> Is it possible that there were two Signet paperback
editions?
> I have got a 1948 Penguin Signet (is this a real
Signet?) paperback
> which bears the proud inscription "Complete and
Unabridged" on
> the front cover.
and Bill Crider <abc@wt.net> wrote:
> Frank: I checked my Signet (which doesn't mention
Penguin anywhere)
> edition of KISS TOMORROW GOOD-BYE. It's a 1949 (not
1948) edition, and
> the cover says it's "A Special Edition."
According to Piet Schroeder's _The Book of Paperbacks_ [aka
_Paperbacks
USA_], the US Penguin "imported" European/UK titles between
1941-1948,
under Ian Ballantine and, later, Kurt Enoch. A rift between
Allen Lane
(UK's Mr Penguin) and the US Penguin, over titles, covers
and
distribution, caused Ballantine to split and set up Bantam in
1945.
Some changes to US format/cover style took place in 1945/46,
and US
Penguin saw itself as an "independent publisher" with a
"special
relationship" with Penguin UK. But by 1948 Enoch split too,
to set up
New American Library.
Penguins issued by NAL between March and July 1948 were
called Penguin
Signets (and Pelican Mentors). After August, the break with
is Penguin
complete, and the first Signet proper appears (number 660 ---
the first
Mentor is M31).
Thus Frank's book is from the 'transitional' period (with a
Robert Jonas
cover?) while Bill's must be Signet 754 with the wonderful
cover
painting by James Avati. Geoffrey O'Brien, _Hardboiled
America_ notes
that the 1949 issue is an abridged edition, so I guess that's
what "A
Special Edition' means (ie this is *not* one of the "complete
and
unabridged" titles).
(PS I just picked up a few neat vintage paperbacks from the
book market
on Spui, in Amsterdam--at prices *nothing like* those asked
by online
book dealers. I also picked up a 1959 Dell sci-fi compilation
on the
strength of Gerald Kersh's name on the cover ('River of
Riches') which
is a pretty good yarn.)
ED
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