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Post by dem bones on Aug 22, 2008 8:38:45 GMT
This article was written by Funkdooby. As with Sex In Smithland and Smithisms, it's taken from a meandering thread on Vault mk. 1!
demonik
Smithology 7 - Collecting Guy N Smith part1
I can't speak for anyone else, but for me, collecting something is only worthwhile if doing so presents a challenge. Take James Herbert and Stephen King, for example. Although first editions of their early works are quite hard to come by, not to say valuable, the novels themselves (The Rats, The Fog, Carrie, Salem's Lot etc) have been reprinted and reissued many times, so finding the actual material to read takes no effort at all.
In the case of Guy N Smith, this is an entirely different proposition. The most costly of all Guy's published novels is the much celebrated rarity Werewolf By Moonlight. The list price of fifty pounds is an enormous sum for a paperback book, one whose original cover price was just 30p and which runs to little more than 100 pages. That said, I can well imagine the value being even higher for a copy in genuinely Mint condition, particularly if it was signed. The quality of paper used by NEL in the 70s was notoriously poor; I doubt there are many, if any, copies of this book in existence whose pages haven't discoloured to some degree. Moonlight is one of the most collectable paperbacks there is, in the horror genre or any other, and certainly it fetches substantially higher prices than any soft cover edition of the various titles by Herbert, King, Campbell, Barker and the rest. This, perhaps more than anything else, provides solid and irrefutable evidence of Guy Smith's popularity, particularly among collectors. Moonlight has never been reprinted, and the only chance one has of reading the story is to seek out the original novel (unless, perhaps, you can track down a copy of the manuscript, which I imagine would cost even more than the novel itself). I myself do have a copy. I paid sixty-five pence for it and discovered it lurking, unfathomably, in the midst of some Mills & Boon romances (moral: sift through everything in the secondhand shops, not just the horror section). It had taken me more than seven years of searching to find this Smithological equivalent of the Holy Grail. I could have purchased a copy before this (forty quid in a specialist shop in London, 1993, the only other occasion I have seen this novel) but for myself have always thrilled to the challenge of turning up a bargain in one of the numerous small secondhand bookshops I regularly visit. That my own copy is rather tatty, with one or two inscriptions on the title page, means little: I have a copy and it's intact.
Therein lies part of the challenge in collecting the works of GNS. Because almost all of the horror novels were only issued as paperbacks, finding books (first editions or otherwise) in anything approaching Mint condition is a feat in itself. And then there is the sheer volume of material, which is another major attraction for the collector. By the beginning of 1990 I had almost all of Guy's novels (including reprints and reissues), none in less than Very Good condition. This amounted to something like 200 separate volumes. At this point I knew nothing whatsoever about their author - that he had also written a number of non-fiction books in addition to the Disney film novelizations, short stories which appeared in anthologies and numerous magazines and newspapers. And then there are the vast number of shooting and countryside related articles to be considered... In some ways I'm glad I didn't know that I was far from in possession of an almost complete collection, as I supposed at the time. In those days I would often run across other readers and collectors eagerly ferreting through boxes and shelves of dusty books in seach of that elusive rarity. Like me, many of those GNS enthusiasts had no idea that he ran a smallholding, or that he lived on the Welsh border, or anything else about him, for that matter. We were frustrated, but also more than a little intrigued, by the fact that no author information appeared on any of his novels until the Grafton reissues, and even then this was scant in the extreme. I think it was this air of mystery that was partly responsible for arousing my interest. Back then, almost every secondhand shop would have a good few GNS titles on display, in addition to bigger stores like WH Smith selling the new material.
In the middle of 1990 I found myself down on my luck and in need of some ready cash. A nearby book seller knew of my interest in collecting Guy Smith novels. He had even turned up one of two titles for me. When I mentioned to him that I might well be selling some of my books, he said he would be interested in having a look at my collection. He duly called at my house. He took little interest in the paperbacks I had by James Herbert and Stephen Laws and many other horror and crime writers, and went immediately to the large bookcase in which my Guy N Smith novels were proudly displayed. I should have been suspicious. Call me naive, but it never occurred to me that many of the books were worth more than I had actually paid for them. I collected them for a variety of reasons: excellent covers, the beautiful locations in which most are set, and of course because I loved to read of the various horrors besieging mankind, all written in a style far removed from the mainstream norm. This guy made me (what seemed at the time) a good offer for the whole lot. I was very reluctant to part with them but was confident that I could begin my collection all over again and would have no problem finding plenty more where the others had come from. It was about a fortnight after this that Book & Magazine Collector published their interview with Guy, along with a bibliography and price guide - and I knew then that I'd not only been seen coming but had actually been sent for! It was around this time that the values were in the process of soaring...
It wasn't long after this that The Black Fedora and The Resurrected were published in quick succession. I was well used to seeing three or four new books by Guy appear every year, and for a few months I slowly began to reassemble my collection. But then everything went quiet. I'd vainly traipse round my local Smiths, but...nothing. No one seemed to know much about Guy's work, or when his next title was to be published. I have to confess that the thought crossed my mind that perhaps he had died. Then I re-read the B&MC article again and noted that GNS had indicated he might possibly take semi-retirement in Scotland before too long. So that was it - there would be no more Smith books appearing. I rather lost interest after this, not just in Guy's work but collecting generally. When a friend of mine who knew my interest in GNS presented me with a copy of The Knighton Vampires in 1993, I could barely believe me eyes. I realised then that he of the blackened briar had merely been having one or two publisher problems (largely thanks to one Robert Maxwell) but was now well and truly back on the scene, and with a hard cover novel to boot!
Needless to say, I was delighted. Almost overnight I began collecting once more. As Sherlock Holmes might have said, the game was afoot! Only now I found things had changed somewhat. No longer could I find such novels as Crabs: The Human Sacrifice and The Festering with the previous ease. When I did come across any GNS material it was more often than not in a specialist collector's shop, and the prices were somewhat higher than the fifty pence to a pound I had been accustomed to paying! It took me only eighteen months or so to amass the bulk of my original collection, but it has taken me well over a decade to gather a similar amount again. It is quite obvious that Guy N Smith's collectability has rapidly gained momentum.
Part 2
For no good reason, some of the novels seem easier to come by in certain parts of the country. One of the most sought after stories, The Ghoul, I have regularly come across in this part of the world (the south east), despite the fact that it seems in short supply elsewhere. I even used to have a copy that had been signed by Peter Cushing, star of the movie upon which the book was based (until I sold my original collection, that is...). Conversely, and notwithstanding that it was even reprinted, I have never found a copy of Return Of The Werewolf, at least not in an ordinary secondhand shop, although I have read this book thanks to a fellow collector who very kindly loaned me his pristine copy. I think the time is approaching when I'll have to buy a copy from whatever source possible, irrespective of the cost. But don't get me wrong, the reason I have never paid twenty-odd quid for titles such as this isn't because I'm mean, it is simply, as stated earlier, that I love the challenge of the hunt. I know there will be many others out there who share my feelings when it comes to collecting things, GNS included, himself a big collector. Truth be told, it probably works out a lot more expensive the way I do it (with fuel costs and the like).
I can say one thing for certain: there is no one in the country with a complete collection of everything Guy N Smith has published. More than once in the past I have heard that one person or other is going to attempt to compile a complete bibliography of everything Guy's written. To be honest, I doubt even the man himself would be able to do this, for there are bound to be some stories and articles of which he has no record or recollection. If such a bibliography were ever to appear, I'd be one of the first in line for a copy, and the dedication of the compiler would be immense.
It isn't just a case of tracking down all of those old London Mystery Selections and copies of things like Boys' Own, in which GNS had many stories published, what about the original typescripts on the market (at least one of which sold for a four figure sum not so long ago!). And the one-off, never published handwritten novels, several of which are known to be in circulation. I wonder how many Tettenhall Observers, in the pages of which GNS had over 50 stories published between the age of 12 and 17 in the 1950s, are still in existence? There are also numerous unique items of ephemera knocking about, such as the ill-fated proof cover of Fiend, by Graham Humphreys, which was deemed to be so poor that a new painting was commissioned - which put back the release of the novel and lost Guy a prestigious summer lead title launch. Or how about the one-off 1972 Smith-produced fanzine Pulp!, which is rarer than an honest MP these days. Also to be considered by the completist are the 60-plus romantic stories Guy wrote for Thorpe & Porter in the late 60s and early 70s. These appeared in various women's magazines, but never carried an author credit. Plus there is the soft porn he knocked out in the mid-70s. The task is never ending, which for me adds to the appeal.
Nowadays many publishers (rather like their counterparts in the music industry) are fully aware of the collector market and often produce limited edition material specifically aimed at this area. Often the purchase price of these specials is several times that of the basic, commonly available book. In my opinion, this is all a bit artificial and I have mostly shunned such editions.
It seems likely that Black Hill Books will begin producing reissues of hard to come by titles before long: already several volumes have appeared containing scarce short stories from many years ago and more recent times alike. If other collectable markets are anything to go by, this will arouse even great interest in the originals.
Although, as previously stated, Guy Smith's books have become increasingly scarce, particularly the earlier ones, it is still worthwhile hunting around the secondhand bookshops and charity shops, like Oxfam and Mind. I once found mint copies of both the first edition and reprint of Bamboo Guerillas in a Sense shop, and the Cushing-signed copy of The Ghoul in a box containing old Vic Damone albums I was about to throw into a skip when undertaking a house clearance.
Always be alert. Guy has sold a hell of a lot of books, both here and abroad (particularly in Poland, where his novels would regularly sell in excess of 100,000 copies per title). They can turn up almost anywhere. This is even more true of the non-fiction titles, which seem to find their way into all sorts of obscure places and pop up when you least expect to find them. For example, a friend who has a large aquarium one day dragged me along (very unwillingly) to a shop that sold supplies for fish enthusiasts (gravel and tanks and little toys and such like). Wandering desultorily round this establishment, my eye was caught be a yellow-jacketed book sitting on the counter near the till - Profitable Fish Keeping by you-know-who! It turned out that the owner had borrowed the book from a customer who had subsequently died before she had a chance to reclaim the volume. The man at the till must have thought a raving nutcase was on the premises as I (who had spent the previous fifteen minutes making my absolute boredom and total lack of interest plain) suddenly begged him to sell me the hard-to-come-by book. After much head shaking. chin scratching and eye narrowing. he eventually let me have it for a quid. I exited the shop post-haste before the men in white coats could be summonded.
This incident serves to illustrate the fun often involved in collecting Guy's various and diverse works. Another time I met a future girlfriend as we both went for the same copy of Snakes, although she later went down in my estimation when she dumped me for another horror enthusiast who, she gleefully informed me on the phone one day, had a much bigger collection than me!
I confess that I'd never really considered collecting books seriously until I discovered Guy N Smith, and during the many years that I have been doing so, I've certainly had a lot of fun and been to some way out places to visit bookshops and fairs. As Guy's cult status grows, I find myself reacquainted with fellow enthusiasts I'd lost touch with as I scour the south east of England once more.
Collecting books is a great hobby. Certainly you become obsessive, and you'll definitely garner more than a few strange looks when you suddenly shout 'Yessss!' in the middle of a packed shop on coming across that mega-rarity you've been after for ever. Your home is taken over by stacks of paperbacks. You always have at least one bookcase less than you need. You spend money you can't really afford on books you simply can't live without. Sometimes you even read the books you buy! Collecting books can become a compulsion, and usually does, especially when those books are written buy a certain Guy N Smith.
Happy hunting!
Funkdooby
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