Early 1960s American hardcover SF anthology for schools

[Extollager]

The book I'm thinking of was, as I recall, a fairly thick volume. It was probably didn't come with a dust jacket. The fabric for the cover was, I think, something durable and that could be wiped clean with a damp cloth. The colors for the cover design were warm, maybe reds, oranges, yellows, whites, rather than cool. There was an abstract swirling motif with one tilted figure imposed against this, looking more like that of a boy than an adult, and he might have been walking or running. I don't think Groff Conklin was the editor (though this was a time when Conklin anthologies were abundant).

 

[hitmouse]

Do you remember any of the stories?

 

[Extollager]

I don't remember the stories. This could be a really old memory.

 

[DannMcGrew]

Maybe this??

 

[Extollager]

No....I’m thinking of a single-volume book, almost certainly published in the early or mid-1960s, and it’s driving me crazy!

 

[DannMcGrew]

OK but keep in mind the best of the 50's came out in early 60's and a school library edition might look different from other editions. Particularly your description of no DJ and glossy finish to cover is often a library/school edition. I'm not insisting on the book I pictured but talking in general.

 

[Extollager]

I'm certain that the book I’m thinking (however vaguely) of was an anthology of short stories compiled specifically for the school library and young people’s section of the public library — those markets.

I glanced at the online catalogs of two or three high school libraries in our area and was amazed by how recent nearly all their books appeared to be, btw. Looks like almost anything before 2000 was weeded except for Fahrenheit 451 or a few others....

 

[DannMcGrew]

I'm certain that the book I’m thinking (however vaguely) of was an anthology of short stories compiled specifically for the school library and young people’s section of the public library — those markets.

What grade level was the library that had this book -- elementary or high school?

 

[Extollager]

I think it was somewhere 7-12th grade, so middle school-high school. Maybe I imagined it.

 

[tegeus-Cromis]

OK but keep in mind the best of the 50's came out in early 60's and a school library edition might look different from other editions. Particularly your description of no DJ and glossy finish to cover is often a library/school edition. I'm not insisting on the book I pictured but talking in general.

Um, I don't think so. The book you posted came out in 2012: American Science Fiction: Nine Classic Novels of the 1950s (boxed set) | Library of America

 

[DannMcGrew]

Um, I don't think so. The book you posted came out in 2012: American Science Fiction: Nine Classic Novels of the 1950s (boxed set) | Library of America

I think maybe you didn't get the entire conversation thread. I was saying not to dismiss a book because of one edition's cover or that it contained '50s stories.
"I'm not insisting on the book I pictured but talking in general."

Anyway kind of difficult to track down a book without title or author or content. Even so I tried.

 

[tegeus-Cromis]

I think maybe you didn't get the entire conversation thread. I was saying not to dismiss a book because of one edition's cover or that it contained '50s stories.
"I'm not insisting on the book I pictured but talking in general."

Anyway kind of difficult to track down a book without title or author or content. Even so I tried.

No, I got that, but you first suggested it as the book Extollager was looking for. And when you wrote "but keep in mind the best of the 50's came out in early 60's and a school library edition might look different from other editions" it sounded like you were insisting it might still be that book.

 

[DannMcGrew]

No, I got that, but you first suggested it as the book Extollager was looking for. And when you wrote "but keep in mind the best of the 50's came out in early 60's and a school library edition might look different from other editions" it sounded like you were insisting it might still be that book.

You mean even when I specifically said I was not insisting? cut me a break

 

[tegeus-Cromis]

You mean even when I specifically said I was not insisting? cut me a break

Well then, I'm confused as to precisely what you were doing when you suggested it. It wasn't very clear.

 

[DannMcGrew]

Amazon.com

 

[DannMcGrew]

@Extollager if this turns out to be your book , have I got a story to tell you.

 

[Extollager]

I'm thrilled. Dann, that is it, that is it! I wish I knew how long it's been since I laid eyes on this book.

I'm delighted, and I can't want for your story.

 

[DannMcGrew]

Well, I spent a bit of time going through cover images on various sources. Then tonight I went through the online catalog at Pratt Library in Baltimore where they have a good collection of old books. I didn't find this one there but did find about a dozen possible suspects. So I Googled those titles and in doing so was shown some other images. I saw this one and went looking for the source which turned out to be -- drum roll, please -- Browsing Around in Pre-1975 Anthologies Other Than Conklin's YOUR post from 2014

 

[Extollager]

Ha ha! Amazing.

I went to Contento and saw that that was one of the very greatest books of my youth. "Brightside Crossing"! "Coventry"! I have already ordered a copy of that edition.

I have a story like yours, by the way. A few months ago I got my eagerly-awaited copy of Oronzo Cilli's Tolkien's Library. Almost panting with excitement, I rushed to see what Tolkien's Rider Haggard holdings were.

Wow! What an array!

Then I checked to see what his authority was.

It turned out that Cilli had included these books in his list because, as he very clearly says (but I hadn't read his front matter), his book lists not just books that Tolkien was known to have owned, but books that said he had read, or even that someone speculated he'd read.

An author had speculated that Tolkien had read those books (in addition to the three Haggards that Tolkien is known to have read).

The speculating author was... myself.

 

[DannMcGrew]

Ha ha! Amazing.

I went to Contento and saw that that was one of the very greatest books of my youth. "Brightside Crossing"! "Coventry"! I have already ordered a copy of that edition.

I have a story like yours, by the way. A few months ago I got my eagerly-awaited copy of Oronzo Cilli's Tolkien's Library. Almost panting with excitement, I rushed to see what Tolkien's Rider Haggard holdings were. Wow! What an array!

Then I checked to see what his authority was.

It turned out that Cilli had included these books in his list because, as he very clearly says (but I hadn't read his front matter), his book lists not just books that Tolkien has known to have owned, but books that said he had read, or even that someone speculated he'd read.

An author had speculated that Tolkien had read those books (in addition to the three Haggards that Tolkien is known to have read).

The speculating author was... myself.

I this what they mean by "what goes around comes around"?