Volume 2, Number 1 February 2004 the Sea Dweller Volume 2, Number 1
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Volume 2, Number 1 February 2004 The Sea Dweller Volume 2, Number 1 Contents Iceberg: Profile of a First Edition by Wayne Valero......................................................................... 3 On Writing Iceberg ....................................................................................................................... 3 History of Dodd, Mead & Company ............................................................................................. 5 History of Vail-Ballou Press ......................................................................................................... 6 Photographer ............................................................................................................................... 6 Rarity............................................................................................................................................ 7 Iceberg: Dust Jacket Illustration by Bruce Kenfield......................................................................... 9 The Ford Trimotor by Rob Greer................................................................................................... 11 Clive Cussler's 1949 High School Yearbook by Bruce Kenfield.................................................... 16 Yearbook Foreword ................................................................................................................... 20 Clive Cussler Collector’s Society Member Offer ........................................................................... 21 Our Membership............................................................................................................................ 22 The Sea Dweller is the official newsletter of the Clive Cussler Collector's Society (CCCS). It is published quarterly in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format and available only to CCCS members as part of their $15 membership fee. The Sea Dweller provides an intimate look at the life of Clive Cussler and his associated works. Whether it's the latest news about a collectable from a Cussler related film, a closer look at his personal car collection, or a bibliographic expose on a rare paperback printing, The Sea Dweller is a newsletter that a Cussler fan can't resist. For more information on the CCCS, visit http://www.CusslerSociety.com/. This issue of The Sea Dweller has been edited and produced by Rob Greer with editorial review by Wayne Valero and Bruce Kenfield. February 2004 Copyright © 2004 Clive Cussler Collector's Society Page 2 of 23 The Sea Dweller Volume 2, Number 1 Iceberg: Profile of a First Edition By Wayne Valero One of the most desirable books for any collector of Clive Cussler material is the 1975 Dodd Mead & Company edition of Iceberg. From a collector's standpoint, this edition has many desirable features. Unlike many other early books by best-selling authors, this book was never reprinted by the original publisher—even as a book club edition. In addition, a replica of the book has not been reissued (as a facsimile) as has been the case for some other popular classics. Some examples include Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, and For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway. For these titles, near identical reproductions of the first editions exist on the market. Collectors and book enthusiasts alike Figure 1. First edition Iceberg. have always struggled with first edition points for books like The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy, The Flight of the Intruder by Stephen Coonts and A Time to Kill by John Grisham. This problem arises because these editions were all reprinted with similar dust jackets, but with some small differences. These small differences can make a world of difference to a collector. In these respects, the Dodd Mead edition of Iceberg stands alone. If Iceberg appears in its dark blue cloth binding and familiar black stylized dust jacket, a collector can be reasonably sure the book is a first edition and not a facsimile or subsequent printing. On Writing Iceberg In the summer of 1970, Cussler packed up his Los Angeles home and left the corporate world of advertising behind. His family moved east, finally settling in Colorado. Originally, Cussler had set February 2004 Copyright © 2004 Clive Cussler Collector's Society Page 3 of 23 The Sea Dweller Volume 2, Number 1 his course for Aspen where historical fiction writer Leon Uris would later make his home. Instead, the family ended up in picturesque Estes Park, a historical mountain town where horror writer Stephen King would eventually pen his classic work, The Shining. There, in a $200-a-month house at the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park, Cussler began to write about a ship trapped in an iceberg. The novel Iceberg was finished a year later. Cussler's first novel, The Mediterranean Caper (published by Pyramid Books), was printed in mass market paperback format. Cussler and his agent wanted to move to the next level by published novel by ensuring Iceberg published in hardcover format. They approached Dodd, Mead & Company of New York who agreed to publish Iceberg in a hardcover edition. Cussler was paid $5,000 for the 5,000 copies printed. The illustrated dark blue dust jacket cover has an abstract design of an iceberg accented with a few droplets of blood. A black and white photograph of a young Clive Cussler in a wetsuit occupies the rear of the dust jacket. Since Cussler had only worked on his Figure 2. First edition Iceberg outside of dust jacket. novel, his savings account and money from the sale of his California home was nearly exhausted. To help supplement his income, he took a position with Hull-Mefford, a small advertising firm in downtown Denver, which paid an annual salary of $12,000. Since only 3,200 of the 5,000 copies of Iceberg sold, Cussler took matters into his own hands. He wrote directly to Dodd Mead under a pseudonym, on fake stationary, from a friend’s address, claiming to be the secretary of the Dirk Pitt Fan Club. The letter asked in no uncertain terms why Fan Club members could not find copies of Iceberg in their local bookstores. While innovative, this ploy unfortunately had no measurable success in promoting the sale of any more books. February 2004 Copyright © 2004 Clive Cussler Collector's Society Page 4 of 23 The Sea Dweller Volume 2, Number 1 History of Dodd, Mead & Company Dodd, Mead & Company, began in New York City in 1839 as the firm, Taylor and Dodd. Founded by Moses Woodruff Dodd and John S. Taylor, the firm originally published religious books. In 1940, Dodd bought out his partner and established the company as M. W. Dodd. The company was to evolve through two further changes in its name. In 1870, when Dodd’s nephew Edward S. Mead took over the firm, the publisher became Dodd and Mead. Six years later, Bleecker Van Wagenen became a partner and the name was changed to its final form, Dodd, Mead and Company. Obligations of the World to the Bible: A Figure 3. First edition Iceberg title page. Series of Lectures to Young Men (1839) was the first book published by Dodd. Although religious works dominated the early publication lists of M. W. Dodd, by the 1870s, Frank Dodd, the son of Moses Dodd, had done much to change the emphasis of the publisher to a more general list. Early publications of popular fiction included Martha Finley’s Elsie Dinsmore and Edward P. Roe’s Barriers Burned Away. Edward S. Mead, a partner in Dodd, Mead, was also a writer for the company. He wrote a number of books for children and adults under the pseudonym Richard Markham. Through the 1890s and early 1900s, Dodd, Mead and Company expanded publications to include a variety of British and American authors including G. K. Chesterton, Jerome K. Jerome, H. G. Wells, Joseph Conrad, Paul Leicester Ford, George Barr McCutcheon, Hamilton Wright Mabie, and Agatha Christie. In the late 1890s, Dodd, Mead and Company introduced the work of a number of new poets including Robert W. Service, Bliss Carman, and Paul Laurence Dunbar. Dunbar’s Lyrics of Lowly Life was published in 1896, followed by Poems of Cabin and Field (1899), Lyrics of the Hearthside (1899), and a novel, The Sport of the Gods (1902). February 2004 Copyright © 2004 Clive Cussler Collector's Society Page 5 of 23 The Sea Dweller Volume 2, Number 1 During the 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s Dodd, Mead and Company published a number of anthologies of African-American poetry, folklore, essays, stories, and humor. Some of the anthologies and their editors include: We Speak of Liberators (1970) and What We Must See edited by Orde Coombs, The Book of Negro Folklore (1958, 1969) edited by Arna Bontemps and Langston Hughes, 3000 Years of Black Poetry (1969) edited by Lomax and Abdul, The Book of Negro Humor (1966) edited by Langston Hughes, and The Harlem Renaissance Remembered (1972) edited by Arna Bontemps. The business operations of Dodd, Mead and Company were suspended in March 1989 pending the outcome of arbitration with its fulfillment house, Metro Services Inc. By the end of 1990, the company ceased publications. History of Vail-Ballou Press Although Iceberg was published by Dodd, Mead & Company, it was printed by Vail-Ballou Press. Vail-Ballou Press origins come from The Maple-Press Company, founded by Harry A. Wisotzkey in 1901 as a small family-owned printing business. In its early years, the company principally served as a composition house serving the medical and high quality college textbook markets. The original manufacturing facilities in York, Pennsylvania housed monotype, linotype, and letterpress.