Addition to Collection

Just picked up one of the uncommon Crown books from 1946. They are digest sized paperbacks published by Toronto's Crown Publishing for the post war UK market. The books are unnumbered so an exact count of the number published is impossible. This is my sixth of nine that I know about.

Here is a very helpful history of this story.

Crown Novel Publishing Part III

It has been a number of years since I posted about small Toronto publisher Crown Novel Publishing who sold paperbacks in the post war UK. They are unnumbered so it's an open question how many were issued. Nine found so far.

Here's one just purchased. 

Artists, Models and Murder (1946) by Tedd Steele is special for a few reasons. One, it is the only paperback original from Crown and has a biography of Steele at the back. Second, it was rebound as a hardcover. The front cover has been cut and pasted, poorly, to the front board. I have seen another hardbound copy so it was likely done either by the publisher or the UK distributor, perhaps for the library market. So far this is the only Crown that I've seen like this. Third, it was published in a new edition by Export Publishing in 1948 as one of the first two in their News Stand Library imprint. The Export is a mass market while the Crown is a digest.

The text is the same. The only difference is each of the 37 chapters in the Export edition has been given a title. A few examples - 

"Pink Lace, Poodle and Puddle of Blood"

"The Nude in the Cottage"

"Blonde at the Bedside"

Most Viewed Post

After some 350 posts I thought I'd note the "most viewed post" with nearly twice as many views as the second most popular - More Canadians Abroad - Crown Novel. Why? Because Pulp International borrowed one of the images. Otherwise it would be as obscure as 95% of its fellow posts. I'm flattered but here's an image they won't be interested in.

Crown Novel Publishing Part II

I introduced the nine book British paperback series Bear Pocket here. Here are another two.

All of the Bear Pockets were published in 1946 and are an example of the odd publishing ventures that followed the Second World War. Paper rationing was still in effect so a tiny book like this made economic sense. Another way to get books on the stands in Britain was Canadian produced books distributed in Britain. These efforts, as far as I can tell, only happened in 1946.

One such publisher was Toronto's Crown Novel (sometimes "Book" is inserted) Publishing Company. I know nothing about them, not even the number of books Crown published. I know of nine. There may be some connection with Export Publishing Enterprises Ltd which I'll explore in another post. 

One of Crown's books has the following:

"Published by Crown Novel Book Publishing Company for Pemberton’s of Manchester Limited, 14 Lever Street, Manchester, England. Wholesale distribution through World Distributors Incorporated, Manchester, England."

Here are two westerns from Crown, both originals. Each are digest sized - 200-210mm x 135mm.

Bear Pocket 1

Bear Pocket 2

Crown Novel Publishing Part I

In my earlier post about Canadian publishers and the post-war British book market I discussed Popular Publications. Another Canadian publisher abroad is Crown Novel Publishing Company. The books carry a 1946 "printed" date and are unnumbered. There are nine I've found so far.

Seven Men states "Published by Crown Novel Book Publishing Company [sic] for Pemberton’s of Manchester Limited, 14 Lever Street, Manchester, England. Wholesale distribution through World Distributors Incorporated, Manchester, England."

The source for Rangeland Clean-up is unknown. Seven Men was first published in the April 12 1941 issue of Detective Fiction Weekly and then as a book by Quinn Publishing (New York, 1942). Seven Men is 124mm x 183mm and Rangeland Clean-up is 135mm x 210mm. My copy of Seven Men does not have a back cover.