News Bulletin of the Harry Stephen Keeler Society No. 58................................................. July, 2006

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Keeler News No. 58

News Bulletin of the Harry Stephen Keeler Society

It is this artificial relationship, this purely fictional web-work plot, this bit of life twisted into a pattern mathematically and geometrically true, that fills the gaps in oneÕs spirit which rebels at the looseness of life as it apparently is.

No. 58, July 2006 On our cover: ÒCountess Vera Martin DeMueller, most famous cover-girl in the world, whose photos appear regularly in 10-Story BookÓ (May 1931)

EditorÕs Notes............................ 2 The 10 Story Book Story............... 3 Vera: A Pictorial.......................... 5 Keeler & Dutton VII: 1930-31.......10 Letters .....................................14 Membership Update..................15 A Sentence from the Master ........15 Books for Sale ...........................16

Published five times yearly by the Harry Stephen Keeler Society 4745 Winton Rd. Cincinnati, OH 45232 USA 513-591-1226 [email protected] keelersociety.mondoplex.com Editor: Richard Polt $15/year, North America $20/year, elsewhere ISSN 1524-2323

I recently got a copy of X. Jones van Scotland YardÑthatÕs van, not of. I was hoping that this Dutch translation would have illustrations in Dutch, for Keeler claimed that he prepared plates in several different languages (KN #30, p. 3). But no, the graphicsÑfar fewer than in the Dutton editionÑare all in English. However, thereÕs something interesting about this book: it differs from both the US and the UK versions. The American edition has 102 documents in 448 pages, the British has 40 in 285, and the Dutch has 63 in 216Ñproving that thereÕs more than one way to try to separate the wheat from the chaff in a Keeler tale. The translator (and editor?) is W. J. A. Roldanus Jr.

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A story in June 4Õs New York Times describes Jacques RivetteÕs 750-minute 1970 film ÒOut 1: Noli Me TangereÓ: ÒCharacters change names and reveal secret identities. É Connective tissue fills in, only to fall away É the thickening mysteryÕs self-appointed detective [is] fixated on cryptic messages about a 13-member secret society É. Mr. Rivette worked without a script, relying instead on a diagram that mapped the junctures at which members of his large ensemble cast would intersect. É For Mr. Rivette, narrativesÑor, more precisely, our hunger for themÑcan be dangerous.Ó Fender Tucker, who sent us this clipping, asks: maybe we could get Rivette interested in filming The Box from Japan? He could spend a minute per page É.

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More good publicity for Keeler: Paul Collins is writing a piece for Fine Books & Collections magazine. Editor Scott Brown is working with Paul to develop a bibliography, and the article promises to be one of the most thorough and accurate ever publishedÑoutside the pages of our bulletin, of course.

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ThereÕs still no news from Spain on the proposed Keeler reprints there. IÕm not holding my breath. For English-speaking readers, though, the invaluable Ramble House continues to make nearly all of HSKÕs fiction availableÑnow in a larger, trade-paperback format printed on demand by the appropriately named Lulu (see pages 15 and 16).

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by Chris Mikul Soon after I began to collect the works of Harry Stephen Keeler, I was delighted to discover (in the pages of this esteemed newsletter) that he had also been the editor for many years of a somewhat risquŽ magazine Òfor iconoclastsÓ called 10 Story Book. As IÕm also an avid collector of vintage magazines, I immediately began to seek out copies and, chiefly thanks to the Great God eBay, was able to put together a sizable collection. First published in Chicago in 1901, 10 Story Book initially focused on printing quality popular fiction, but had taken on a raunchier tone by the time Keeler began editing it in 1919. For the next two decades it was essentially a Ògirlie magazine,Ó mixing pictures of scantilyclad or nude women with all manner of outrŽ stories. I had generally only skimmed though each issue of 10 Story Book as I acquired itÑhaving as always a thousand other things to readÑ and saw that many of the stories were poorly-written and forgettable. There were some gems in there as well, though, including quite a few by writers I knew and admired. It eventually occurred to me that it might be possible to fashion an interesting anthology from this material. Of course this is just the sort of thing that Fender Tucker was put on earth to help bring about, and he thought it was a good idea too. So I sat down to methodically read through 140 or so issues of 10 Story Book, starting with the earliest I had, November 1901, and going right through to January 1940. I wonÕt deny I cut a few corners along the way. I tended to pass over anything involving comical negroes or knights in the days of yore, the intentionally humorous pieces (almost all of which are desperately unfunny today) and the one-act plays that Keeler was inexplicably fond of running. I found that a bad story usually announced itself in the first or second paragraph (while, conversely, there were quite a few stories which

seemed terrific right up until the end, when the writer attempted an O. Henry-style twist and botched it). There were, of course, any number of saucy stories about chorus girls, artistsÕ models and the like, but if these werenÕt exactly high literature, they were invariably interesting from a sociological point of view. On the whole, considering that this was a magazine which mainly sold itself on the promise of Ògirl pictures,Ó and paid the lowest rates for fiction in the field ($6 per story, regardless of length), there is a surprising amount of interesting material in 10 Story Book. Keeler was, on the face of it, an unlikely editor for such a sexy magazine. His novels are, after all, almost entirely devoid of sex. Later, he came to believe that his American and British publishers had dropped him because his writing wasnÕt sexy enough, but refused to change his style. He even used ÒSex belongs in bed, not on the printed page!Ó as a slogan in his Keyhole newsletters. Then again, KeelerÕs sexuality is something of an enigma, as those who recall William PoundstoneÕs intriguing discussion of Òthe hungerÓ in Keeler News No. 36 will know. Despite his later apparent prudishness, Harry certainly wasnÕt ashamed of 10 Story Book (what his editor at Dutton called Òthis coarse, disgusting magazineÓ), for he is a regular presence in it. He often pops up in editorial pieces to address the reader, his photo attached, and cheerfully plugs his books at every opportunity, including the captions to girl pictures (thus, a naked cutie reaching for a book on a shelf is said to be after Òher copy of ÔThe Spectacles of Mr. Cagliostro,Õ the leading mystery novel which is causing so much talk today over the United StatesÓ). He wasnÕt afraid to have himself lampooned too, as in Jim DilleyÕs spoof ÒAn Interview with Harry Stephen KeelerÓ (Dec. 1932, reprinted in KN #32) and Jack WoodfordÕs ÒTale Incredible: The True

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John H. FarnsworthÕs ÒThe White Man Who Story of Harry Stephen KeelerÕs Literary RiseÓ Turned BlackÓ being two particularly obvious (Oct. 1934, reprinted in KN #44). examples). Keeler often boasted about the odd Keeler notes in a Keyhole that his wife Hazel and original stories he printed. In its last two called the 10 Story Book offices Òa den of iniqyears, when censorship campaigns forced most uity,Ó but she wasnÕt ashamed of getting in on of the Òspicy pulpsÓ to close, the magazine the act. Keeler was as anxious to boost her as grew a lot tamer and Òodd storiesÓ became its an artist as he was to promote her writings, and main focus (a development that, sadly, probaused her illustrations in many issues. Hazel ofbly led to its demise). Suffice to say that devoten worked in the unusual medium of black and tees of eccentric literature white pastel crayon (and will find much of interest black and white oils too, in 10 Story Book. apparently) and I think Having said that, I emitÕs fair to say that her barked on this project artistic skills were on a with a question in the par with her literary talback of my mind which ents. IÕve always found remains unanswered. IÕve HarryÕs doggedly loyal often wondered why few championing of Hazel if any of the people who rather endearing, howreviewed KeelerÕs books ever, and her often cackwhen they originally aphanded illustrations are, peared picked up on just for me, part of the maghow strange they are. azineÕs charm. Were there any other Harry seemed to have a writers around at the lot of fun editing 10 Story time producing anything Book. It comes through in at all like them? If there his jokey captions, as were, a fiction magazine well as his choice of girl edited by Keeler seemed photos. Many of these a good place to find were bought from French them. and Austrian photo agenThe short answer is no. cies and are beautifully Certainly there are stories shot and still erotic towith Keeler-style motifs, day, but they are joined absurd plots and impeneby images of female contrable dialectsÑbut the tortionists, African naway they are written retives with bones through mains largely conventheir noses, and models tional. There is nothing posing with all manner of like KeelerÕs extraordibizarre props from pigsÕ See this cover and many more in color at nary use of language and heads to giant masks. staff.xu.edu/~polt/10story/10storycovers.html the convoluted way he Keeler fans will recognise (high-speed connection recommended) tells his tales. Stylisticalsome of the photos in 10 ly, Harry remains unique. Story Book, as he used After about six weeks of reading little but 10 them to illustrate the Marceau books. He even Story Book, I was feeling full of Òpep,Ó speaking managed to include in The Marceau Case his fain 1920s slang (ÒOh, hum!Ó) and had selected vorite model, Countess Vera de Mueller, who 34 stories, from the seriously good to the appears in virtually every issue of the magazine dizzily absurd. As I had hoped, IÕve discovered during the first half of the Õ30s. (For more on the a few writers whom I intend to investigate furbeautiful and somewhat mysterious Countess, ther, including Len Zinberg (who often wrote as see page 5.) KeelerÕs presence is also felt in 10 Ed Lacy), Theodore Pratt and Thomas R. Story Book in his choice of stories. As IÕve menDuncan. Above all, I had a lot of fun, and hope tioned, there are a lot of formulaic pieces in that has translated into The Ò10 Story BookÓ there, but there are quite a few others which reBook, soon available from the good people of flect HarryÕs unique sensibilities (Theodore Ramble House. N PrattÕs ÒThe Man With The Odd SkullÓ and

Keeler News No. 58

Vera: A Pictorial

Vera de Mueller has achieved a tenuous immortality among Keeler fans by appearing in 10 Story Book and The Marceau Case, but there are many unanswered questions about her. Was she really a countess? Why did she usually serve as her own agentÑan unusual arrangement? Why did Harry share her address with his thousands of avid male readers? If she was a world-famous cover girl, why is no trace of her left in the Information AgeÑexcept perhaps the fact that a Vera Mueller was in the ensemble of two short-lived Broadway shows in November 1931 (see ibdb.com)? And did Harry ever really meet her? His only known further reference to her appears in a late Keyhole from July 1965: ÒCountess Vera Martin De Mueller, whom weÕve known for yearsÑsince 10-Story Book days, in factÑwrites, signing her letter with her usual hieroglyph standing for either Countess, Vera, or De Mueller, to ask how we are coming out with our project of expanding a short-story by Tertza Rinaldo, ÔFinale,Õ into a novel, Strange Journey.Ó In the absence of any hard facts about Vera, all we can present is a pictorialÑand a lovely one it isÑtaken from various 1931-1934 10ÊStory Books in the collections of Chris Mikul and Richard Polt.

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Keeler News No. 58

Just a Little Informal ÒSnapÓ of a world famous Òpretty girlÓÑVera, Countess de Mueller, who generally appears on magazine covers properly draped and lighted by all the lights a studio presents. This, however, is a pretty girl shown just in her own home.

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Keeler & Dutton: Part 7 (1930-31) by Richard Polt LetÕs begin this installment with a couple of notes from Merton S. Yewdale, HarryÕs editor. The letters that Yewdale is replying to are not in the archives, but itÕs obvious that they were klassic Keeler: What you said about the eighteen million ounces of silver as well as the helium gas is most interesting, and it is quite clear that you are ahead of the times. [MSY to HSK, 10/15/30] It was very good of you to send me the page from the Literary Digest containing the account of the triplets. It is odd that you should have used in ThievesÕ Nights what now is demonstrated to be a scientific fact. [MSY to HSK, 12/16/30] But now for a more pressing issue: PLEASE TELEGRAPH NUMBER OF WORDS IN MATHILDA [sic] HUNTER MURDER [MSY to HSK, 11/19/30] CANNOT AS YET GIVE YOU ANY CONCRETE IDEA OF NUMBER OF WORDS MATILDA HUNTER MURDER EXCEPT THAT IT IS A DEFINITELY LONG STORY BEYOND DOUBT [HSK to MSY, 11/20/30]

IÕll come out very decently; itÕs all been ÒwerryÓ excitinÕÑlike some of my own plots where the heros have financial problems while the sheriff sits in the snow with his bloodhounds. [HSK to EBM, 12/7/30] I am glad for your sake that the sale of your property is coming to such a satisfactory conclusion. However, we hope that even a million dollars would not keep your talent from producing further fine mystery stories. [EBM to HSK, 12/11/30] Chicago is pushing like the devil to get at least a tube, if no trains running in it, by our WorldÕs Fair [1933]. É As i figure, I will come out with $30,000 cash; my mother the same amount. Invested, that will give me $150 per month. As I can consume a great deal more money than $150, I will write a great many mystery stories and continue so to do. [HSK to EBM, 12/16/30] Harry had been talking to representatives of Grosset and Dunlap and wondering whether Grosset might be a better choice than A. L. Burt to reprint his novels. When the Burt company got wind of this, Harry P. Burt himself wrote a letter to John Macrae, Jr. (12/22/30):

At this time, HSK bought 150 remaindered copies of The Amazing Web at 50¢ apiece, to use as gift books during some years to come. É It seems to be a sort of book, like Sing Sing Nights, that I can give to a reader with unknown psychologyÑand the reader always likes it. [HSK to EBM, 11/25/30] In a typical Keeler complication, the books were sent to three different addresses in batches of 50. Meanwhile, the Depression continued to dig in (in an April 1931 letter HSK says that he lost a little money when a local bank went ÒbustÓ). Harry was holding on to his birthplace on State St., struggling to pay a second mortgage on it, while waiting for the city to buy it from him for subway construction:

Our men have made it a point to make the best effort to secure proper representation of Mr. KeelerÕs books [in drugstore displays]. É You know how highly I have regarded Mr. Keeler and his works for a long time past and you know I have been very keen to have all of Mr. KeelerÕs titles. Our hero evidently kept up his reputation for eccentricity even in his financial transactions:

Keeler News No. 58

When your check dated November 24 came to me I thought it was another of your very clever announcements, and nearly deposited it in the scrap basket, instead of the bank! I should like very much to frame one of your checks for my office. If I assure you that it will not be cashed, will you send me a check for any amount you wish to fill in É? I would like very much to have one, and I am going to suggest to Mrs. Bowers that she use it for publicityÉ. [EBM to HSK, 12/23/30] I enclose one for $6.88 (red) payable to Duttons, for framing, as you requested. (NOT TO BE CASHED BY ACCIDENT!!) [And some more.] The checks are causing a great sensation everywhere presented. I hear they stop all operation in clearing-houses, bookkeeping departments, and they generally stay out for at least 3 weeks, as people to whom they are drawn decide to carry Õem around a while and show them to everbody they know. É Of course some of the titles on the check are stories in preparation and in different stages of preparation, as I evolve plots while I am working on other plots, and put down everything that comes to [me] when on one story that may fit in with another story idea. [HSK to EBM, 12/28/30] Are [the checks] allowable? in all states? Do you have to get special permission from your bank? [EBM to HSK, 1/12/31] I knew my check must be quite legal, whether the writing was vertical or horizontal, and so I sat with a six-shooter and a lawsuit in my lap, just waiting for the banker who would refuse to honor one. Nobody ever refused, although lots of brows became wrinkled. [HSK to EBM, 1/14/31] Unfortunately, no checks are preserved in the archives. Ñ HarryÕs delight in tweaking the noses of authorities sometimes led to inconveniences; around this time, a letter from Dutton was returned as undeliverable because it was addressed to Ò1321 Addison TurnpikeÓÑthe address on HarryÕs stationeryÑwhereas the correct address was Addison Street. Most items sent to the ÒTurnpikeÓ got delivered, but this wasnÕt the only one that was sent back. As for Matilda Hunter, it was proceeding slowlyÑ or not at all:

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IÕm sorry to sayÑor glad to sayÊÉ that about five weeks ago I got an unusual idea for a plotÑa pivotal idea, that is; but that instead of immuring it in the book of ideas, I got somewhat fascinated with working it out, and the upshot was that I got so deep into it, that I spent five weeks on it, working it out (plot only) complete to every detail of action, character, name, appearance of characters, address, etc. The trouble was that I got sufficiently deep into the thing that, had I stopped and put it away as was, I could never have recovered the many fine details my mind has already worked out. Again, the plot was ÒCOMINGÓÑlike bread is supposed to rise, or something, and I felt that it was more advisable to delay production on the Matilda Hunter Murder than to lose what might prove one of the most remarkable plots of my career. True, it is going to be a hard one to writeÑand then again, it will have to take its turn, appearing after certain other stories which are under construction; yet nevertheless, I wanted to put it away complete to the last detail so that I could proceed to forget it entirely during the next couple of years. S o Ñ Matilda Hunter MurderÑgot sidetracked, for about five weeks. A case of HobsonÕs choice. IÕll be back on it in ten days after IÕve rested up from the strenuous grilling of creating this plot IÕve just described, and then nothing will take me off until I have finished. But IÕm afraid I have about 50 days work on it yet; and perhaps 30 days roughly for typing it. [HSK to MSY, 1/7/31] I am handing you herewith Mr. KeelerÕs letter of January 7th. This means that we do not know when we are going to get the manuscript for ÒThe Matilda Hunter Murder.Ó I am afraid that Mr. Keeler has undertaken too much. [MSY to JMJ, 1/9/31]

I am sorry to say the flu cost me 3 more weeks delay É. I should assuredly have the script finished (and typed) by May 15th. É This providing I donÕt fall in love with any blonde vamp, break a leg, or get any more flu. My last attack of flu must have made me immune, IÕll try not to break any legsÑbut as to blonde vamps, well one never can tell! É I donÕt know the length of

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the story because I canÕt estimate such a mass of notes, pages and inserts as it has in its present format! [HSK to EBM, 2/7/31] I have an old gentleman in [Matilda], shiny of clothing, out at elbow, who eats hot-dogs at a hotdog stand when he can get ÕemÑwhose watch is always in hockÑwho continually has to jump into doorways etc to dodge people he owes money toÑbut when it comes to sheer knowledge of everything in history, science, and on the face of the earth, and ability to think, I believe he can out Philo Philo Vance and out Sherlock Sherlock himself. [HSK to EBM, 2/23/31] This was, of course, Tuddleton TrotterÑonce known as Copelin Jarrick (see KN #57, p. 2). DonÕt let that Sherlock Vance Òdetect-a-tiveÓ starve to death while leaning on the hotdog stand. [EBM to HSK, 2/28/31] ItÕs been quite a difficult piece of plotwork. A trying job, as well. É IÕm ready, however, to begin typingÉ. [HSK to EBM, 3/27/31] Where oh where oh where????? Ñ Being a person of discernment you will understand that I am meekly inquiring as to the prospects of receiving your manuscript É some time soon. [EBM to HSK, 5/21/31] The story is being typed, and while the murderer isnÕt caught yet, heÕs close at hand where the proper parties can put their hands on him at the proper moment which would be, I take it, near the end of the story.

[HSK to EBM, ca. 5/23/31] É you do not give us any approximate time for the receipt of your manuscript. [EBM to HSK, 5/25/31]

AM WRAPPING MATILDA HUNTER AND EXPRESSING SAME TODAY WITH SEVERAL LUGUBRIOUS REFLECTIONS CHIEF OF WHICH IS THAT IT MARKS ONE YEAR AND THREE WEEKS OUT OF MY LIFE= [HSK to EBM, 6/17/31] The Matilda Hunter Murder goes to you today under separate cover. With it I have, unfortunately, bad news ÉThe story is 240,000 words long. [Actually 259,690.] I knew I had been on the story for over 1 year, and knew it was a terrifically huge thing from the viewpoint of construction (or plot!) and localŽ (London, Montreal, Paris, Chicago, the Ozarks), and number of characters, perhaps more than 100. I had no way of knowing the actual length, however, until it was completely typed. É I have no apologies to make. The length may be my misfortuneÑbut not my fault. Even Dickens had to do a David Copperfield, which I understand is 300,000 words or so long. Except that I am not a Dickens! É All you folks are going to be mighty mad at first: you know my views against cutting É. But after the first wave of resentment has passed over in your shop that any author would even dare to submit a publisher a yarn of thing [sic] length, perhaps some kind soul in the Dutton establishment may cast a single good word in my direction: that, at least, a 240,000 words mystery story is something different, if only because of its colossal length and ramifications alone. There is this, too, to be remembered: that the story in addition to being a plot-story is a

Keeler News No. 58

character story also, presenting in pretty full detail the character of old Mr. Tuddleton Trotter É. May I mention that the gangster talk of Matt McCafferty is the last word in modern gangster lingo, gotten right from the heart of gangsterdom by yours truly! Now the only ray of light I can offer in this situation is that my next novel The Box of Bewilderment is sufficiently sketched out that it is absolutely certain that it cannot run over 75,000 words; and I have another novel, The Stolen Finger, in process of part evolution, that, according to my yardstick, cannot come to over 50,000 words.1 What am I supposed to do in that case? Pad it? IÕm conscientious enough that I canÕt pad any more than I can cut. É É a huge script like this may be an unfeasable proposition. In which case I would ask you to send it back, without holding it an undue length of time, as the Capone developments here may move fast enough to interfere with the story. É Anyway, do think a kind word, wonÕt you, that perhaps all mystery writers couldnÕt erect sufficient caissons to build a skyscraper like that oneÑand also that the story, if it could be put out, might present some Barnum and Bailey possibilities in publicity and advertising such as ÒThe Hugest and Most Collossal Detective Story EVER WRITTEN in the HISTOREE OF THE WORLD!!!Ó [HSK to MSY, 6/17/31] We do not have a copy of the Dutton folksÕ immediate reaction, but we can gather from subsequent correspondence that in exchange for DuttonÕs promise to print the entire novel in one volume at $2.50 (the usual price was $2.00), HSK agreed to a reduced royalty (20¢ per copy up to 20,000 copies; his usual rate was 10% on the first 5000 copies sold, 12.5% on the next 5000, and 15% thereafter). Insofar, Mr. Macrae, as we are now putting out such a huge bookÑor you are putting it out!ÑI might suggest that the very hugeness of the story be played up strongly in the advertising, as, perhaps, Òthe longest detective story ever writtenÓ É. [HSK to JM, 7/17/31] It is a huge mystery story; but probably it is not the longest mystery story ever written. Ñ I am sending you with my compliments a copy of a 1 Finished

length of The Box from Japan and Finger! Finger! according to Fender Tucker: 312,348 and 182,845 words respectively.

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reprint we have made of The Mysteries of Udolpho by Mrs. Ann Radcliffe, published in EverymanÕs Library (2 vols.), comprising about 300,000 words and first printed in 1794! É We have had this book on our list for the 46 years I have been in business and it is one of the few books that never stops selling. É My Father happened to be born in 1825, which is a long time ago, but this dear old gal, Ann Radcliffe, had this book published in 1794 and young people and old people, men and women, have been reading it for 137 years. Let us hope that they will be doing the same with The Matilda Hunter Murder! É All power to your strong right hand, and may the gods so enlighten you and lead you in the writing of this book [Box] that it will be the best mystery book you ever wrote! and may they constrain you from making it too long! [JM to HSK, 7/23/31] Thank you ever so much for sending me the 2volume mystery story by Ann Radcliffe. It does dwarf mine a bit, at that! I ought to get the worldÕs record, though, for the 19thÑor 20thÑ century. É I can say the gods are on the job, and [Box] will be a moderate-length mystery story; I can judge the bulk of its integuments by its spinal column and ribs already laid out. [HSK to JM, ca. 7/28/31] I have a feeling Macrae made a tactical error in sending RadcliffeÕs book to the competitive Harry. The Gothic classic Udolpho is still in print in various editions, and according to Amazon.com it contains 290,821 wordsÑmore than M a t i l d a Õ s 259,690, but Harry was to win the contest with the finished Box! I am glad that you are keeping down the length of the book. You have such a superb imagination that you should give yourself time to think about the plots that you are turning into books É. whereas you do write most splendid mystery stories, you should give yourself more time to write books which would run into larger sales. I hope you will take what I have said in good part. [JM to HSK, 8/6/31] My kind regards and best of luck with The Box of Bewiderment which I am sure does not half measure up to the bewilderment of the House of Dutton when they received your generous Matilda Hunter Murder! [EBM to HSK, 9/3/31] In our next installment: bewilderment burgeons. N

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L e t t e r s When I was very young, I read ten books by HSK from my fatherÕs library; naturally, I liked them so much that they are in my possession ever since my father passed away. Many times I had passed by Calle Preciados in Madrid and gazed on the floor where Reus wasÑin an antiquated building with wooden windows and an ancient, dusty sign. One day, not so long ago, I decided to ascend the tortuous staircase and call at the door. A distant doorbell rang, some steps made the floorboards creak, and the door opened. At that moment, I believed in something that ten minutes earlier I would have thought unrealistic! Time travel is possibleÑbackwards, at least! The door had been opened by a woman of blurry age dressed in a grey duster absolutely dating from the 1940s. And that was not all! There was at least one other woman with the same features behind her! Mastering my surprise, I managed to ask whether they sold books to the public. She said yes, and invited me to come in. And in there, stored on dilapidated wooden shelves, were piled hundreds of books by HSK! All bound in black, cloth-textured cardboard and stamped in blood-red ink! I paged through some of them; the paper was very bad, as fit the date of their printing (the early 1940s, the worst era after the Spanish Civil War). The whole establishment was just as it had been fifty years earlier. I excitedly bought all the books I could carry (two dozen). I paid a price that was more than reasonable, and left the unreal atmosphere of the old warehouse with the firm intention of returning to get all the books that were still missing in my collection, and incidentally poking around more deeply in such a strange place. I was unable to realize my desire. I took longer than expected in coming back, and when I did, the warehouse was no longer thereÑdisappeared! Today I see that Reus is going to publish HSK once again. Magnificent! Ram—n Mor‡n Asturias, Spain My theory is that the black-bound Reus books are reprints made in the Õ50s or Õ60s, but itÕs just a theory. Compare Ram—n ZoidoÕs letter in KN #55, p. 14.

In the late Õ60s and early Õ70s when I lived in the North of England I would frequent a public house called the ÒBowling Green.Ó This had a very small, convivial bar, where there was usually somebody you knew or you could speak to. Now this bit is lost in the memory, but my version sounds better than my wifeÕs. One night I entered the bar and there was nobody there that I actually knew, but I ended up talking to a stranger (my wife says it was the new owner) and we got onto the subject of books. He asked if IÕd ever heard of Harry Stephen Keeler, and when I replied in the negative he gave me a copy of The Blue Spectacles, requesting that I return it within a week. I read it and was hooked, and obviously returned it as requested. I donÕt remember ever discussing HSK with anybody in that pub again, which I would have done if the individual was a regular, as I was then on a mission to find more HSK novels; therefore IÕm convinced it was a complete stranger, which clearly adds a bit of spice to the story. (IÕm not trying to suggest that it was he, as it was after his death.) I was then on a quest to find more novels and searched libraries, bookstores, etc., without success. I finally managed to track down four through an antiquarian dealer. It was then a case of looking in any second-hand bookstore that I ever came across (over the last 30 or so years); I even searched high and low in Hay on Wye (a town in Wales which is famous for its hundreds of second-hand bookstores). I didnÕt search the Internet until I recently got a fast, broadband connection. I then found the Society, Fender Tucker, etc. and I can now enjoy all those novels I had been searching for. I have bored many, many people about Harry Stephen Keeler, and even got one person to read some. As a strange coincidence, my eldest son, whom I had not seen for many years, recently came to visit me. Again during a conversation about books, I asked if he had heard of Harry Stephen Keeler; he stated that he hadnÕt, but said: ÒHave you read any Neil Gaiman?Ó I hadnÕt, but I accepted his recommendation and purchased American Gods. Stephen Wade Pontypridd, Wales

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Keeler News No. 58

I particularly enjoyed FenderÕs article on San Do Mar and Part 6 of your exploration of Harry and Dutton. I also loved Tony GlynnÕs cover art for the issue. Fine work which perfectly captures the Keelerian universe. I must say that I feel very much on HarryÕs side in all the to-ing and fro-ing between him and his ever-suffering publishers. Dutton keep simultaneously criticizing and praising himÑ they support him to a point, and must have wanted him under their umbrella, and they also try to prompt his writing in their own preferred directions. They never caught on that he was an original, unlike any writer before or after.

New Member Wade, Stephen, Pontypridd, Wales, UK

Gavin L. OÕKeefe Bendigo, Victoria, Australia It was wonderful to get the latest newsletter. No matter how tired I am after a day of work and commuting, just scanning something about or by Harry sets my heart thumping, my pulse racing, and my stomach turning. Talk about a pick-me-up! ThereÕs an interesting Keeler reference in Mike AshleyÕs history of British popular fiction magazines, The Age of the Storytellers. In his entry for ÒThe Detective Magazine,Ó there appears the following: ÒThere is also a brief serial by Harry Stephen Keeler, ÔThe Strange VisitorÕ (26 Sept. - 10 Oct 1924), which includes E.W. HornungÕs characters Raffles and Bunny. They were deleted in the book version presumably after objections from HornungÕs estate.Ó Did HSK continue to include other authorÕs characters in his works? Mike Saler Berkeley, Cal. I just received my copy of The Keeler Keyhole Companion (ed. Francis M. Nevins) and have started reading it to the accompaniment of the ÒKeyhole Blues,Ó by N. Wilson (Louis Armstrong and His Hot Seven, May 13, 1927, Chicago, Okeh 8496, available at redhotjazz. com/hot7.html). Bill Manthey Manchester, N.H. Clues [KN #57, p. 15] was and still is the newsletter of the Midwest branch of Mystery Writers of America, and as a member I receive it every month. Mike Nevins St. Louis

Lulu No. 1 (May 1937), recently acquired by Chris Mikul. This is the ribald humor magazine Keeler has in mind when he dedicates Finger! Finger! to Arthur Gontier Jr. (also publisher of 10 Story Book), Òwho has developed Lulu, the Life of the Party, into the merry jade that she is today!Ó

A Sentence from the Master ÒMe, IÕm jest a dumbdora, I guess, makinÕ her livinÕ anklinÕ over a waxed floor with all thÕ apple-knockers, brush-apes, brooksies and sponge-cakes in thÕ whole world, but I ainÕt a clothesline.Ó The Matilda Hunter Murder

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Keeler News No. 58

News from Ramble House The new trade-paperback-sized Keelers can be ordered at

www.lulu.com/ramblehouse See a new, 1-volume edition of all four of HSKÕs Skull In The Box novels at

www.lulu.com/content/317340 Clearance sale: classic RH editions, $15

A to Izzard: A Harry Stephen Keeler Companion The Amazing Web (1 copy) The Box from Japan (1 copy) The Case of the Two-Headed Idiot (2 copies) The Crimson Cube Finger! Finger! I Killed Lincoln at 10:13! (1 copy) The Man Who Changed His Skin The Matilda Hunter Murder The Monocled Monster The Mysterious Ivory Ball of Wong Shing Li The Search for X-Y-Z Sing Sing Nights (1 copy) Strange Journey The Street of 1000 Eyes The Voice of the Seven Sparrows The White Circle When Thief Meets Thief The Wonderful Scheme of Christopher Thorne Plus titles by Joel Townsley Rogers, Norman Berrow, and Michael Birchwood 443 Gladstone Blvd., Shreveport, LA 71104 318-865-3735 (night), 318-868-8727 (day) [email protected] www.ramblehouse.com

THE CASE OF THE TRANSPOSED LEGS. Phoenix, 1948, 1st, vg, $28. Mat Glover, Bookmoose, P.O.Box 928, Lincoln, NH 03251, [email protected]. THE IRON RING. Ward Lock, 1946, nf in vg dj, US $30. Mainly Fiction, P.O. Box 100908 N.S.M.C., Auckland 1310, New Zealand, [email protected]. THE MATILDA HUNTER MURDER. Dutton, 1931, 1st, good, $40. Canford Book Corral, Drawer 216, Freeville, NY 13068, 607-844-9784, [email protected]. From Diotima Libros, Plaza de Andalucía nº 12, San Juan de Aznalfarache, 41920 Sevilla, Spain, phone 0034-666401400, [email protected]. All good in worn djs. EL CASO DEL TRAPERO ENJOYADO. 15. 10 HORAS. 20. EL HOMBRE DE LA CAJA CARMESI. 15. EL LADRON DEFRAUDADO. 20.

In OctoberÕs

News Bulletin of the Harry Stephen Keeler Society

A likely source of inspiration for KeelerÑand how Keeler himself pointed it out! by Dennis Duncan