Baker Street Journal Vol 4 No 1 (1949) Old Series: Sherlock Holmes BSI Abramson For Sale
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Baker Street Journal Vol 4 No 1 (1949) Old Series: Sherlock Holmes BSI Abramson:
$31.99
The final issue of the original Baker Street Journal, published by Ben Abramson in January 1949, just before the magazine went dark for nearly two years. This is the last of the 13 Old Series numbers, with Christopher Morley, Anthony Boucher and a letter from Sherlock Holmes illustrator Frederic Dorr Steele. It’s a worn, honest copy at a collector’s-reading-copy price.
DescriptionThe Baker Street Journal: An Irregular Quarterly of Sherlockiana
Volume 4, Number 1 (January 1949). Edgar W. Smith, Editor. Published for the Baker Street Irregulars, Inc. by Ben Abramson, New York. Printed wraps in canary yellow, about 130 pages.
Why it matters: This is the last number of the Old Series, which ran 13 issues in four volumes (1946–1949). Abramson’s lavish production costs sank the magazine, and it was revived by the BSI in 1950 as the New Series. Of the four volumes, Vol. 4 is the short one, with only this issue.
Contents include:
- Editorial on John Dickson Carr’s The Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- “The Birlstone Hoax” by Charles B. Stephens
- “Silver Blaze: An Identification” by Jay Finley Christ
- “Clinical Notes by a Resident Patient” by Christopher Morley
- “The Records of Baker Street” by Anthony Boucher
- A sonnet by Helene Yuhasova
- “My First Meeting with Sherlock Holmes,” a 1940 letter from Frederic Dorr Steele about the handprint on his 1903 Collier’s cover, with a full-page Steele illustration
- The Scion Societies, Letters to Baker Street, Baker Street Inventory, and Bibliographical Notes by Nathan L. Bengis
The rear cover carries Victorian pastiche advertisements, plus period ads for J. Finley Christ’s Concordance and Yuhasova’s A Lauriston Garden of Verses.
CONDITION: a worn but complete reading copy. Please read carefully and see photos.
- Spine: Old brown tape reinforces the spine at the top and bottom, with the tape wrapping onto the front and back covers at the corners. The spine is worn and creased, with some small losses along the edge. Someone has hand-lettered “Baker Street Journal” in ink on the spine.
- Front cover: Soiled and toned, with a brown stain or foxing patch at the lower right and light edge wear.
- Back cover: Toned, with edge wear and a small nick at the lower left near the spine.
- Interior: Paper has aged to an even tan with toned edges, as expected for 1949 pulp stock. Text and illustrations are fully legible.
- Binding: Intact in the photos.
Ships Media Mail, wrapped in a protective sleeve.
Item specifics
- Category: Books & Magazines > Antiquarian & Collectible
- Publisher: Ben Abramson
- Editor: Edgar W. Smith
- Year: 1949
- Format: Paperback / Wraps
- Subject: Sherlock Holmes, Sherlockiana
- Language: English
- Condition: “Acceptable” or “Good” (use the description box for specifics)
SELLER’S STATEMENT
Please inspect the photos to assess the condition and contents of these pre-owned items, all of which are in good, extremely usable condition. All are in firm condition, with tight and/or age-appropriate binding and no loose pages.
As I continue to downsize my collection of books, I’m focusing on unusual phenomena, occultism, magic and related subjects. I’ve offered several difficult-to-find items on in the hope of reaching a broader group of collectors. It’s possible that some may be of interest to you. Please glance over these current items is the "More from this Seller" section.
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