Arkham House founded by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei in 1939 was the greatest of the small press publishers of horror, the weird, and science fiction. Founded when the big publishers were not interested in a hardback collection of the stories of H. P. Lovecraft. Derleth and Wandrei decided to do it themselves. It was critical in getting stories originally in pulp magazines into book form. Arkham House in addition to H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch and many others. That in turn would lead to reprints in mass market paperbacks. Arkham House is a critical factor in 20^th Century fantastic fiction.

There have been bibliographies of Arkham House listing the books and contents. Brand new from Cimmerian Press is Arkham House Ephemera by Don Herron and John D. Haefele. This book covers the years 1937-1973. It is a pictorial history and guide for collectors.

This is a big 8.5 x 11 inch sized book with lots of color pictures. Arkham House ephemera consists of letters, brochures,catalogs, booklets cards, announcements. This book covers everything.

There are a total of 137 items listed. There is some text interspersed covering specific topics. Also included is a page on the Donald Wandrei catalog from 1973, after August Derleth’s death of forthcoming books. The books turned out to be fictional themselves including a book of Howard Wandrei’s art (Donald’s brother).

Going through this book fills in some gaps in knowledge by providing information on forthcoming books. I have known for years that Don Herron and John Haefele were tracking down Arkham House ephemera. I never realized it would turn into such a comprehenive book.

You can order the book here. It makes a nice reference if you have an interst in Arkham House books. I have a few catalogs from the 1980s. You could still get books by Joseph Payne Brennan, Carl Jacobi, Brian Lumley, Ramsey Campbell, Frank Belknap Long etc. It was always a thrill when the book order arrived. Derleth and Wandrei knew how to make a book that looked good, had good layout, and easy to read.