1971 Stardrift

Description

First Edition, Illustrated, Publishers' Original Binding, Signed, With Dustwrapper, With Letter

The first edition, first impression, in the publisher's original price unclipped dust wrapper.

Flat signed to Petaja to the title page with 'for William F. Temple, with the best wishes of the author, Emil Petaja'.

William F. Temple was a British science fiction writer, known for authoring the 1949 novel-turned-film 'Four Sided Triangle'.

Loosely inserted are two letters between Temple and Petaja, regarding this collection. 

In the first, dated June 14th 1971, Temple says 'thanks so much for inscribing that copy of STARDRIFT which Forry sent'. At the head of the introduction is the inscription 'A present from Forry, '71'. Forrest 'Forry' J Ackerman was an American magazine editor; science fiction writer and literary agent who represented such science fiction authors as Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, and L. Ron Hubbard.

In his letter, Temple terms the collection 'a handsome book to regard and a lively one to read'. He mentions that one tale in the collection has a familiar plot of animals turning against men, but uses the analogy that 'one eats salad more than once, and its especially welcome when its freshly served up, as in this effort'. He then discusses their shared appreciation for silent films. 

Petaja's reply comes on the 17th September 1971, and he devotes some time to countering ideas of plagiarism: 'I assure you that I never borrowed consciously from other similar stories [...] don't you think similar ideas do occur to writers without any thought of in some cases knowledge of other similar stories?'.

With a frontispiece and vignette illustrations to the title page.

A wonderful collection of fourteen tales, with a delightful association