How to find Cabell?

Hello, fellow Cabell enthusiasts. Rather than ask group members what their favorite JBC novels are, which will get asked soon enough anyway, let me ask what they think is the least expensive way of obtaining the complete Biography in hardcopy form -- not necessarily in matched editions.

My collection started with a Dover Jurgen, which I still treasure. After that, I started picking up the Del Rey editions; I think I have all of those now. A friend of mine in college gave me a battered old Cream of the Jest while I was still collecting the Del Reys. It was old enough that it didn't contain all the epilogues. I have a couple of print-on-demand titles, too. I think that's it, except for the ebook versions I've obtained from Archive.org, Google Books, and so on.

Even though I read a lot of books as ebooks now, Cabell is one of those authors it means a lot to me to own in hardcopy. I found a nice clean copy of the complete Biography online for about $500, but it will have to queue up with many things that are sadly higher priorities. Hence my question.

I can't imagine reading Cabell as an ebook. Of all the writers I enjoy, he's one for whom the idea of a bound volume is intrinsic to the character of the text.

In my experience, McBride Kalkis can often be had as cheap as Del Reys. It's just a matter of ranging far and wide to dusty brick-n-mortar shops, and keeping eyes peeled in literary fiction as well as fantasy. Of course, I started my Cabell collection in the days before Internet book shopping, when the fun of coming upon the physical object was a good part of the game.

I'll never entirely forgive myself for passing up a complete Storisende edition in a Dallas antique mall (!) for a mere $175 (!). In my defense, I was outrageously poor at the time.

If that ‘complete Biography’ (I assume you mean the Storisende edition of the ‘Complete Works’) is really in Very Good condition and includes ALL 18 volumes, that’s a pretty fair price. I assume you’ve seen it in some local shop, since I don’t see that one online. Online I see one in slightly rough shape for $700; and The Strand has a 17 of 18 set in better condition for $400. Theirs lacks Jurgen (vol VI) though it’s more common for almost-complete sets to lack the final volume Townsend of Lichfield (vol XVIII). I suppose you could save some money by getting the $400 set and then casting around for a fill-in Jurgen – but it wouldn’t be a match set-number wise, and it’s likely to not to match visually; and right now the only Storisende Jurgen I see on-line is the variant ‘Red binding’ from 1932.

You could put together an alternative ‘complete Biography’ in hardback by assembling Kalki copies, and a few limited items that didn’t come in Kalki bindings. Since Kalkis are often inexpensive on-line, sometimes in pretty good shape, you could save significant bucks this way. (Of course as you point out, the last sentence in the Kalki Cream of the Jest was expanded in the Storisende to a five page epilogue, and the whole followed by The Lineage of Lichfield, which was formerly published separately. But then there is hardly an edition of a Cabell work that is identical to another edition of the same work. Even the ‘definitive’ Storisende Figures of Earth omits the author’s preface from the Illustrated edition; and I just noticed that Harold Ward’s introduction to Cream of the Jest was added between the fourth and fifth Kalki printings.)

If you go this route I would use the advanced search feature at www.bookfinder.com , click on Hardback, enter Branch Cabell as keywords, enter (say) $10.00 as maximum price, and then browse the offerings for copies in very good or good condition. It’s surprising what you’ll find (as I now see T Polyphilus has also pointed out). Shorter non-Kalki works like Way of Ecben, White Robe, Taboo and a few others can be searched out the same way. I find that James N. Hall’s James Branch Cabell: A Complete Bibliography is pretty useful as a collector’s guide.

The same bookfinder.com strategy can also be applied to Storisende volumes, but your $500 set comes to about $28 per volume, and the Strand set to about $23.50 per volume and that compares favorably to the $20-$50 range you’ll find for even the less expensive Storisendes on-line (and the only Townsend of Lichfield out there right now is in so-so shape for $75). You could range around and build a Storisende mix-n-match but you’d end up spending about the same dollars and end up with a motley set in differing conditions, varying stages of fading, etc.

So my advice is to find a second job and get that $500 set; or get the Strand set and keep your eye out for a reasonable Storisende Jurgen. Like T Polyphilus, I once passed up a Storisende – it was 1 thru 17 (lacking Townsend) for $200, but that was around 1980 and I had recently spent too much money on other Cabell stuff. Still…

Crypto-Willobie, paradoxosalpha--

Yes, I meant the Storisende edition, of course. Forgive me; it's been a few months since my last Cabell binge.

I did see that $500 Storisende online, but it must have been snapped up. I don't recall the exact condition, only that it was good enough for me. I think there was a little foxing -- that kind of thing.

Getting a second job is not an option, as I already have one (writing the sequel to Mind Performance Hacks), and a third job is out of the question. Oh, well.

paradoxosalpha, I agree that there's a lot of pleasure to be had in reading Cabell in hardcopy, which is why I'm eager to complete my Biography, whether as a matched set or a motley collection of paperbacks. However, a nice PDF of a Cabell book with complete page scans, of the sort done by Google Books, often feels like reading a "real" book to me -- and of course, it's always possible to print an ebook out and get it bound at Kinko's.

Well, I was joshing about getting a second job. If you don't mind a mix-n-match Storisende, and you are patient you could eventually get most volumes in the $20-$30 range. For example, here’s a selection I culled. It’s nine of them, totaling about $253, which for half the set makes Strand’s $400 for 17 of 18 (including the very scarce Townsend) seem a great price. But you could start slow with the best stuff. Of the stuff I list below Silver Stallion, Cream of the Jest, and Beyond+Figures would be just $107 for 4 of the key books – maybe throw in Chivalry and make it $134. and work from there, keeping eyes peeled for Jurgen, High Place, Eve, etc

Rivet, VG, $25 http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl&st=sl&qi=8uT,K4Dh4Vw6FIzNMnxFcTr...

Silver Stallion, Near fine, $25
http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl&st=sl&qi=8uT,K4Dh4Vw6FIzNMnxFcTr...

Line of Love, VGood?, $25
http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl&st=sl&qi=645K,EaoGP.ZjqAXLeaQuSb...

Eagles Shadow, VG, $25
http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl&st=sl&qi=8uT,K4Dh4Vw6FIzNMnxFcTr...

Cream, Near fine, $21.97
http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl&st=sl&qi=8uT,K4Dh4Vw6FIzNMnxFcTr...

Chivalry, condition?, $27
http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl&st=sl&qi=8uT,K4Dh4Vw6FIzNMnxFcTr...

Straws & Prayerbooks, fair/good, $19
http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl&st=sl&qi=8uT,K4Dh4Vw6FIzNMnxFcTr...

Beyond Life and Figures of Earth, Vg, set $60
http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl&st=sl&qi=Vc6jzKDR37WiwgetpDL3auy...

Beyond Life, good, $25 amazon – i think its storisende but there’s very little description
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000J4WQFE/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&co...

Some Cabell dealers...

There are a lot of secondhand Cabell books on the net, scattered here and there. Many of them are very common (Jurgen, Way of Ecben, Restless Heads, Van Doren's Cabell) or beat up or both; and many dealers have only one or two or a few Cabell books on offer. (I am ignoring such things as the Wildside reprints which often come up in used searches, and the Ballantine Adult Fantasy reissues which are a category unto themselves.) However, there are some dealers who have a significant quantity of high quality or at least interesting Cabell items. I've listed a few below with the occasional comment. I'll post more from time to time as I come across them.

Caliban Books (Pittsburgh)
http://www.calibanbooks.com/shop/caliban/results.html?id=rxzcbqNS
Good variety of tasty stuff, pretty reasonable prices.
(Sigh... apparently the copied link won't carry the search with it in this case. Just enter 'Branch Cabell' as search terms and you'll get about 50 items)

James Cummins (NYC)
http://www.jamescumminsbookseller.com/search.php?s_keywords=branch+cabell
High end shop. A number of rare and inscribed items, especially from the extensive Cabell collection of Frederic B. Eddy; JBC inscribed a number of books to him with personal comments. See p. 244 of Edgar MacDonald's Cabell biography.

The Bookcase (UK)
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?bi=0&bx=off&ds=30&kn=b...
mostly British editions

Babylon Revisited
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?bi=0&bx=off&ds=30&kn=b...

Mystical incantation: ham linen dicot tisanas shole

More Cabell Dealers...

Between the Covers Rare Books (New Jersey)
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?bi=0&bx=off&ds=30&kn=c...

The Fine Books Company (Michigan)
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?bi=0&bx=off&ds=30&kn=c...

James Pepper Rare Books (California)
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?bi=0&bx=off&ds=30&kn=c...
Includes volumes from the libraries of Harpo Marx, and of close Cabell associate Hunter Stagg, as well as THE dedication copy of Soul of Melicent.

The Antiquarian Shop (Arizona)
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?bi=0&bx=off&ds=30&kn=b...

Oh, and the Fine Books Company noted in the last post also has, in its off-line catalog, an 18-volume Storisende set in 'fine' condition (some still with the very rare slipcases) for $850. Here: http://finebooks.home.comcast.net/~finebooks/

Storisende alert...

Right now on ebay there's a composite set (though made from only two sets- #300 and #717) in VG to NF shape with a starting bid of approx $325. No bids so far, 3 days left. That's approx $18/volume, so a pretty decent price. No, it's not me, just pointing it out in case anyone is looking.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/James-Branch-Cabell-The-Works-Storisende-Edition-1930-Mc...

I've been dipping into the Cabellian criticism and it prompted me to start looking for a complete Storisende set. Even at that price, though, I'll have to settle for wishing for now. Thanks for the tip, it is uncanny timing for me, heh!

I thought this site deserved a new posting.
Just to say that I've always found Amazon very good. I've just bought a rather battered Figures of Earth in the black Bodleyhead edition with Frank Pape illustrations for £8.
I've never had much trouble finding reasonably priced Cabelliana on the internet.

Yes, there's quite a bit of good Cabell in original editions out there at reasonable prices. So it's always puzzled me that people have been willing to buy generic reprints from Kessinger, Echo, Biblio-Bazaar, etc.

I recently picked up a Lin Carter edition of Eve, and it was all about convenience: it was there, it was cheap (maybe free). At this point, I most assuredly want good hardback editions with Pape illustrations when available! -- but until now, it's been an almost unconscious and certainly non-deliberate process.

But I still don't have $350 cash on hand, or I'd plunk for the Storisende Edition. It's a great price, but the cash isn't there so ... I find myself picking up these random editions for $5 or less, in sporadic fashion.

In the Eve you just got you have the Storisende text-- all the Ballantines use the Storisende text...

> 13 generic reprints from Kessinger

*shudder*

Storisende alert

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Works-of-James-Branch-Cabell-18-Vols-Storisende-Ed-McBri...

damaged bindings in a couple places but the opening bid is just $100

They look very scruffy, but the price is definitely appealing. Let's see what they get sold for.

Well, they've been there for a couple days with no action.

And last night this shwed up on ABE
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=16000685438&searchurl=x%3D1...
that seems much too pricey for that description -- $50 a volume.

Yes, the other two on ABE look much more interesting.

17> that's tempting! $6.50/volume factoring in shipping is a great value for what looks like a good starter set.

Wow, still no bids. Less than 2 days left. Maybe a last second bidding war though.

ETA

28 hrs left now, still no bids

About 15 minutes left. Still no bids.

update:
someone bid the flat 100, and won it.

How to find Cabell? Just keep a close eye on this thread, that's how. The Storisende editions that I won for a paltry $100 have safely arrived. I can't believe I'm the only person who bid on them. They should've gone for twice that, imo. The bindings are good, not great (but not loose either), the "McBride" at the bottom of all the spines is pretty faded, but that's just aesthetics, I plan on reading these, and the interiors are all impeccable; in fact, dozens of pages in each volume remain uncut, so it's pretty clear the volumes were merely skimmed at most, but never read all the way through.

Thanks again, Willobie, for the heads-up. I didn't realize how much I wanted this set until they were so affordably within reach.

dee noodles

I hope to see your reviews, Freeque! I have in mind at least one if not two Cabell's this year, as usual it takes longer than I hope to get through what's in front of those, and just so little focused reading time (not to mention, time to craft fitting reviews of what I read). But I'm committed to moving forward with more Cabell this year, and would benefit from your observations on your own readings.

Thanks, elenchus. I began Beyond Life last night (no time like now, I guess) and am reminded just how funny, witty, & erudite Cabell was. His particular type of confabulation of fantasy with reality is right up my alley. Who else except maybe Borges would dream up reading the "unwritten books" that Dickens or this or that literary luminary "wrote"? I'm sure I'll have some unwritten reviews of Cabell available shortly!

>27 absurdeist: I've also been re-reading Beyond Life recently. I'm not sure it should work, but it's delightful (just what I thought the first time I read it decades ago). Here's wishing you many happy hours with your Storisende set.