Portwin, E. T. The Zero Ray Terrors. London: Vawser & Wiles, Ltd., [1946]. First edition. Octavo, pp. [1-6] 7-122 [note: frontis piece included in pagination of prelims]. Original red cloth, front and spine panels stamped in black. (Other colors of binding cloth have been noted.) Illustrated with a full-color frontispiece signed "Rivers 45." A very good copy without the dust jacket. #3357. $25. "Juvenile science fiction thriller involving a plague of giant rats [in tunnels under London] and the efforts of the inhabitants of an invisible dying world above the Heaviside Layer to reach Earth." -- Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, vol. I, p. 177. Bleiler (1978), p. 160 (the author's last name mis-spelled as "Portwine"). Reginald 11822. The author, Elizabeth T. Portwin, wrote at least two other similar novels around this time.

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Bibliographic Details

Title: The Zero Ray Terrors
Publisher: Vawser & Wiles, London
Publication Date: 1946
Binding: Hardback
Illustrator: Rivers 45
Edition: First Edition.
Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
Signed: Signed by Author(s)

Store Description

When I began my bookselling business in 1996 I called it "Eldritch Books" because that adjective at least partly covered the type of material I offered (and because its similarity to my own surname seemed so -- eldritch). "Ghost stories" would be another handy, if somewhat reductive, term. Most of it is fiction from the 19th and early 20th century with a strong emphasis on the fantastic. Since the most familiar and relevant genre terms in use today -- "science fiction," "fantasy," "supernatural," "horror" -- were not so much in use when these books were first published, pegging them that way can be anachronistic. But that should give you the general idea. I don't have much in the way of American pulp (either in magazine or specialty press book form) but otherwise my interests range widely from high-brow to middle-brow to low-brow to amateur/eccentric. You're more likely to find rare and obscure works here than high spots. (Or at least they're obscure now, whatever their status was when first published.) In 2001 I went to work for L. W. Currey as cataloguer and general assistant. Since 2014 I've been back working on my own. I have exhibited at convention fairs (such as WFC and Readercon) in the past. I began collecting and studying antiquarian fantasy around 1980. Some of my essays have appeared in genre publications such as NYRSF, Wormwood and F&SF. I tend to carefully research my inventory and write extensive notes. (If another dealer wishes to make use of any of these notes, I'd appreciate the courtesy of putting such excerpts in quotes and giving proper attribution to me. That's what I do when I quote from any of my reference works.) I will be gradually listing my inventory on ABE over the coming years. I hope you find something of interest.

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Robert Eldridge, Bookseller
NY, U.S.A.

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