Since this is the season to be nostalgic, like Richard, I remember the old days. MYSTERY FILE was a hard copy magazine and it came out every few months packed with letters and articles. I remember getting it back in the 1970’s and also when it was part of THE MYSTERY FANCIER. Then it continued through the 1980’s and 1990’s until the internet took over.
I can’t remember when I first started reading it but it must of been when the first issue came out because I was subscribing to all the mystery fanzines back then. THE NOT SO PRIVATE EYE, THE MYSTERY LOVER’S NEWSLETTER, THE MYSTERY FANCIER, THE ARMCHAIR DETECTIVE, THE JDM BIBLIOPHILE. I bet even Steve doesn’t recall exactly when MYSTERY FILE started in the 1970’s.
Ah, the ghost of Christmas’ past! Merry Christmas to all!
I don’t have the exact month handy as to when Mystery*File began, but when I helped Marv Lachman put together a history of all the various incarnations of the magazine-website-blog, we narrowed it down to the spring of 1974.
Marv wrote it up for his overall history of fandom, THE HEIRS OF ANTHONY BOUCHER. You can read all about it by following this link:
I have THE HEIRS OF ANTHONY BOUCHER and it’s a great book. Your link above has some great photos of Mike Nevins, yourself, and a great one of Richard Moore. I’ve seen Richard and Mike at recent Pulpfests.
Ok, I’ll start off. My family has given up on giving me anything since all I want are books and they not only don’t know what I need but they are thoroughly exasperated with my collection. My wife, even as I type this, is moaning about when am I going to take the piles of books off the kitchen table. We have guests coming tomorrow and she needs to put table covering on but all I care about is my books, etc.
It is true that all I care about are books and pulps and old movies. So I bought my own presents:
1–Stacks of the journal, GHOSTS AND SCHOLARS and THE M.R. JAMES NEWSLETTER. These are quite rare and came from the UK.
2–The Centipede Press edition of the latest batch of 7 Cornell Woolrich books. This will ship in January sometime and will look nice with the previous 5 Cornell Woolrich from a couple years ago. Price is $350 which comes to only $50 each for these rare limited editions.
3–Again Centipede Press. Five books starring Solomon Kane by Karl Wagner. Coming soon.
So there is a total of almost a thousand dollars that I spent on myself. Merry Christmas Walker!
I once had a copy of THE HEIRS OF ANTHONY BOUCHER, but it, along with the rest of my collection, went to the University of Minnesota this year and is inaccessible to me in its original form. I’m glad to have the link to look at the scanned pages. Nothing is completely inaccessible in this age.
I bought myself a piece of original art by Saul Tepper. An interior from Saturday Evening Post from 1927 that fits my collection. Really, a combo birthday, chanukah and Xmas. Like Walker, my family has no idea what to buy for me either.
The art collecting world is already buzzing about Paul Herman’s SATURDAY EVENING POST art that he recently bought. I just had dinner with Matt Moring and he was telling me and Digges La Touche about it.
I passed on to Matt my theories about how to sneak pulps into a house without the non-collecting spouse finding out. I’ve had a life time of experience…
Randy, one thing about non-collectors is that they are clueless about the book collecting world. That’s why they are non-collectors; they have absolutely no interest in books or pulps. They see the collection as so much clutter and in fact, they often don’t see a difference between a hoarder and a collector.
I’ve never met a non-collector who showed any interest in reading about collecting or really looking at the collection. They have no interest…
The greatest gift any collector can receive is the Visa pre-paid card. Friends and family know what we want but never what we have. And there is no joy higher for the collector than the hunt for his/her next treasure with free money in the pocket.
December 24th, 2015 at 9:32 pm
Have a wonderful, non-criminous Christmas, Steve!
December 24th, 2015 at 10:05 pm
Likewise to you and your family, Jerry, and everyone else who stops by this blog regularly.
December 24th, 2015 at 10:21 pm
Happy Christmas!
December 24th, 2015 at 10:57 pm
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU!
And thanks for a wonderful blog all year.
December 25th, 2015 at 4:42 am
The Season’s greetings to you all!
December 25th, 2015 at 2:35 pm
The Merriest of Christmases to all.
December 25th, 2015 at 3:03 pm
Ah, it’s not like the old days, in the APA, but heck, this works just fine (and no two-month wait). Merry Christmas to you!
December 25th, 2015 at 4:13 pm
Since this is the season to be nostalgic, like Richard, I remember the old days. MYSTERY FILE was a hard copy magazine and it came out every few months packed with letters and articles. I remember getting it back in the 1970’s and also when it was part of THE MYSTERY FANCIER. Then it continued through the 1980’s and 1990’s until the internet took over.
I can’t remember when I first started reading it but it must of been when the first issue came out because I was subscribing to all the mystery fanzines back then. THE NOT SO PRIVATE EYE, THE MYSTERY LOVER’S NEWSLETTER, THE MYSTERY FANCIER, THE ARMCHAIR DETECTIVE, THE JDM BIBLIOPHILE. I bet even Steve doesn’t recall exactly when MYSTERY FILE started in the 1970’s.
Ah, the ghost of Christmas’ past! Merry Christmas to all!
December 25th, 2015 at 5:03 pm
I don’t have the exact month handy as to when Mystery*File began, but when I helped Marv Lachman put together a history of all the various incarnations of the magazine-website-blog, we narrowed it down to the spring of 1974.
Marv wrote it up for his overall history of fandom, THE HEIRS OF ANTHONY BOUCHER. You can read all about it by following this link:
https://books.google.com/books?id=6vfdB0YUl8YC&pg=PA54&lpg=PA54&dq=mystery*file+lachman+steve+lewis&source=bl&ots=_EbQFbY24E&sig=nRfd3BwnKyH8Od3YUTmADt69pbA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwib5LbjgPjJAhVL3GMKHbP2BXg4ChDoAQghMAI#v=onepage&q=mystery*file%20lachman%20steve%20lewis&f=false
It’s been quite a ride, over 40 years, and counting.
December 25th, 2015 at 7:27 pm
I have THE HEIRS OF ANTHONY BOUCHER and it’s a great book. Your link above has some great photos of Mike Nevins, yourself, and a great one of Richard Moore. I’ve seen Richard and Mike at recent Pulpfests.
December 26th, 2015 at 9:19 am
Enough of this — so whadaja get? Whaddid Santy bringya?
December 26th, 2015 at 9:41 am
Michael Dirda’s book BROWSING: A YEAR OF READING, COLLECTING AND LIVING WITH BOOKS.
A Peanuts wall calendar.
and THE CHEAP DETECTIVE on DVD.
A quality Christmas!
The pony I put off until next year.
December 26th, 2015 at 9:59 am
Ok, I’ll start off. My family has given up on giving me anything since all I want are books and they not only don’t know what I need but they are thoroughly exasperated with my collection. My wife, even as I type this, is moaning about when am I going to take the piles of books off the kitchen table. We have guests coming tomorrow and she needs to put table covering on but all I care about is my books, etc.
It is true that all I care about are books and pulps and old movies. So I bought my own presents:
1–Stacks of the journal, GHOSTS AND SCHOLARS and THE M.R. JAMES NEWSLETTER. These are quite rare and came from the UK.
2–The Centipede Press edition of the latest batch of 7 Cornell Woolrich books. This will ship in January sometime and will look nice with the previous 5 Cornell Woolrich from a couple years ago. Price is $350 which comes to only $50 each for these rare limited editions.
3–Again Centipede Press. Five books starring Solomon Kane by Karl Wagner. Coming soon.
So there is a total of almost a thousand dollars that I spent on myself. Merry Christmas Walker!
December 26th, 2015 at 12:07 pm
Gourmet coffee, gift cards from my favorite used-book-store & independent movie house, a few sex toys… just the usual.
December 26th, 2015 at 12:41 pm
I once had a copy of THE HEIRS OF ANTHONY BOUCHER, but it, along with the rest of my collection, went to the University of Minnesota this year and is inaccessible to me in its original form. I’m glad to have the link to look at the scanned pages. Nothing is completely inaccessible in this age.
December 26th, 2015 at 5:07 pm
I bought myself a piece of original art by Saul Tepper. An interior from Saturday Evening Post from 1927 that fits my collection. Really, a combo birthday, chanukah and Xmas. Like Walker, my family has no idea what to buy for me either.
December 26th, 2015 at 9:13 pm
I hope you’ll be able to show it to me tomorrow, or is it in transit?
December 27th, 2015 at 12:00 am
The art collecting world is already buzzing about Paul Herman’s SATURDAY EVENING POST art that he recently bought. I just had dinner with Matt Moring and he was telling me and Digges La Touche about it.
I passed on to Matt my theories about how to sneak pulps into a house without the non-collecting spouse finding out. I’ve had a life time of experience…
December 27th, 2015 at 12:16 am
Walker,
I hope your wife never reads this blog. The jig (as they say) may be up.
December 27th, 2015 at 8:03 am
Randy, one thing about non-collectors is that they are clueless about the book collecting world. That’s why they are non-collectors; they have absolutely no interest in books or pulps. They see the collection as so much clutter and in fact, they often don’t see a difference between a hoarder and a collector.
I’ve never met a non-collector who showed any interest in reading about collecting or really looking at the collection. They have no interest…
December 27th, 2015 at 2:54 pm
The greatest gift any collector can receive is the Visa pre-paid card. Friends and family know what we want but never what we have. And there is no joy higher for the collector than the hunt for his/her next treasure with free money in the pocket.
December 27th, 2015 at 7:50 pm
Walker,
You’re safe, then.