The subtitle to Peter Haining’s The Art of Mystery & Detective Stories is “The Best Illustrations From Over a Centry of Crime Fiction.” That pretty much sums up what you’re getting in this nifty volume. The Art of Mystery & Detective Stories was first published in Great Britain in 1977. The edition I own was published in 1986 by Treasure Press. As you might suspect, this collection has a distinctive British flavor. For fans of pulp magazine artwork, this book will be like crack. Peter Haining does his usual professional job with the Introduction and informative mini-essays.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. Introduction
2. The Annals of Newgate
3. The Father of the Detective Story
4. Le Roman Policier
5. The Opening of the Case
7. The Sensational Sleuths
8. The Master of Detectives
9. A Rash of Detectives
10. The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
11. The American Crime Fighters
12. The Arch Villians
13. The Lady Detectives
14. The Golden Era
15. The Hardboiled Dicks
Great FFB, George! The contents already tell me something and I can imagine what’s inside. I’m going to see if I can find a copy.
I used to love Haining’s anthologies growing up in the late 70s – he seemed to do so many – in fact he seemed to do all of them!
One of my favorites–I applaud your discerning taste.
Prashant, inexpensive copies are available on the Internet at the usual sites.
Sergio, like you I was a fan of Peter Haining’s many collections. I still have a stack of his books that I haven’t read yet!
Dan, great collectors think alike!
If I recall correctly, this isn’t the easiest book to find. I saw a copy in a dollar store once and passed it by, thinking I’d see it again and haven’t. No, I didn’t want it enough to go hunting on the ‘net.
I’ve never known about this one. But there are similar books by Ian Ousby about dust jackets and at least two by Lee Server on pulp magazines. Those books used to show up on the remainder tables of Barnes & Noble back in the early 1990s. The remainder table! That means they had been returned to the publishers as unsold, then drastically discounted for resale. How could books like these not sell like hotcakes when first released? Such a shame.
Rick, the last I looked THE ART OF MYSTERY & DETECTIVE STORIES was available on AMAZON for a penny plus $3.99 shipping & handling.
John, I have the same yearning for the Remainder Table that you do. Sometimes I find something good at our local Barnes & Noble that’s heavily discounted. We’re down to just a few used bookstores around here. And they’re on life-support.