SCION LTD. – BRITISH PULP FICTION AT
ASH RARE BOOKS
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UNITED KINGDOM

London : Scion, (1951). First edition. “You know what a small town is like, everybody knows everybody else’s business, and the routine for the transportation of dough from the bank to the railroad was so ordinary that nobody bothered even to think about it” – until someone does. Although the author of some forty “Ross Angel” titles, Cresswell has so far evaded further identification, but he was presumably the Donald Cresswell living with Leila Cresswell at 5 New Row in Covent Garden in 1948 and later in Hampstead.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a design by Gomez; some minor wear; slight chipping and light creasing; a few minor marks; a few edge-spots, but otherwise very good. Just a single copy (British Library) located in major libraries worldwide.

£50

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London : Scion, (1950). First edition. “From the rich, colourful, hazardous records of a tough sanguinary career, Bocca has word-sculpted a series of engrossing, punch-laden novels in which the element of raw-life reality throbs with violent insistence”.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original stapled wrappers – blonde on the telephone by Gomez; some very minor wear; crease to front wrapper, but a very good copy of a scarce and fragile title. Just two copies (Bodleian and British Library) located in major libraries worldwide.

£75

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London : Scion, (1951). First edition. “Right then Marcelle was doing a good job of intoxicating me, sitting there in a Bikini that wouldn’t have made a moth’s hors d’oeuvre, singing a smoochy ditty in a voice that would have been a swell contralto if there hadn’t been so much gin in it”. Murder and mayhem in New Orleans.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 112pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a design by John Pollack; some wear; wrappers a little creased and fingered; some internal marks, creases and spots, but a reasonable copy. Just a single copy (Bodleian) located in major libraries worldwide.

£50

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London : Scion Distributors, [1954]. First edition. The half-title has been excised by the publishers and the Scion Distributors imprint pasted over the earlier Scion Ltd. on both title-page and final leaf – presumably a reflection of Scion’s internal wrangles and legal difficulties at that time. Strangely dressed stranger comes calling on a cold and wet February night on the outskirts of London – and sits down with a dictionary. Although the first two Volsted Gridban novels had been written by E. C. Tubb, subsequent Scion titles under this name all seem to have been written by the indefatigable John Russell Fearn.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 126pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers; light wear; some creasing; lower wrapper a little marked; a few minor marks, but otherwise a very good copy. No copy located in the British Library.

£25

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London : Scion, (1951). First edition. The crash of a spaceship on a Pacific island releases monster Zimmos – “the entire novel is a disaster” (Harbottle & Holland A223). The same characters appear in “Interstellar Espionage” by “Astron del Martia” (presumably the same author) published by Gaywood the following year
Crown 8vo (19cm). 112pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – an iconic design by Ron Turner; chipped at head and tail; wrappers rubbed, chipped and a little creased; substantial chip to foot of front wrapper; rear wrapper a little marked; staples rusting; text a little tanned, with some spotting and creasing in places; old inked price on title-page, but a serviceable copy of a cult classic.

£40

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London : Scion, (1952). First edition. “It was a woman’s body. She lay face down in the gutter ...” – the first of the handful of Scion titles produced under the “Mark Hampton” name. The introductory note presents him as a recently arrived American – so the name probably covers one of the regulars from the Scion stable.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 112pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – handsome woman in vampish pose – a design by Brab; some wear; some shallow chipping to upper wrapper; some soiling to lower; some light internal browning and creasing, but a reasonable copy.

SOLD

London : Scion, (1953). First edition. “Hey, sailor!” he repeated. “How'ja like to buy the biggest damn diamond in the world?”
Crown 8vo (19cm). 127,[i]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – emphatic blonde in a design by Desein; faint creasing; staples rusted, but otherwise an exceptionally clean and almost unworn copy.

SOLD

London : Scion, (1952). First edition. An Al O’Toole thriller – the hellcat Silver Sal escapes from a fatal car crash and “I knew that as long as Silver Sal was at large I would have no peace”. “Duke Linton”was a house-name used by a number of different Scion writers, but the present title is probably by Vic Hanson (1920-2001).
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a redhead by Roger Davis; some very minor wear and a few faint marks, but a very good copy indeed of an uncommon title. No copy located in any major library worldwide.

SOLD

London : Scion, (1953). First edition. Duke is swimming with a blonde and a redhead in the Gulf – and then their friend (the brunette) gets shot. Duke Linton was a Scion house-name, but American copyright records give the authors of the present title as Victor John Hanson and Herbert Victor Lowe – the first presumably Victor Joseph Hanson.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers; lightly worn and a little creased and bruised; tiny nicks and chips; text lightly tanned; faint stamp of a Vancouver bookseller on title-page, with an American copyright stamp on verso; American price over-sticker on upper cover, but overall a very good copy of a scarce and fragile production. Just a single copy (Trinity College, Dublin) located in major libraries worldwide.

£75

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London : Scion, (1951). First edition. “I rented the place, paid a quarter in advance, watched the guy paint my name on the door, and then waited. I waited all right. Waited until I'd run out of cash, run out of friends, and near run out of patience ...”. The “Hans Lugar” Scion house-name was used for twenty or so titles by a variety of authors between 1950 and 1954 – principally by a writer only identified as Quinn.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 112pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – brunette with gun in a design by Gilmore; slight wear at tips; some creasing to corners; slight rusting to staples; mild edge spotting, but overall a very good copy. Stamps of the Bolton Book Exchange on upper wrapper and first leaf of text.

SOLD

London : Scion, (1953). First edition. “Sometimes you can open a window and still feel normal; sometimes you are not so sure”. The startling clatter of a machine-gun outside disturbs the peace of a newspaper office.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a dreamy-eyed redhead by Renul; lightly worn and somewhat creased; short split at foot; text lightly tanned; but still overall a good copy of a scarce and fragile survival. Just three copies located in major libraries worldwide – just one in England.

SOLD

London : Scion, [1950]. First edition. “I had one hand on the wheel and the other on Annette. I was plastered and the feel of her made me crazier still ... then there was a sudden note of alarm in Annette’s cries as the car did a buck and a wing on the edge of a ditch ...”.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 112pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a design by Gomez; some minor wear and spotting; a couple of slight chips to rear wrapper; staples a little rusted; a few spots to text, but a good and serviceable copy. Just a single copy (Bodleian) located in major libraries worldwide.

£50

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London : Scion, (1951). First edition. Married couple return from a maiden voyage to Venus to find the Earth stopped in time – “A well-written and fascinating exploration of the ‘frozen time’ theme, usually confined to short stories” (Harbottle & Holland).
Crown 8vo (19cm). 112pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a design by Ron Turner; minuscule chipping to spine; a few trifling signs of age and use, but a very good copy. Aside from a microform at the Bodleian, no copy located in any major UK library.

£30

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London : Scion, (1952). First edition. “Set in a future when time travelling is commonplace ... the story of a population in deadly peril from a Jovian super scientist who has vowed vengeance on Humanity for the destruction of his home world” (Harbottle & Holland A163).
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a design by Philip Mendoza; spine lightly tanned and puckered; some creasing; one short tear to wrappers; erasure from front wrapper; text lightly tanned, but otherwise a good copy. Receipt stamps on verso of front wrapper and first page of text. Just three copies (Bodleian, Liverpool and Trinity College, Dublin) located in the major European libraries.

£40

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London : Scion, (1954). First edition. Klaglan – the ancient, mysterious and forbidden city of Mars – Halmar the Guide, Lorna the dancer from Venus, and the man called Smith try to penetrate its crystal walls.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 144pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a design attributed to Ronald Turner; some light wear, rubbing and slight creasing; a few faint marks; text a little tanned, but overall still a very good copy. Just two copies (British Library and Liverpool) located in the major UK libraries.

£40

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London : Scion, [1954]. First edition. Verrill needs to get to Mars where a spaceship is making ready for the Big Jump to the stars, but he is stranded on Venus without money, papers or weapons.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 144pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a design by John Richards; worn, rubbed and creased; short nick to title-page; some internal repair and tightening; a reasonable copy of a notorious rarity. Just a single copy (Liverpool) located in the major UK libraries.

£75

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London : Scion, (1953). First edition. Chicago gangland boss has a stunning new girlfriend – but his colleagues haven’t been told. Although earlier “Hans Vogel” titles had mainly been written for the Glasgow publisher John Watson by Norman Lazenby, after Watson sold the rights in the name to Scion in 1952 authorship becomes less clear. In this instance, a contemporary American copyright registration attributes the work to Dail Ambler and Herbert Victor Lowes (i.e. Lowe) – Dail Ambler was the regular pseudonym of Betty Williams, also known by her married name of Betty Uelmen, who under her “Dail Ambler” and “Danny Spade” personas, became one of the most successful of all of the British pulp-writers.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – brunette, gun, bed – a design by Roger Davis; lightly worn and a little creased; short nick to upper wrapper; a few faint marks and spots; text lightly tanned; faint stamp of a Vancouver bookseller on title-page, with American copyright stamp on verso; American price over-sticker on upper cover partially removed, but overall a very good copy of a scarce and fragile production. Just three copies (Bodleian, National Library of Scotland and Trinity College, Dublin) located in major libraries worldwide.

£75

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London : Scion, (1952). First edition. “The dame must’ve have let herself in with a key she’d swiped from the receptionist downstairs. I could have told her to get the hell out of it, but I didn’t” – action, suspense, dames, liquor and more. Scion took over the “Hyman Zoré” name from Muir-Watson of Glasgow in 1952 and it was subsequently used by a number of Scion regulars. American copyright records give the authors of the present title as Victor John Hansen and Herbert Victor Lowe – the first presumably Victor Joseph Hanson.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 127,[i]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – red-headed corpse just about covered; some mild rubbing; spine worn and flaking, with some small bald patches; staples rusted, but clean and sound within; a serviceable copy of a difficult title. Just three copies (Bodleian, National Library of Scotland, and Trinity College, Dublin) located in major libraries worldwide.

£40

To purchase, call us or e-mail us at books@ashrare.com quoting stock number 43209 – or simply click on the button