Story & Significance
What makes this copy worth attention is the binding. Currey records three bindings for the Gnome Press issue of The Vortex Blaster, listed in priority order, and the blue boards with yellow spine lettering are the first of the three. This is a copy in that priority binding, the earliest trade state Gnome Press put on the book, not simply a first edition in whatever binding turned up. There is also a bibliographic wrinkle worth knowing. Currey lists two issues of the title. The one offered here is the Gnome Press issue, with the Hicksville, New York imprint on the title page. A separate issue exists under a Reading, Pennsylvania, Fantasy Press imprint, an overrun of roughly 341 copies that Lloyd Eshbach ran off immediately after the Gnome printing on better paper. The two are told apart by the imprint, and the distinction matters when you are matching a copy to a reference. This copy is the Gnome issue. The book itself is a fix-up set in Smith's Lensman universe, following Neal "Storm" Cloud as he hunts down loose atomic vortices. It was later reissued in paperback as Masters of the Vortex, so the original Gnome hardcover under its first title is the one a press collector wants. As a 1960 release it sits late in the Gnome Press run, which closed in 1962; there is more on that arc in our history of Gnome Press.
Physical Description
The binding is blue boards with the spine lettered in yellow, square at the corners, the boards still bright. The copyright page carries the stated "First Edition" with the Hicksville, New York imprint, confirming the Gnome Press issue and first printing. The dust jacket is the original wrap-around design by W.I. Van der Poel, unclipped with the $3.00 price intact, now housed in a new archival Mylar sleeve. It has escaped the heavy spine sunning that often catches this title, and the colors remain strong. The condition needs to be stated plainly. The text block and internal pages show significant tanning and darkening, heaviest at the edges. The binding is tight and the hinges are sound, but the paper itself has browned, and a buyer should expect that. The listing photographs of the text block show exactly what is there.
Collector's Note
For anyone working through Gnome Press, the binding priority is the thing to get right here. Three bindings exist, and only the blue boards with yellow lettering are the earliest; the gray cloth and gray wrappers Currey also records come later. A copy in this binding with the jacket present and unclipped is the configuration to want if you are after the first state and not just a first edition. The honest tradeoff is the browned text block against an unusually well-preserved exterior. If your interest is display and shelf presence, the bright boards and clean Van der Poel jacket carry it. If you want pristine paper throughout, this is not that copy.
Story & Significance
What makes this copy worth attention is the binding. Currey records three bindings for the Gnome Press issue of The Vortex Blaster, listed in priority order, and the blue boards with yellow spine lettering are the first of the three. This is a copy in that priority binding, the earliest trade state Gnome Press put on the book, not simply a first edition in whatever binding turned up. There is also a bibliographic wrinkle worth knowing. Currey lists two issues of the title. The one offered here is the Gnome Press issue, with the Hicksville, New York imprint on the title page. A separate issue exists under a Reading, Pennsylvania, Fantasy Press imprint, an overrun of roughly 341 copies that Lloyd Eshbach ran off immediately after the Gnome printing on better paper. The two are told apart by the imprint, and the distinction matters when you are matching a copy to a reference. This copy is the Gnome issue. The book itself is a fix-up set in Smith's Lensman universe, following Neal "Storm" Cloud as he hunts down loose atomic vortices. It was later reissued in paperback as Masters of the Vortex, so the original Gnome hardcover under its first title is the one a press collector wants. As a 1960 release it sits late in the Gnome Press run, which closed in 1962; there is more on that arc in our history of Gnome Press.
Physical Description
The binding is blue boards with the spine lettered in yellow, square at the corners, the boards still bright. The copyright page carries the stated "First Edition" with the Hicksville, New York imprint, confirming the Gnome Press issue and first printing. The dust jacket is the original wrap-around design by W.I. Van der Poel, unclipped with the $3.00 price intact, now housed in a new archival Mylar sleeve. It has escaped the heavy spine sunning that often catches this title, and the colors remain strong. The condition needs to be stated plainly. The text block and internal pages show significant tanning and darkening, heaviest at the edges. The binding is tight and the hinges are sound, but the paper itself has browned, and a buyer should expect that. The listing photographs of the text block show exactly what is there.
Collector's Note
For anyone working through Gnome Press, the binding priority is the thing to get right here. Three bindings exist, and only the blue boards with yellow lettering are the earliest; the gray cloth and gray wrappers Currey also records come later. A copy in this binding with the jacket present and unclipped is the configuration to want if you are after the first state and not just a first edition. The honest tradeoff is the browned text block against an unusually well-preserved exterior. If your interest is display and shelf presence, the bright boards and clean Van der Poel jacket carry it. If you want pristine paper throughout, this is not that copy.
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