Hi - My name is Jeff Wong. I am a longtime Ken Millar/Ross
Macdonald fan and collector. My name may ring a bell for some
of you: I "designed"* and illustrated the cover for Crippen
& Landru's definitive collection of Lew Archer short
stories, THE ARCHER FILES, which came out last year (it was a
dream come true).
I'll be happy to discuss Millar's writing here, but, I was
hoping to reach out to the list to solve a book collecting
mystery that has been plaguing me for over 20 years; I
suspect a good many of the readers and participants here also
happen to be book collectors, so, I am appealing to that
contingent. I hope my post is not out of line.
I'm desperately trying to find the 1955 2nd printing of THE
NAME IS ARCHER from Bantam Books. In Matthew J. Bruccoli's
excellent bibliography from Pittsburgh University Press, he
noted the existence of this book, but, had not examined a
copy (I've been in touch with him, but, he can't recall at
this late date the circumstances of his noting this entry).
He may have assumed its existence based on Bantam's printed
history in the 1966 edition of THE NAME IS ARCHER, which is
listed as the 3rd printing. A paperback dealer friend thinks
he may have seen or handled a 2nd printing, but, isn't 100%
positive. The literary executor of the Millar estate has
never seen a copy.
Has anyone here ever come across a 2nd printing of Bantam
1295? If it exists, it's possible it was a Canadian printing,
but, research suggests it would more likely have been an
American printing. I may in fact be chasing a ghost. Any help
or leads would be much appreciated.
*I use the term "designed" loosely, as I mainly aped the
original Bantam paperback's design with a tip of the hat to
the original cover artist, Mitchell Hooks. If anyone is
interested in the genesis of the cover design, my website has
an entire section devoted to its creation: http://www.jeffwong.com
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