HANK JANSON FIRST EDITIONS AT
ASH RARE BOOKS
43 HURON ROAD
LONDON SW17 8RE
UNITED KINGDOM

New York : Checkerbooks, (1949). First American edition. Seemingly the only early Janson title published in the United States at this time. The Reginald Heade cover for this edition is in fact the same as that used on the London published "Honey, Take my Gun" (1949).
Crown 8vo. 96pp. Original pictorial wrappers; a little chipped and creased at tips and corners; a little rolled; short splits to spine folds; text lightly tanned; a good copy.

£75

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London : S. D. Frances, [1950]. First edition. A nicely observed murder tale that commences with a failed playwright turned theatre-critic - and a party at the house of the successful playwright who has undermined him. The book rattled up thirty-two destruction orders from local magistrates. Later republished under the Roberts & Vinter imprint as "Sentence for Sin" in 1960.
Crown 8vo. 125,[iii]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers; a saucy blonde wench in lilac lifts her skirts - a design by Reginald Heade; some very minor creasing and edge-wear; more pronounced diagonal crease to lower wrapper; a few slight spots, but a very good copy - the staples clean and without rust. Stamps of Jones the Bookseller of Clitheroe Market on lower wrapper and verso of title-page. Only the British Library copy located on COPAC. Williams & Holland 18.

£200

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London : S. D. Frances, [1951]. First edition. A tale that begins with black-market penicillin (with a sideline in cocaine) and includes a fiendish if improbable character known as Torquemada. The penultimate book in Janson's second series - and the subject of forty-two destruction orders by various local authorities (Holland p.323).
Foolscap 8vo (19cm). 125,[iii]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers - a typical Reginald Heade design of manacled blonde in wisp of purple and golden sandals - a variant with the price in yellow rather than white; a little light wear and creasing; lower wrapper a little spotted; a few slight internal marks and spots, but a very good copy of an extremely scarce and fragile production. Only the British Library copy listed on COPAC. Williams & Holland 23.

£200

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London : S. D. Frances, [1951]. First edition. The last of the Janson titles to be published under his own S. D. Frances imprint.
Foolscap 8vo. 124,[iv]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers - a subdued design by Reginald Heade (1901-1957) - sobbing brunette showing her charms; tiny chip at foot; a few faint marks, but a very good copy. Only the British Library copy listed on COPAC. Williams & Holland 28.

£250

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London : New Fiction Press, [1951]. First edition. The first of the Janson titles to appear under the imprint of Reg Carter's New Fiction Press. The new publisher's attitude was cautious and the already printed original Heade artwork was abandoned prior to publication in favour of a plain silhouette design.
Crown 8vo. 124,[iv]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers - a silhouette design in green, yellow and red; lightly used, with a little rubbing, slight wear and light creasing; lower wrapper slightly creased and spotted; a few faint marks, but otherwise a very good copy. Only the British Library copy located on COPAC. Williams & Holland 29.

£100

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London : New Fiction Press, [1951]. First edition : the variant with the cover silhouette in green and yellow rather than black and yellow. The original Heade artwork for this title was never issued and appears no longer to survive. The subject of twenty-seven destruction orders (Holland p.323). Later republished under the Alexander Moring imprint as "Hate" in 1958.
Crown 8vo. 125,[iii]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers; much worn and creased; spine heavily repaired with tape, now somewhat yellowed; price scribbled on upper wrapper; a reading copy of a scarce book. Bookseller's stamp of Morgans Book Stores of East Street. London SE17 on lower wrapper. Only the British Library copy located on COPAC. Williams & Holland 31.

SOLD

London : New Fiction Press, [1951]. First edition. The first of the "silver" Jansons - all that can be seen of the original Reginald Heade cover design is a splash of purple sheet, the tip of a shoe and a few hairs from the top of the half-naked brunette's head. The original artwork (saucy even by Heade's standards) was silvered over prior to publication in fear of increasing attention from the authorities.
Crown 8vo. 125,[iii]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers; lightly rubbed and just slightly worn; a few spots and faint creases, but a very good copy. Only the British Library copy located on COPAC. Williams & Holland 32.

£100

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London : New Fiction Press, [1951]. First edition. Janson investigates a strike in Chicago. The Reginald Heade artwork was hastily silvered over prior to publication - all that remains of the cute redhead are her silken sheets. The artwork only finally appeared on the Telos edition published in 2003. The subdued cover notwithstanding, the book attracted twenty-two destruction orders from local magistrates. The book later appeared under the Alexander Moring imprint in 1956 as "Bring Me Sorrow".
Crown 8vo. [128]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers, a silhouette in blue on silver overlaying the original design; somewhat worn, chipped, and slightly split, with much of the spine eroded away; small mark on lower wrapper; internally some minor yellowing and spotting; a poor copy of an extremely fragile production. Only the British Library copy located on COPAC. Williams & Holland 33.

SOLD

London : New Fiction Press, [1952]. First edition. The elusive final book of the third series - an explosion in an apartment block in Chicago - Hank investigates.
Crown 8vo. 126,[ii]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers - a Reginald Heade blonde menace points her gun directly at the reader; light rubbing; tiny split at foot; faint creasing to spine and corners; slight spotting to edges, lower wrapper and last few leaves, but a very good copy. Only the British Library copy located on COPAC. Williams & Holland 36.

SOLD

London : New Fiction Press, [1952]. First edition. The first book in the fourth Janson series - Sheila Lang comes back into his life. The subject of twenty-two destruction orders from local magistrates (Holland. p.323).
Crown 8vo. 126,[ii]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers - a full-lipped Reginald Heade brunette with a candle; some minor rubbing; slight creasing to spine; faint discolouration to lower wrapper; a few slight spots, but a very good copy. Only the British Library copy located on COPAC. Williams & Holland 37.

£150

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London : New Fiction Press, [1952]. First edition. "She'd been sitting at the bar for half-an-hour and during that time she'd ordered and drunk three Martinis. That's a lot of Martinis for a tight little package to consume in half-an-hour. Especially a dame who's young as well as cute ...". The second book in Janson's fourth series - the subject of twenty-four destruction orders by various local authorities - and one of a number of books that several booksellers on the Isle of Man were prosecuted for selling in July 1953 (Holland pp.133-134).
Crown 8vo. 126,[ii]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a design by Reginald Heade - pained redhead in plunging green with blood on her hands; some minor rubbing; a few slight marks, but a very good copy of a scarce title. Only the British Library copy listed on COPAC. Williams & Holland 38.

£200

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London : New Fiction Press, [1952]. First edition. Hank Janson in the mid-west, a story of racial tension cleverly handled. The subject of twenty-one local authority destruction orders (Holland p.323).
Crown 8vo. 126,[ii]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers - pouty and voluptuous redhead in green by Reginald Heade; just lightly used; some minor wear and creasing to spine, but a very good copy. The British Library copy only on COPAC. Williams & Holland 39.

£100

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London : New Fiction Press, [1952]. First edition. "The guy was dead. Horribly dead. As dead as a stone gargoyle and just as ugly ...".
Crown 8vo. 127,[i]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers - a tender Reginald Heade design of a distraught girl almost in a golden gown; spine lightly worn and puckered; lower wrapper with diagonal creasing; a few faint marks; just a touch of rusting to staples, but a very good copy of a scarce book. Only the British Library copy located on COPAC. Williams & Holland 40.

£150

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London : New Fiction Press, [1952]. First edition. The second book in Janson's Persian trilogy - sold into slavery and the harem, etc. One of the books declared obscene and banned in the January 1954 trial (although re-published under the same title in 1957). At the subsequent February 1955 trial, Frances himself was acquitted on the grounds that some of these books, including the present title, may have been written in whole or in part by the editor, Geoffrey Pardoe, who had died in May 1953. The unsigned slave-girl cover (with floating snake and equally improbable brassiere engineering) is plausibly ascribed to Reginald Heade.
Crown 8vo. 127,[i]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers; some rubbing and faint creasing; a little worn at foot; slight scuff to upper wrapper, but a good, clean, bright and sound copy. Only the British Library copy located on COPAC. Williams & Holland Specials B.

£75

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London : New Fiction Press, [1952]. First edition : a bibliographically complex title - the text appearing in at least three different settings, of which this appears to be a secondary variant, with the text squeezed up throughout to free the final page for an advertisement for the publisher's new line of American fiction by Gil Brewer and Edward Ronns. The text is, however, contained in an evidently early printing of the wrappers, listing just two earlier Fourth Series Janson titles. "I replaced the receiver, dug down in my desk drawer for the bottle of rye that helps prevent a guy get moody when everyone else is tucked up nice and comfortable in their warm beds, drew the cork with my teeth and hygienically sloshed the raw liquor around my teeth and gargled with it ...". The book was subject to seventeen destruction orders by various local authorities (Holland p. 323).
Crown 8vo. 143,[i]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers - a design by Reginald Heade - anguished redhead on a bulky telephone; lightly rubbed and a little worn; a few very faint marks and tiny creases,but an entirely acceptable copy of a difficult title. No copy of any of the variants located in any major British library. Williams & Holland 43.

£100

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London : New Fiction Press, [1953]. First edition : the putative first issue, with the lower wrapper listing forty-four earlier Janson titles, three of those shown as still being in preparation. Published in January 1953 - the subject of twenty-three local authority destruction orders - and one of the seven books featured in the January 1954 obscenity trial of Janson's publishers and distributors. At the subsequent February 1955 trial, Frances himself was acquitted on the grounds that some of these books, including the present title, may have been written in whole or in part by the editor, Geoffrey Pardoe, who had died in May 1953.
Crown 8vo. 143,[i]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers - a Reginald Heade blonde shrieking as she looks backwards; some minor rubbing and wear, staples just a touch rusted, but a very good copy. The British Library copy only located on COPAC. Williams & Holland 44.

£100

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London : New Fiction Press, [1953]. First edition. Hank Janson of the Chicago Chronicle and the case of a good man turned sour by a false conviction. The book became the subject of nineteen destruction orders from local magistrates and one of the books featured in the January 1954 Old Bailey obscenity trial - as a result of which both the publisher and distributor were sentenced to prison. This gave rise to a question in the House of Commions as to how many copies had been bought for distribution to the armed services - and the slightly evasive response that a small quantity had been purchased by the NAAFI.
Crown 8vo. 142,[ii]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers - a sultry blonde in clinging lilac by the incomparable Reginald Heade (1901-1957); very slightly rubbed and creased at spine, but a very good copy of a rare and fragile survival. Only the British Library copy (no longer held in the secret 'Suppressed Safe' but still with a 'Private Case' shelfmark) located in any major UK library. Williams & Holland 45.

SOLD

London : New Fiction Press, [1953]. First edition. A complex tale of telepathy, grave-robbing, missing woman and suicide. A reference in a footnote on p.18 to Portsmouth's May 1953 Coronation Ideal Home and Trades Exhibition dates the publication fairly precisely, even if slightly distracting from the Chicago setting.
Crown 8vo. 143,[i]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers - alarmed blonde in golden gown tied by a rope - a design by Reginald Heade; a little rubbed, worn and slightly marked; vertical crease to upper wrapper; staples rusted; some mild spotting, but a reasonable copy of a scarce title. Only the National Library of Scotland copy located on COPAC. Williams & Holland 46.

£75

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London : New Fiction Press, [1953]. First edition : the first issue, with the silhouette and list of titles on the lower cover, giving forty-eight numbered Janson titles and three specials - six (including the present title) being flagged as still in preparation - and with the Anne Shelton 'Hank Janson Blues' advertisements on the inner wrappers. Condemned man awaits execution, jailbreak with a psychopath and fiancee, etc. - one of the seven Janson books found to be obscene at the Old Bailey trial in January 1954 and subsequently banned. Janson's publishers, Reg Carter and Julius Reiter, were given heavy fines and each sentenced to prison for six months - and although it is entirely possible that 100,000 copies were printed the book is now extremely rare. When Janson (Frances) himself came to trial in February 1955, he was acquitted on the grounds that some of the seven books (which Janson generally dictated rather than wrote) may have been written in whole or in part by the editor, Geoffrey Pardoe, who had died shortly after "Amok" was published in May 1953.
Crown 8vo. 143,[i]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers - an unsigned design but plainly by Reginald Heade - bosomy, startled and green-eyed brunette in clinging yellow; a little rubbed, sunned and creased; staples rusting; small chip missing at foot of spine, but a good copy of a difficult title. Only the British Library copy listed on COPAC. Williams & Holland 47.

£150

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London : New Fiction Press, [1953]. First edition : the variant with the colour advertisement for "One Man in his Time" on the lower wrapper. The final book in Janson's Persian trilogy - "Mada herself will face the anger and punishment of her just but merciless father". Evidence adduced at Janson's trial suggests that the book may in fact have been written in whole or in part by Geoffrey Pardoe (1890-1953). The book concludes with a 6pp "Personal Letter" from Janson to his readers on the subject of science fiction and his forthcoming book, "The Unseen Assassin".
Crown 8vo. 142,[ii]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers - a Reginald Heade design of an exotic and bejewelled brunette from the harem; some very minor wear and splitting; upper wrapper faintly creased; lower wrapper heavily creased; a good copy of a scarce and fragile production. Copies at the British Library, Bodleian and Trinity College Dublin listed on COPAC. Williams & Holland Specials C.

£50

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 34184 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

London : Top Fiction, [1953]. First edition : in the variant wrapper with fifty series titles and five specials listed on the lower wrapper. The last book of the fourth series and the first under the Top Fiction imprint - with a theme of a high-class call-girl racket being used to ensnare public officials, the book opens with an unsual corruption trial. Top Fiction Ltd. was a new company hurriedly formed by Reg Carter after the police raids and seizures at the premises of the Janson publishers, printers and distributors in September 1953 (Holland pp.135-136).
Crown 8vo. 142,[ii]pp. Original pictorial wrappers - a design of brunette in green with pink champagne and long cigarette holder; spine a little worn, sunned and with a couple of small chips; wrappers lightly used and a little creased; staples a little rusted; teaxt a little tanned, with a few spots, but a good copy of a difficult title. No copies located on COPAC. Williams & Holland 48.

£50

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London : Alexander Moring, (1958). First edition. Hank receives a tip-off - an old-fashioned duel at dawn in a park in Chicago - the girl in the flame-red frock "gently moistened her lips, almost as though her mouth was watering".
Crown 8vo. 160pp. Original pictorial wrappers; lightly rubbed and a little rolled; new price inked on upper wrapper, but otherwise a very good copy.

£20

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 29950 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.