Harlequin Artists Part XXXII - Max Ralph (2)

I recently found an ad in a 1950 issue of Maclean's that solved a Harlequin artist mystery. Earlier this year I discussed an artist who signed his two Harlequin covers as "NMR". And here I discussed an artist who signed his work as "Ralph". I speculated that this was Max Ralph. Now I know the two artists are N. Max Ralph. The Maclean's ad notes that the art is the work of "N Max Ralph" and the signature is clearly the same. There is also a third signature - "R". Why three different ways of signing his work?

Here are examples of each plus the ad.

Maclean's - October 15, 1950 - p. 65

Harlequin 44 - April 1950

Harlequin 44

Harlequin 42

Harlequin 42 - April 1950

Harlequin 103

Harlequin 103 - March 1951

Collins White Circle in the Swinging 60s

Wm. Collins Sons & Co. Canada Ltd published 459 books in their White Circle numbered series between 1942 and 1952. But there were also a handful of paperbacks designated White Circle in the 1940s through the 1970s that were not part of this series. Here are two from the 60s. While published five years apart they are consecutively numbered. I don't know if there is a A1002.

White Circle A1000 - 1964

White Circle A1000 back

White Circle A1001 - 1969

White Circle A1001 back

Harlequin Reprints Part XXII

Here are the 13th and 14th of 19 titles that Harlequin reprinted as new numbers in the series from 1949 to 1959. Both have new front and back covers. The Murder on the Links is a reprint (that is, text has not been reset) but Maverick Guns has new page breaks such that the first edition has 124 pages of text and the second 122. There is no notice of the first edition in the second edition of Maverick Guns.

Harlequin 75 - September 1950

Harlequin 75 back

Harlequin 417 - March 1958

Harlequin 417 back

Harlequin 242 - August 1953

Harlequin 242 back

Harlequin 441 - October 1958

Harlequin 441 back

Are Any of Harlequin Books 61 - 70 Worth Reading?

It's been a while since a post in my series on Harlequin Worthies®. This group of 10 reveals one western, one historical, one Mountie and seven crime/thrillers. Once again only the crime/thrillers have any potential.

61 Halleran, E. E.          Shadow Of The Badlands
62 Merwin Jr., Sam        Message From A Corpse
63 Brandon, William      The Dangerous Dead
64 Michel, M. Scott        Sinister Warning [The X-Ray Murders]
65 Clamp, H. M. E.        Bridewell Beauty
66 Moore, Amos            Royce Of The Royal Mounted
67 Tracy, Don               Criss Cross
68 Bogart, William         The Queen City Murder Case
69 Schofield, Wm. G.      Payoff In Black
70 Merwin Jr., Sam         Knife In My Back

Criss Cross is the basis for the 1949 film noir of the same name starring Burt Lancaster. That deserves a Worthy®.

Harlequin 66 - August 1950

Harlequin 66 back

Harlequin 67 - Auguts 1950

Harlequin 67 back

Harlequin 69 - August 1950

Harlequin 69 back

A Dictionary from Wm. Collins Sons & Co. Canada Part I

The "King's English" Self-Pronouncing Pocket Dictionary and Vocabulary Builder by J. M. Parrish and John R. Crossland is one of two early paperbacks from Wm. Collins Sons & Co. Canada in a numbered series starting with S. In the case of the dictionary, S3, noted at the base of the spine. There is a S4 but I've never seen S1 or S2. The copyright date is 1942 but a two page advertisement for "Books in Canada" at the back provides a date for the printing. This list of books includes four from the White Circle paperback series, including Literary Lapses which was published in 1945.

The "King's ... is a reprint of The New Improved Standard Dictionary. The only difference is the title page with the new title, a reset author listing and the addition of the street address in Toronto, 70 Bond Street.

Collins S3 - 1945

Collins S3 back