Valuable Anthologies

Gallery Press GP102             Mentor MD130         

   Lion Library LL6              Belmont 90-286      

As a general rule of thumb, short story anthologies are not particularly valuable. The exception, of course, is if the book contains an original story by a now-collectible author.

Gallery Press GP102 (published in 1973) contains FIVE original stories by Edward Wood, Jr ... under his own name! (Wood was a notorious user of multiple pseudonyms.)

Mentor MD103 is a double-hitter. It contains the first recorded story by Jack Kerouac (a previously published magazine article under the pseudonym Jean-Louis). Also present is a story by Joseph Heller: a chapter from his yet-unpublished novel Catch 22, once again released previously in a periodical.

Lion Library LL6 lists numerous great authors on the cover ... but it's important to collectors for the author that isn't listed: Jim Thompson and his short story Time Without End.

Belmont 90-286 is a compilation of stories by Charles Willeford, one of the most-collected authors by vintage paperback advocates.