At our 2023 PulpFest, our auction of the Joecks estate will continue with 75 additional lots. There will also be 81 lots consigned to the convention by Scott and Linda Edwards of Dearly Departed Books, independent booksellers from Alliance, Ohio.
More from the Carl Joecks Estate
The late Carl Joecks was a television cameraman, electronic equipment repairman, and carpenter from Vermont. He became enamored with science fiction, comic books, radio, and astronomy as a boy and began to collect the things that he loved.
PulpFest began selling the Carl Joecks’ Collection at PulpFest 50, beginning with his pulps, digest magazines, men’s adventure magazines, true crime magazines, joke and gag books, and other material, including 50 lots of vintage paperbacks. The latter included a number of “Ace Doubles,” including the very first double paperback issued by the publisher.
On Saturday evening, August 5, PulpFest will be auctioning 75 lots of first-edition science fiction hardcovers and reference books, Armed Services Edition paperbacks, juvenile series books, convention program books, fanzines, and other material from the collection of Carl Joecks. Acquired over many years, the collection was largely stored in a darkened room.
One of the highlights of the 2023 Joeck’s auction will be Jules Verne’s “Wrecked in the Air.” The edition is the first U. S. authorized edition of the opening segment of Mysterious Island. Published in 1874 by Scribner, Armstrong, & Co., it features 48 illustrations and a map. The edition is bound in brown cloth with the front panel stamped in gold. Although the book is dated 1875 on the title page, it was issued in late October 1874, according to science fiction authority L. W. Currey.
Below, you will find photographs of all 75 auction lots and brief descriptions of the items included in each lot. There are reserves on 12 of the lots. The Joecks Estate auction lots are lot numbers 1 – 75.
For a PDF catalog featuring the 75 auction lots from the Joecks estate that are pictured below, please click here. Although our photographs below feature descriptive captions, you’ll find additional details for many of the lots in our PDF auction catalog.
The Dearly Departed Books Consignment Auction
Established in 1978, Dearly Departed Books is an independent bookstore located in Alliance, Ohio that has, in recent years, been primarily selling via the Internet. You’ll find them on AbeBooks, Alibris, Biblio, eBay, and by chance or appointment at 335 East Main Street in Alliance. Their telephone number is 330-821-2995, while their email address is departedpaper@att.net.
After 45 years in business, Scott and Linda are closing their brick-and-mortar storefront. They need to downsize their inventory from 30,000 books to a manageable 1000 or so.
A lot of good material needs to go and PulpFest 2023 is the first recipient of some of the more relevant items, with most of the lots offered without a reserve.
The Dearly Departed Books Auction Consignment consists of auction lots numbers 100 – 180. Below, you will find photographs of all of the consigned auction lots and brief descriptions of the items included in each lot. There are reserves on 6 of the lots in the Dearly Departed Books Auction Consignment.
For a PDF catalog featuring all 81 auction lots from the Dearly Departed Books Auction Consignment, please click here.
The PulpFest 2023 Members Consignment Auction
As always, PulpFest will also accept consignments from members of the convention. All members, including our dealers, may submit material to our auction. Any lots submitted to PulpFest prior to July 4, 2023, will be added to our auction photo catalog so that online bids can be placed.
As of late July, we have added nearly 60 member lots to our action, including two lots featuring three 1930s issues of The Shadow in very good or better condition. We also have several original paintings done by Samson Pollen, best known for the hundreds of interior illustrations he created for Martin Goodman’s line of men’s adventure magazines. There’s also a substantial run of Dime Novel Round-Up, a professional reproduction of the dust jacket for the first edition of Tarzan of the Apes, 150 issues of Marvel Conan comics, and other items.
The highlight of our members’ consignments is a scarce ink stamp pulp premium from “The Shadow Club.” These extremely rare premiums were originally offered through The Shadow Magazine from April 1, 1934 to the end of August 1934, accounting for their scarcity. The most recent one that we’ve seen offered was an incomplete stamp. It was sold in 2012 through Hake’s Auctions. According to their website, it was the first time they had offered one in many decades. Our rubber stamp is lot #93 in the auction. There is a reserve on the item.
All auction lots must have a value of $25 or more. The convention will charge a 16% commission based on the selling price for anything sold or the minimum value of any item that receives no bids. For example, if an item sells for $100, the seller will receive $80. If an item receives no bids, the seller will owe $5, or 20% of the $25 minimum value.
PulpFest reserves the right to reject any material that does not meet our standards. Sexually explicit material — including Playboy, Penthouse, and Oui — cannot be submitted to the auction.
All auction lots must be submitted to PulpFest by 1:30 pm on the day of the auction. We will accept your material at any time, up to 1:30 pm on Saturday, August 5. If you have questions concerning the auction, please contact PulpFest auction coordinator Mike Chomko at mike@pulpfest.com or 2217 W. Fairview Street, Allentown, PA 18104-6542.
Our PulpFest 2023 members consignment auction will be auction lots #76 – 99 and auction lots #181 and higher. Online bids will be accepted on any member-submitted lots made prior to July 28, 2023.
How to Place Bids in the 2023 Estate and Consignment Auction
All attendees of PulpFest 2023 will be able to bid on the available material. There will be three auction preview sessions offered during the convention. These will take place from 3:30 to 4: 40 pm on August 3, 4, and 5. We’ll also have a fourth session from 8:05 – 8:45 pm on Saturday, August 5. During these sessions, all consigned auction lots will be available for examination by PulpFest attendees.
If you will be attending PulpFest 2023, the sessions listed above (and on our programming schedule) will be the only times that you will be able to examine the lots prior to the start of the auction on August 5.
People who desire to attend the PulpFest auction — but not the convention itself — are also welcome to attend. If non-PulpFest attendees want to place bids during the auction, they will have to register as bidders. There will be a $5 non-refundable registration fee to bid during the auction. However, the $5 fee can be applied toward a single winning bid.
Non-PulpFest attendees will be able to register to bid during our 2023 auction at the convention’s front desk from 10 AM until 4 pm on Friday, August 4, and Saturday, August 5. Non-PulpFest attendees will also be able to register to bid immediately before the auction begins on Saturday evening, August 5. You may register to bid from 8:30 – 8:45 pm.
The auction will be held in the PulpFest 2023 programming room at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry. It will begin at 9 pm on Saturday, August 5.
How to Place an Online Bid
For those unable to attend PulpFest 2023, the convention will accept bids placed through the PulpFest Online Auction Bid Page. If no bid placed during the live auction is higher than the online bid, the lot will be won by the online bidder. PulpFest 2023 attendees will also be able to place silent bids if they so desire. Forms will be available at the convention during the auction preview sessions.
To place your online bids, click the red button immediately above the auction lot photographs found below. Our online bidding form will open in a new tab.
When placing your bid, you will need to provide your name, email address, mailing address, and billing address (if different), your method of payment, the lot you are bidding on, and your bid amount. A separate form must be filled out for each bid.
Online bids can be placed on every auction lot in our photo catalog, including the Joecks Estate, member submissions, and the Dearly Departed Books Consignment.
Online bids on all of the available lots that are less than $10 will not be accepted. The deadline to place silent bids through the PulpFest Silent Auction Bid Page is 11:59 pm Eastern time on Friday, July 28.
PulpFest will accept checks or money orders (in U.S. dollars), PayPal, or credit card payments for items won through silent bidding. A 5% fee will be charged for all credit card or PayPal transactions. There will be additional shipping charges for those who are not able to pick up the lots they have won.
Maneuvering Through Our Photo Catalog
Click an image for an enlarged view. Click the right side (or arrow) of the enlarged image to proceed to the next image. Click the left side to return to a previous image. To start a slideshow, click “play slideshow” at the end of each description. You can stop the slideshow at any time by clicking “pause slideshow.” To return to the auction page, click the close button at the bottom right of the image box, or somewhere outside the image.
To download a PDF of our PulpFest 2023 Auction Catalog — including the Joecks Estate, Dearly Departed Books consignment, and member submissions — click here.
The Fine Print
The items found in each lot have been graded. We have also attempted to note both exceptional pieces and substantial defects.
PulpFest reserves the right to withdraw any auction lot at any time prior to its being sold at auction. All bidders are encouraged to review the lots before placing bids. ALL SALES ARE FINAL.
If you have any questions or concerns about participating in the auction, please contact PulpFest auction coordinator Mike Chomko at mike@pulpfest.com.
The featured image for our Estate Auction Page has been adapted from the 2007 edition of Doc Savage, Volume 12, published in 2007 by Sanctum Books. The cover art by Emery Clarke was originally used as the front cover for the August 1940 issue of Doc Savage, published by Street & Smith.
PulpFest will be saluting Doc Savage and other pulp heroes at this year’s convention. To learn more about the convention’s programming, click here.
Robert A. Heinlein’s Assignment in Eternity is just one of the many fine books to be found in the collection of the late Carl Joecks. We’ll be selling many vintage science fiction hardcovers from the Joecks collection in our 2023 estate auction.
Assignment in Eternity was first published by Fantasy Press in 1953, with dust jacket art by Ric Binkley, an artist who painted the initial cover art for many books now regarded as science fiction classics. The first edition of Assignment in Eternity is in lot #23 of our estate auction.
Charles H. Barban created 48 engraved illustrations for “Wrecked in the Air,” the first segment of Jules Verne’s The Mysterious Island, published in 1874 by Scribner, Armstrong, & Co. The book is in lot #45 of our estate auction.
J. Allen St. John provided the dust jacket art for the first hardcover edition of Pirates of Venus, published by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. in 1934. PulpFest will be celebrating the 150th anniversary of St. John, as well as the centennial of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. as part of this year’s ERBFest, taking place in conjunction with PulpFest 2023.
R. G. Harris painted the cover art for the July 1937 issue of Doc Savage Magazine. The lead novel, “He Could Stop the World,” was written by Laurence Donovan using the Street & Smith house name, Kenneth Robeson.
Copies of both Pirates of Venus (Lot #100) and the July 1937 issue of Doc Savage Magazine (Lot #110) are part of the Dearly Departed Books Consignment Auction.
Our two auctioneer images are John Falter’s cover for the August 5, 1944 issue of The Saturday Evening Post and Norman Rockwell’s cover image painted for the April 29, 1922 issue of The Country Gentleman.
The images used to illustrate this page are representative of items included in our auction. They are not photographs of the actual items in the auction. You’ll find those in our auction photo catalog below.
PulpFest 2023 Auction Photo Catalog
Click the button below to place an online bid.
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The following abbreviations have been used in the captions:
DJ = dust jacket / ed = edition / RP = reprint / XL = ex-library / SF = science fiction
SC = softcover (if not noted, it’s a hardcover) / HC = hardcover
Grades: F = fine / NF = near-fine / VG = very good / G = good
More detailed descriptions of the auction lots can be found in our PDF catalog.
