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"

First Two News Stand Library Pocket Editions

Export Publishing Enterprises Ltd began publishing its 156 title News Stand Library Pocket imprint in mid 1948. The first two books are unnumbered and undated. The reprint of Mark It With a Stone states that the first printing was May 1948, with the reprint dated June. There is debate about which book is "number one" but I imagine they were printed and bound at the same time. I say this because they have the identical page count and binding - five stapled signatures, two with 12 leaves followed by three with 16 leaves for a total of 72 leaves or 144 pages. The reprint has six stapled signatures - one 16, one 12, one 8, one 16, one 12 and one 8. The reprint is 8-9 mm wider than the other two books.

Mark It With a Stone was first published New York: Frederick Fell, 1947. Artists, Models and Murder by Toronto's Crown Novel Publishing in 1946.

First printing - May 1948

First printing back

Second printing - June 1948

Second printing back

First and only printing - May 1948?

Steele and Souster

No, this isn't about a Canadian comedy team. Tedd Steele (b. 1922) and Raymond Souster (b. 1921) were contemporaries who lived in Toronto and had books published by Export Publishing Enterprises Ltd. They also shared a neighbourhood very close to Export's first office at 3079 Dundas St. West. Souster lived as a boy at 359 Indian Grove while Steele lived the next street over from 1946 to 1951 at 217 Indian Rd. Crescent (information from Greg Gatenby, Toronto: a Literary Guide (Toronto: McArthur & Company, 1999) p. 355). Both addresses were in walking distance of Export's offices.

The authorial similarities end there however. Souster has had a long and respected career as a poet. He won a Governor General's award in 1964 in the poetry or drama category. Steele, as far as I can tell, did not have any novels published after Export. He is also remembered as an illustrator on early Canadian comics.

Souster's only book for Export was The Winter of Time.

An example of one of Souster's later books is so far so good (Toronto: Oberon Press, 1969).

Export published four books by Steele, two under pseudonyms. The first was Artists, Models and Murder in mid 1948 as one of the first two unnumbered books in Export's New Stand Library (NSL) imprint. This had first been published by Crown Novel Publishing for the British market in 1946. The final three were paperback originals.

The next was Pagan (NSL 59) as by Jack Romaine in August 1949. It was also issued in Export's series for distribution in the US as The Pagans (NSL 7A) as by Jack Benedict in July 1949. The US edition also came with a dust jacket.

Third was Torch of Violence (NSL 76) as by Gerald Laing and in the US series (NSL 9A) as by David Forrest (aka Forest), both October 1949. The US edition also came with a dust jacket.

The final book was Trail of Vengeance (NSL 138) published in September 1950.