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March, 1923. First issue of historic Weird Tales pulp. First State copy (as opposed to Second State variant). "Ooze" by Anthony M. Rud and "The Thing of a Thousand Shapes" by Otis Adelbert Kline
A 15% BUYER'S PREMIUM WILL BE ADDED TO THIS ITEM AT CONCLUSION OF THE AUCTION
The first issue of the legendary series Weird Tales, which debuted in March, 1923. This series ran for over 30 years, through 1954, and inspired countless revivals and knock-offs. The cover story, "Ooze" by Anthony M. Rud features an octopus-like giant amoeba terrifying onlookers. This cover is a very early illustration of both tentacle horror and survival horror.
Subtitled 'The Unique Magazine', Weird Tales went on to feature great writers like HP Lovecraft, Robert E Howard, Tennessee Williams, Robert Bloch, Seabury Quinn, and August Derleth. Extremely influential and terrifying characters and concepts premiere in Weird Tales, including Conan the Barbarian, Cthulhu and the Old Gods, King Kull, Solomon Kane, metaphysical detective Jules de Grandin, and the Necronomicon.
Weird Tales also highlighted the best in fantasy and horror art, both on front covers and in interior illustrations. Great artists like Margaret Brundage and Virgil Finlay created countless horrifying, strange images. These covers often featured lurid, violent, sequences with damsels in distress, both partially-clothed and nude, as well as strange aliens and monsters. All modern fantasy, science-fiction, horror and pulp fiction owes an indelible debt to Weird Tales.
All 1923 issues of Weird Tales are extremely rare, including this first issue. This issue will only become more important and more expensive over time.
This is a beautiful copy of the first issue of Weird Tales. The cover appears so crisp and clear, unusual for any pulp, let alone such a key issue. The slight hints of red in the title logo, cover copy, and the cover image outline all pop. There are minor blemishes along the edges of the copy, but they do not distract from the haunting cover. The pages range from slightly yellowed to cream and almost off-white, an unusual level of preservation for any pulp. Pulps were printed so cheaply that the vast majority of them will have degraded naturally to a state much worse than this. There is very slight chipping and splitting on the top and bottom of the spine, another rare condition for an almost hundred-year-old pulp. The spines were created so weakly that they often fell apart over time, but that is not the case here. What an amazing rare find.

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