WHISPERS IN THE NIGHT: Stories of the Mysterious and Macabre

COPPER, Basil

Published by Fedogan & Bremer, Minneapolis, 1999

About this Item

First edition, first printing. 1,000 copies. Inscribed by the author to Peter Haining. Original black cloth, lettered gilt on spine. Illustrated by Stephen E. Fabian. 8vo. 271pp. In original dust-wrapper designed by Stephen E. Fabian. Very fine in very fine d/w. Not price-clipped and displaying the original price of $27.00 on the front flap. Inscribed on the front free endpaper "For my good friend Peter, in celebration of 35 years of literary collaboration which started off foursquare and has continued foursquare to this day! With kindest regards, Basil. 22.9.99." Also signed by Copper on the title-page. From the collection of the late Peter Haining (1940-2007). Basil Copper (1924-2013) had his very first short story 'The Curse' published when he was 14 years old but he did not become a full-time writer until he was 46. In 1971 Copper's short story 'The House by the Tarn' was published in August Derleth's anthology, 'Dark Things' and he went on to have a long-lived relationship with Derleth's Arkham House. His work drew praise from Donald Wandrei who said of him: "He beguiles the mind as he lures the imagination beyond the outposts of reality". After Derleth's death, it was Copper who was given the rights by Derleth's estate to continue the Solar Pons series of books. Copper's work was also championed by editor Peter Haining, to whom Copper had dedicated his first book for Arkham House, 'From Evil's Pillow' (1973). Peter Haining was a British publisher, anthologist and writer, a long-standing friend of Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch and others and who had been responsible for the first British publication in book form of many of their early stories and other materials that had previously only appeared in pulp magazines such as Weird Tales (see Michael Ashley, William G. Contento : The Supernatural Index). Haining, whilst editorial director of New English Library and Four Square, was also responsible for launching or reviving the careers of many horror writers, some of whom were to become celebrated stalwarts of the genre. He was an early encourager and mentor to Basil Copper and had published Copper's very first collection of stories (Not After Nightfall, 1968), when editor of Four Square books (hence the reference to foursquare in Copper's inscription) and it was probably he who first introduced Copper to August Derleth. As nice an association copy as it would be possible to find. See our other Abe listings for several other Basil Copper items from Peter Haining's collection, comprising what we believe is his entire oeuvre in the field of the macabre. Seller Inventory # 000231

Bibliographic Details

Title: WHISPERS IN THE NIGHT: Stories of the ...

Publisher: Fedogan & Bremer, Minneapolis

Publication Date: 1999

Binding: Cloth Bound

Condition: Fine

Dust Jacket Condition: Fine

Signed: Inscribed by Author(s)

Edition: 1st Edition