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The First Arkham House Book, from the Collection of Famous Art Hoaxer and Journalist, Paul Jordan Smith

H. P. Lovecraft. The Outsider and Others. Collected by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei. Sauk City: Arkham House, 1939. First edition, one of only 1,200 copies. Octavo. xiv, 553 pages. Publisher's black cloth with gilt spine titles. Original pictorial dust jacket designed by Virgil Finlay. Some rubbing and mild wear to jacket, else near fine. With the signature of Paul Jordan Smith, dated by him using his Utopian dating system, on the front free endpaper. Paul Jordan Smith (1885-1971) was a scholar, journalist and translator, who is perhaps best remembered for perpetrating a famous art hoax in the early 1930s. Smith felt that modern abstract art was a travesty, so he concocted the identity of "Pavel Jerdanovich," a Russian artist whose work was greatly admired by critics. In fact, the paintings were by Jordan and his wife, and were purposely dreadful. After having his fun, Jordan revealed his hoax to the world, to demonstrate the folly of abstract art, but, to his surprise, his artwork became even more popular after the hoax was revealed. An excellent association with Lovecraft's masterpiece. Barron, Horror Literature, 3-132. Bleiler. The Guide to Supernatural Fiction, 1040.

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Auction Dates
April, 2012
11th Wednesday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 11
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Sold on Apr 11, 2012 for: $2,250.00
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