Tops in Science Fiction - Nos. 1 & 2 (Spring & Fall 1953, complete)
Stamford: Love Romances Publishing Co., 1953. Very Good. Item #27289
Stamford: Love Romances Co., 1953. Pulp Magazines. No. 1 large format (19.75" x 6.75"); 128pp; No. 2 digest (7.25" x ~5.5"); 128pp. Illustrated paper wraps.
Spring Issue: Shallow chips and tears along overhung edges, with top front and rear fore-edge apparently trimmed; long crease to front panel, with crimping along spine and rubbing at spine ends. Pages toned as expected, but unmarked. Binding is sound.
Fall Issue: Covers lightly shelfworn with brief tape repair at top front and bottom back edges and over / along spine; surface dampstain and some smudging to rear panel, with some lighter smudging to front. Pages toned, moreso along bottom edges, but unmarked. Binding is sound.
Short-lived Love Romances title set up to reprint fiction from Planet Stories (1939-1955), including Leigh Brackett's novellas Citadel of Lost Ships and Lorelei of the Red Mist, Ray Van Houten's "The Last Martian," Ray Bradbury's "The Million-Year Panic," Isaac Asimov's Black Friar of the Flame, Robert Abernathy's "Saboteur of Space," and others. While the fiction consisted of reprints the issues did include some original art by Frank Kelly Freas. These two issues were in turn reprinted in Britain in three digest volumes between 1954 and 1956.
Price: $70.00