Roads: Facsimile Reproduction Of The 1948 First Edition - Hardcover

Quinn, Seabury

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 097488958X ISBN 13: 9780974889580

Publisher: Red Jacket Pr, 2005

Synopsis

This limited edition "facsimile" reprint volume is a complete and detailed reproduction of the original first edition (published by Arkham House in 1948), fully authorized, and packaged in a deluxe gift box that includes a booklet with detailed biographical information about the author and illustrator. The dust jacket and gift box both feature the beautiful metallic gold ink of the original Arkham House edition.

About this title

From the Publisher

''I have not tried to paint the portrait of a man, but merely to present a personality and hazard a guess as to the motivation that makes Santa Claus the wondrous figure he is -- a figure who more than any other exemplifies the beauty of selflessness.'' -- Seabury Quinn

Drawing upon the original Christian legends that coalesced over centuries into the familiar, jolly form of Saint Nicholas, pulp fiction pioneer Seabury Quinn weaves a spellbinding new origin for this most beloved of children's icons in his classic novella ''Roads.''

First published in the January 1938 issue of Weird Tales, this re-imagining of Santa Claus has been hailed by genre historian Sam Moskowitz as ''the greatest adult Christmas story written by an American.'' Ten years after its initial publication, ''Roads'' reappeared as a handsome hardcover book from Arkham House, the groundbreaking speculative fiction publisher founded in 1938 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei -- an edition which featured beautiful new illustrations by the legendary fantasy artist Virgil Finlay.

Divided into three sections, Quinn's tale begins in the days of the Roman Empire, where the mighty gladiator Claus -- a barbarian from the frozen Northland -- has just finished his term of service in the province of Judea. On the journey back to his homeland, Claus chances upon a poor family under attack and saves them from a murderous band of soldiers. With this selfless act, his life is changed forever.

Claus goes on to travel further than he ever could have imagined. Crossing from one end of the Empire to the other and back again, he eventually outlives the power of Rome and the dark ages that follow it, and witnesses the rise of new civilizations on its former lands. Immune to the effects of time, Claus accumulates the wisdom of many lifetimes before discovering the final road he is destined to follow -- a path which will lead him to his true calling, and fulfill a promise made to one very special child on behalf of all the children of the world.

About the Author

Seabury Grandin Quinn was born in 1889 in Washington D.C., where he grew up and attended law school at the National University (now part of George Washington University), graduating in 1910. After serving in the Army during World War I, Quinn moved to New York and began writing, editing and teaching in the field of medical jurisprudence, specializing in mortuary law. (His comprehensive reference title A Syllabus of Mortuary Jurisprudence was published in 1933.)

He also began a second career in fiction writing, contributing stories to the new medium of pulp magazines and specializing in horror and the supernatural. His first published story, ''The Stone Image,'' appeared in the May 1, 1919 issue of The Thrill Book and marked the first appearance of a character named Dr. Towbridge. Six years later, Quinn updated the Doctor's name to Trowbridge and teamed him with a psychic French detective named Jules de Grandin in the October 1925 Weird Tales story ''The Horror on the Links.'' This was the beginning of what would prove to be one of Weird Tales' most popular features -- from 1925 to 1951, Quinn wrote 93 supernatural mysteries starring de Grandin and Trowbridge for Weird Tales, and their popularity at the time far surpassed the work of his contemporaries Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft. In total, Quinn's work appeared in 165 of the 279 issues in Weird Tales' original run, easily making him the magazine's most prolific contributor.

When Roads was released by Arkham House in 1948, it was Quinn's first book of fiction to be published, though some of his stories had already been included in printed anthologies of pulp material. March of 1952 saw the final issue of Weird Tales to feature his work, as a series of strokes forced him into semiretirement. His final pulp story, ''Master Nicholas,'' was published in 1965 in the Winter issue of The Magazine of Horror. Quinn passed away on Christmas Eve of 1969, one week shy of his 80th birthday.

Edition details

• Publisher: Red Jacket Pr
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 097488958X
• ISBN 13: 9780974889580
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 110
• Illustrator: Finlay Virgil