Why so popular for that three year period? D_____d if I know. New editor? I know that the first one, Jack Palmer, died sometime in early fifties. Crime/thriller sales falling off so give historicals their kick at the can? Were hard cover historicals selling especially well during these years?
Here are 3 of the 34.
Great Oaks by Ben Ames Williams (1889-1953) was first published in 1930 (New York: Dutton).
George Challis's The Firebrand (New York: Harper) was first published in 1950. It is a collection of three stories originally published in Argosy. "The Firebrand” 11/24/1934 & 12/1/1934 (2 part serial), “The Great Betrayal” 2/2/1935-2/16/1935 (3 part serial) and “The Storm” 4/6/1935-4/20/1935 (3 part serial). Challis is a pseudonym for Frederick Faust (1892-1944).
Lady of Cleaves (New York: Macrae-Smith, 1946) by Margaret Campbell Barnes (1891-1962) has just been reissued along with many of her other books, likely due to the popularity of the recent series, The Tudors.
Harlequin 169 - May 1952
Harlequin 169 back
Harlequin 152 - February 1952
Harlequin 152 back
Harlequin 193 - October 1952
Harlequin 193 back
I'm reminded that Ronald J. Cooke's The House on Craig Street, published by Harlequin, features a scene in which aspiring novelist Clive Winston fills his girl in on popular literature: "The best-seller formula is easy. All you have to do is get a few periodic [sic] costumes, a bit of ancient history and some bedroom scenes and you're all set."
ReplyDeleteGreat quote. Going to use that in another historical post.
ReplyDelete