Garet Garrett sighting; Ebay; Country Gentleman; Satan's Bushel

I do not look at ebay regularly. There are usually many items for sale relating to Garet Garrett - usually recent reprints of his old books. I happened to check ebay today and noticed two separate items that are quite old.

This auction and this auction each contain the December 1, 1923 edition of Country Gentleman - the magazine that serialized Satan's Bushel in 1923. The edition for sale appears to contain Chapter 7 (which I think is a reference to the seventh part of the serialization instead of Chapter 7 of the book).

These are not my auctions and I have no idea about the conditions of the magazines. I mention them only because it is interesting that old copies of Country Gentleman continue to exist and be traded among collectors. I have recounted here how I found (before the modern reprints existed) my first copy of Satan's Bushel in the microfilmed pages of Country Gentleman in the basement of the Pennsylvania State Library.

The auctions are currently listed at $ 4.75 and $ 9.99.

Satan's Bushel finally appears

I have previously written here about Garrett's 1923 novel, Satan's Bushel. The aforesaid link includes links to my lengthy review of the book's contents. My previous post describes how I found a serialized copy of the novel in the basement archives of the state library. I had been reading and reviewing the book without ever having seen the actual copy:

I have tried, without success, to find a copy of Satan's Bushel for almost two years. I have never yet seen a copy of the book.

My review was based solely on the serialized magazine version of the book.

All of that changed within the past year when I found an original hardback edition of the book on E-bay.





with dust jacket





without dust jacket

















The inside of the dustjacket included a preview.






I don't remember what I paid for it, but it was only slightly more than $10.00. Whoever sold it to me didn't know what he had. Now if I only had the time to lobby publishers to publish a new edition . . . .

Letter from Literary Digest

An interesting letter is up for sale on E-Bay. The publishers of Literary Digest wrote to Garrett in 1936 to inquire as to the pronounciation of his name.



The letter reads as follows:

October 12, 1936

Mr. Garet Garrett

Tuckahoe, N.J.


Dear Sir:

We have been asked for the correct pronunciation of your name, and as none of your books of reference indicate it, may we ask you to please give us the pronunciation-- both of the given name and the surname, showing the syllables to be stressed. We wish to have this correct for our files for future reference.

Thanking you for your cooperation

Yours Truly,

Chalres E. Funk.
---------------------------

Garrett's reply appears at the bottom:
"I pronounce it as garret, for the room on the top floor, and both the same. Garet Garrett (Signature)"

This is not my e-bay sale.

The link for the sale is here.

The letter appears to provide one tiny window into the workings of the publishing world of the 1930's.

The American Omen - new E-bay sale

The American Omen is up for sale on E-bay again.

I don't know what the reserve is, but the last time I saw a copy for sale (with a dust jacket) the sale price ended up at $ 73.00.

I don't know what condition the book is in or anything about the seller (and it is not my sale) but the occasion of the auction provides a good excuse to post this blurb about the book (courtesy of Bruce Ramsey in Salvos Against the New Deal (page 13):

At the high note of the roaring twenties, Garrett laid out his vision of the "new economy" in the American Omen (1928) - a largely non-union world of professional management, time-saving machines, just-in-time inventory control ("hand-to-mouth buying") and high wages. It was a world in which people accepted inequality of income and wealth. "There is no evidence that men want to be equal," Garrett wrote. "Here, if a man says the state owes him liberty, protection, equality of opportunity, that is already acknowledged. These are political benefits. But if he says the state owes him a living, he is ridiculed."

As soon as I read my own copy, I will post a more thorough description, explanation and review of The American Omen (as I intend to do with all of the Garrett books that I own).

1928






















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update

The e-bay auction ended with one bid for $ 9.99. The auction page indicated that the reserve was not met.

Harangue sighting on e-bay - $99.99

An original edition of Harangue is currently being auctioned at e-bay. I offer no opinions as to the asking price. I bought my copy for much less on e-bay two years ago.

But I can confirm that the description of an original edition Harangue as "very rare" and "very hard to find outside of a library" is accurate. My own struggle to find even a magazine reproduction of Satan's Bushel is described here. Garrett's novels each come available on e-bay about once a year or less.

BTW - this is not my sale. I simply find it noteworthy whenever there is a Garrett novel sighting anywhere. The last such e-bay sighting for Harangue occurred eleven months ago, which listing was withdrawn before any bids were made.

Harangue

Harangue

A 1927 original edition of Harangue is up for sale now on e-bay. Again, I do not plan to make it a habit to quote e-bay information, but this is a rare find. I bought my copy of Harangue more than a year ago (on e-bay) and I haven't seen it available since then. (Of course I still haven't read it yet, but more on that later.)

The opening bid is $15.00 and there are no bids yet (and no, this is not my sale). The seller probably doesn't know what he has in his possession (and apparently neither do any buyers).

Normally, if you want to read this book, you have to go to a university or state library and photocopy the microfilm versions from the old Saturday Evening Post or Country Gentleman. That is what I did to obtain copies of the Driver and Satan's Bushel - but more on that later.

American Omen

$ 73.00

American Omen sold on e-bay for $73.00 on Wednesday, November 24th, 2004. I would not normally post e-bay sale information, but the price was good. And no, it was not my sale.

I will post more about this book in the coming weeks.