A previously unknown copy of the exceedingly rare 1937 Herbert Jenkins first edition of A Gent from Bear Creek has been just been discovered by noted Robert E. Howard scholar Patrice Louinet. This is only the thirteenth known copy of Howard’s first published book to be located and it could very likely be one of the nicest copies in existence. Judging from the photos, it appears to be in better condition than the Darrell Richardson copy, which sold at auction last month for over $12,000. Louinet found the book last week with an automated online search and quickly purchased it from the UK bookseller that had listed it. The exact events are best described by Louinet himself (as posted at TGR):

“Just like every Howard collector, I’ve always wanted to own a copy of the Jenkins Gent. I knew that I would have to get lucky if I ever wanted to find one, because my pockets were not deep enough to buy one at full price. When the Darrell C. Richardson auction was announced a few weeks ago, I did raise a good chunk of money to go after the Phantagraphs and some desired pulps, but the copy of Gent that was in the lot was never on my radar.

Now, I suppose every hardcore collector is aware that a few years ago an American bookseller listed a Jenkins edition of Gent for $15, obviously having no idea as to its real value. This copy was immediately snatched up by a Canadian bookdealer and ended up on eBay, selling for $8,500 a few weeks later. I suspect that a lot of people had the same idea I had – that history could repeat itself, so I added Gent to my list of automated notifications from ABE [Books] and patiently waited.

Last Tuesday (April 20), a little before 6:00 pm French time, I received the email. I remember seeing A Gent from Bear Creek in the subject field, which surprised me because I usually don’t get notifications for the book, and then I saw the year – 1937. I don’t remember registering anything as to the condition except that it lacked the dustjacket, and the price: £20 ($30 American). It took me a few seconds to digest all this, and then I literally went dizzy, immediately clicked on the item, logged in, and bought it. The whole transaction took 30 seconds, tops. I didn’t know how much I had paid for postage, and was not really sure I hadn’t made a mistake.

I tried to cool down, re-read everything, took a deep breath and decided to give the bookseller a call. I told him I was simply inquiring if my order had gone through, because I had been looking for that book “for years.” I offered no further details. The bookseller said it usually took a couple hours before they get the notification, but he did some checking and thus the book was pulled off the ABE list within the hour. I didn’t ask him to confirm it was indeed a 1937 Herbert Jenkins edition, as I didn’t want to arouse suspicion. The conversation ended when he told me the book would go out the next day.

For the next 48 hours, the butterflies in my stomach were killed by the pins and needles I had in there. On Thursday, I received notification that the book had shipped and I became hopeful, but still remained wary. It arrived today in a plain padded envelope. Fortunately it made the trip safely and didn’t suffer any damage in transit.”

Even after receiving confirmation from the seller that the book had shipped, Louinet was still trying to keep his hopes and expectations tempered. As he wrote to me in an email last week, “It can still get lost, or be the Don Grant, McHaney’s facsimile, something else, I don’t know. Sure, the description is that of an old book, but I don’t want to believe it. Yet.”

After a nerve-wracking week of waiting for Louinet, the book finally arrived this morning and he confirmed that it was indeed the real thing. As with all but one of the known copies, it lacks the elusive dust jacket, but it appears to be in excellent condition. According to Louinet, “the book is in amazing shape; by far the best copy I have seen. No fading whatsoever — some very light foxing, some minor rubbing and shelf-wear, and that’s it.”

With this find, Louinet will no doubt be the envy of REH collectors everywhere. After recently acquiring several rare Howard related pulps and fanzines, he has topped it off with one of the most sought-after of Howard collectibles. Amazingly, he does not consider this rare book to be the best item in his incredible collection:

“Now, I know that A Gent from Bear Creek is the Holy Grail for most heavy-duty Howard collectors, so I am on Cloud Nine, no doubt about it. But my state of mind is nowhere near what I felt when I came into possession of the original of the iconic 1934 Fedora/Al Capone photograph. Receiving that rare gift still gives me shivers. It is a one of a kind item, one that has a real connection to Bob Howard. This copy of Gent is only a book – well, a really, really rare book.”

“Only a book,” it is true, but what a special book it is. The first edition of A Gent from Bear Creek was published posthumously in 1937, in the UK by Herbert Jenkins. Its unusual scarcity is thought to be due to most copies being destroyed during World War II from bombing and paper drives. Only one copy with an intact dust jacket is known to exist; it originally belonged to August Derleth, but has been owned by Glenn Lord for many years. For collectors it is a moot point anyway as this copy will likely never be on the market — it will eventually end up in the collection of the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas.

The copy belonging to long-time REH and ERB collector Darrell Richardson (mentioned above) had been in his collection for many years until his recent passing, when it was auctioned off by his estate. Isaac Howard’s former copy is now in the collection of Ranger Junior College in Ranger, Texas. In addition to lacking the dust jacket, it was taken apart in order to create the photo-offset first American edition published by Donald Grant in 1965, and then subsequently rebound. An ex-library copy, once owned by Mel Stein, is now in a private collection in Canada. Four known copies exist in library collections (1 in the British Library, 1 in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, 1 in the National Library of Scotland, 1 in the Trinity College Library in Dublin).

For many years, these were the only known copies, but in the last decade the internet has led to the discovery of five more examples. A jacketless copy with restored endpapers was offered on eBay several years ago. Another copy originating from a bookstore in South Africa was purchased by Leo Grin and donated to the Robert E. Howard Museum in Cross Plains. A copy was purchased in 2005 by English collector Alistair Durie from a Charing Cross bookseller in London for over £2,000. The copy mentioned above by Louinet that appeared on ABE Books several years ago for $15, was then sold on eBay to a pulp collector, who traded it to Ed Gobbett for a valuable run of Shadow pulps. And now, this latest copy, also found on ABE, makes the thirteenth known copy.

While this book is unquestionably scarce, I have little doubt that there other copies out there in the “wild” that have not been recognized for what they are — perhaps even copies in jacket. Even among collectors of this type of material, the Jenkins A Gent from Bear Creek is not a well-known item. For the typical bookseller, even if they might have heard of Howard through his Conan stories, they might not connect the name with this collection of humorous western tales. If Howard’s first book had been Hour of the Dragon (which was almost the case), then you can be sure that most of the known copies would have been accounted for long ago and you would not have many copies flying under the radar like this. That makes A Gent from Bear Creek somewhat unique among well-known author’s first books, in that it is clearly still possible for savvy collectors to make that lucky find and acquire a copy on the cheap.

So how much does Louinet think his £20 purchase is worth?

“A copy that was not in such great shape, the Richardson copy, fetched about $12,000 a few weeks ago in a little-publicized auction. With that in mind, one can only wonder as to the value of the copy now in my possession.”

One can only wonder indeed. I suspect that if sold by a high-profile auction house like Heritage or Christie’s, it could easily fetch $15,000 to $20,000. But, that will have to remain in the realm of speculation, as Louinet has no plans to sell it:

“You might ask if I am planning to sell my copy. Well, no, I have no intention of parting with it – unless you have some original Howard typescripts to trade. That I would consider.”