Bill of Sale for title and all rights in "The King in Yellow" and "In The Quarter" to Publisher Frank Tennyson Neely for $300.00, signed by Chambers and Neely 10 June 1895, and related documents
$30,000 · Offered by Biblio
Signed
1902. Folio and smaller. Old folds. Folio and smaller. The original agreement for the sale of title and all rights to The King in Yellow (reserving U.S. dramatic rights) made between F. Tennyson Neeley and Robert W. Chambers (1865-1933), signed "RW Chambers" 10 June 1895, in four payments totalling $300. With a separate assignment of copyright, signed "Robert W Chambers" on the same date. The King in Yellow is a cornerstone of modern horror and fantasy and a book that has fascinated authors from H.P. Lovecraft to James Blish and also gained currency in recent years as a source of the True Detective series. "One of the most important works of supernatural horror between Edgar Allan Poe and modern horror fiction" (Bleiler). Chambers was a prolific and perennially popular author of historical romances set in France during the Franco-Prussian War and in rural New York during the American Revolution. The King in Yellow was his only contribution to the genre. F. Tennyson Neely (1863-1941) began publishing in 1893 and quickly gained a name for himself for issuing popular novels and skating close to scandal. He published Vizetelly's translations of Zola (for which the publisher had been jailed in England) and Chambers' stories of artistic Paris in 1894. The King in Yellow was published in 1895. The following year, Neely was taken to court by one of his authors for non-payment of royalties. As the Bill of Sale demonstrates, Chambers had sold his titles outright so no royalties were ac
- Year: 1902
- Binding: unknown
Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.