First Cuts: The Drafts and Fragments – The Hardboiled Manuscripts (Deluxe)
Price range: $44.99 through $99.00
Robert E. Howard’s detective fiction in the making. Compiled and transcribed by Ståle Gismervik, this two-volume First Cuts collection brings together surviving synopses, successive drafts, false starts and unfinished texts, with editorial notes.
- Boxed set — $99.00: both hardcover volumes in a slipcase.
- Individual hardcovers — $44.99 each: without the slipcase.
- Volume 1: 588 pages. Volume 2: 510 pages. Frontispieces by Mark Wheatley.
Volume 1: full contents and details
Volume 2: full contents and details
Printed and fulfilled by Bookvault in the UK. Shipping is additional.
The Hardboiled Manuscripts (Deluxe) explores the development of Robert E. Howard’s detective and crime fiction through his surviving manuscripts. Compiled and transcribed by Ståle Gismervik, it forms part of First Cuts: The Drafts and Fragments and is a companion to Steve Harrison’s Casebook.
The Collector’s Edition
The boxed set contains two hardcover volumes together in a slipcase, with 588 pages in Volume 1 and 510 pages in Volume 2. Both volumes include frontispieces by Mark Wheatley. Either hardcover volume can also be ordered individually without the slipcase.
Volume 1 — Steve Harrison’s early manuscript material
Surviving manuscript material for eight Steve Harrison stories: Lord of the Dead, The Mystery at Tannernoe Lodge, The Teeth of Doom, The Black Moon, The Voice of Death, People of the Serpent, The House of Suspicion, and The Names in the Black Book. The volume includes Gismervik’s foreword, A Field He Detested, and notes on the individual manuscripts.
Volume 2 — Steve Harrison, Gorman and Kirby
Material for The Silver Heel, the untitled synopsis beginning “Steve Harrison Received a Wire . . .,” and Graveyard Rats, followed by the Gorman and Kirby stories The Hand of the Black Goddess and Sons of Hate. Additional material includes Dierk Günther’s essay, Barbarism and Detective Fiction: REH’s Steve Harrison Stories, a character timeline for The Silver Heel, and Notes on Gorman and Kirby.
About the texts
The collection presents synopses, drafts and fragments with editorial notes identifying the surviving textual states. On Editing Robert E. Howard: A Note on Language, Style, and Fidelity explains the transcription principles.
Full tables of contents
Volume 1: full contents and details
Volume 2: full contents and details
Boxed set: $99.00. Individual hardcover volumes: $44.99 each. Shipping is additional. These editions are printed and fulfilled by Bookvault in the United Kingdom.
Product images are digital mockups.
| Weight | N/A |
|---|---|
| Collector’s Edition | Collector’s Boxed Set (Both Volumes), Collector’s Volume 1 – Hardcover, Collector’s Volume 2 – Hardcover |
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