist René has been solved (thanks Morgan). He is Rene Kulbach.He worked on Bell Features original early 1940s comics and did the...
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Martha Ostenso's Lost Novel
Martha Ostenso (1900-1963) found early success with Wild Geese (1925). She lived for a time in Canada but lived most of her life in the US. Her bibliography appears complete but is missing one novel....
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155 and Counting
The British North American Act, enacted March 29, 1867 by the British Parliament, provided for Confederation of the three British North American colonies, Canada (Upper and Lower), Nova Scotia and New...
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A Discovery
I recently learned (thanks Morgan) about an early Canadian mass market paperback that I did not know existed. It joins another book in a series that I had always thought was the only one published.The...
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Sign of the White Circle
Seventy years ago, sometime in the first half of 1952, the last of 459 books in the White Circle Pocket Library series was published by Toronto's Wm. Collins Sons & Co. Canada Ltd. The series had...
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Harlequin's Historical Novels Part IV
"If the historical novel continues to exert a particular fascination on our imagination, it surely has to do with its curious ability to reclaim the past, to use it as a tool for shattering the...
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Avon Books in Canada Part I
There are nearly 650 posts on this blog. Unsurprisingly, given the blog's masthead, the vast majority are about Canadian paperbacks from the 1940s and 1950s. What isn't explicitly said is that these...
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Collins Dictionary Part II - Canadianess
Part I introduced two 1940s era dictionaries from Wm. Collins Sons & Co. Canada. Here is a third - The Modern Standard English Dictionary as well as some questions about all three.The New Improved...
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George Victor Martin in Canada
George Victor Martin (1900-1959) had three novels published. The last was his most successful, at least in paperback. There are three US editions (under three different titles), one UK and two...
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Harlequin Mysteries - Raven House Part I
"The first batch of a new imprint, Raven House mysteries, contains eight books, all paperbacks priced at $2.25 and written by members of the Mystery Writers of America: A FRAGRANT DEATH (#1) by...
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Harlequin Mysteries - Raven House Part II
In my first post about Harlequin imprint Raven House I listed the 74 books in the series. Here is more about this now obscure series.The publisher is Worldwide Library. Harlequin is never mentioned but...
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Harlequin Mysteries - Raven House Part III
In addition to selling Raven House Mysteries on Canadian newsstands and in drug and cigar stores (and maybe bookstores), Harlequin had a subscription plan which is found on the last page of the books....
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Harlequin Mysteries - Raven House Part IV
"Agents and authors simply believed that Raven House was an ideal dumping ground for trunk manuscripts, failed proposals, and any old shlock that they happened to have lying around" Helen Heller,...
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Harlequin Mysteries - Raven House Part V
"Agents and authors simply believed that Raven House was an ideal dumping ground for trunk manuscripts, failed proposals, and any old shlock that they happened to have lying around" Helen Heller,...
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Jesse James in Canada
Jesse James (1847-1882) came to Canada thanks to the self-styled "king of the Canadian pulp writers", Thomas P. Kelley. Kelley wrote a biography of James that was published by Toronto's Export...
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Star Weekly Novel Part III
In the first part of this series about the "Star Weekly Complete Novel" series of newspaper inserts I estimated that around 1875 issues were published. I continue to work on an accurate and complete...
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Star Weekly Novel Part IV
I've been able to find title/author information for some 1500 Star Weekly Novels, 80% of the approximate 1875 published. So far I have identified the artwork on only 93 issues. There are 34 separate...
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Star Weekly Novel Part V
I've mentioned authors and artists in earlier Star Weekly Novel posts. Here I'll start looking at genres. The series lasted for 36 years and nicely lines up with the middle third of the 20th century....
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Star Weekly Novel - Part VI
I've mentioned that I estimate around 1880 Star Weekly Novels were published. This assumes they were published every week from 1938 to 1973. So far the oldest I've seen is May 1938 and latest is...
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156 and Counting
The British North American Act, enacted March 29, 1867 by the British Parliament, provided for Confederation of the three British North American colonies, Canada (Upper and Lower), Nova Scotia and New...
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