Following up on my item about Bernie Krigstein’s 8-page EC story “Master Race” being up for auction, it sold for the relatively low price of $600,000. Where will it go? To a museum in Belgium!
Author: DOuG pRATt
This Old Money
Something from a few years ago on CBS. The Grey Gardens estate in the Hamptons has a Jackie O. connection, but after almost 50 years of neglect the place was nothing like the Kennedy’s Hyannis Port compound.
This is supposed to be the trailer to the 1975 documentary by the legendary Maysles brothers, but it appears to be the entire film.
https://youtu.be/jcKLGI4LeVs
Thomas Alva Edistein
From your friendly national library, the first filmed adaptation of Frankenstein.
It’s a First Printing, Charlie Brown
Over at Nat Gertler’s AAUGH Blog he discusses the book adaptations of “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” I bought a used copy many years ago and assumed that because the title page says “First Printing 1965” it is indeed an original printing.
But wait! Nat explains that all of World Publishing’s press runs say “first printing,” so for a few minutes while listening to the podcast I feared that mine is merely a reprint. But Nat goes on to explain that he has determined the features of an apparent true first edition. For starters, the book should be 8.5 inches tall, without a large black area to the right of the illustration. Check.
Second, the end papers should be a nice, deep red color. Check.
Finally, the first printing came with a dust jacket. Mine doesn’t have that, but the end flaps have text, and Gertler’s description matches two pieces of paper that came with my copy. Therefore, I conclude that my Charlie Brown Christmas book is a true first-run printing.
The most significant piece of information that Nat provides is the name of the artist who illustrated the book. Only the cover has a Schulz drawing. The interior was drawn by Sparky’s former assistant Dale Hale, who did the job in only two weeks.
Even a Fanboy Can Cry
Taschen is promoting its limited edition of “The Stan Lee Story,” by Roy Thomas — 1000 copies at $1500 each, available December 5. The book was announced months ago, and the timing with Stan’s death is purely coincidental. Note the date of the photo below.
Tightening My Belts Again
With the successful repair of my Sony CD 300-disc changer under my belt, I am now confronting the need to fix a broken mechanism in another piece of Sony audio gear. It’s a dual cassette deck I picked up a few years ago for ten bucks at a thrift store.
The TC-WE435 worked perfectly until a couple of days ago, when one of the drives started making a noise and an error message appeared on the LED display. I have taken the cover off and looked inside to see (no surprise) the same thing that the CD changer had — loose belts.
The guy who made this video had the same problem with the same cassette deck model. Let’s see what he did to fix it.
Okay, I watched the video and have ordered a set of four replacement belts for $30, including postage. I hope to have the repair done by this time next week. In the meantime the second drive is still working, but I’ll replace its belts too, of course.