Signed Patricia Highsmith Books: Edith's Diary, People Who Knock on the Door and Found in the Street

As I mentioned in my post the other week on a significant (to me, if no one else) piece of signed Patriciaphernalia relating to Ripley's Game, I also have several signed Patricia Highsmith first and other editions I've been meaning to blog about for bloody ages – which, in order of publication, are as follows:

A 1977 Heinemann first edition of Edith's Diary, Highsmith's seventeenth novel. I've blogged in brief before about a previous copy of this edition, bought in 2010 in the Chichester branch of Kim's Bookshop (which, I've only just learned, closed down last year, though the Arundel branch still seemingly prospers) and subsequently sold to, I think, my friend Ric, co-proprietor of Lewes's fine (and pretty much only these days) secondhand and antiquarian bookshop Bow Windows. (And in a pleasing instance of serendipity, just the other day Ric drew my attention to Elena Gosalvez Blanca's piece about her time as Highsmith's assistant, in which Blanca highlights Edith's Diary as her favourite Highsmith.) This copy, however, is signed on the title page:

And dated 21 November 1988, a good decade on from publication. What Highsmith was up to on that particular day I couldn't say – while I own Edith's Diary, I don't own Highsmith's Her Diaries and Notebooks, if that day is even mentioned in there – but Andrew Wilson's 2003 biography Beautiful Shadow suggests she might have been in America, where this copy came from. Evidently whatever she was doing included signing a book, and three years earlier, around summer 1985, Highsmith was also signing books:

Namely the first American edition of her nineteenth novel, People Who Knock on the Door, published by Penzler Books in a numbered, limited, signed edition in September 1985:

One of half a dozen of Highsmith's works published by Penzler in signed limited editions, this is another book I've blogged about before (again back in 2010) in its 1983 Heinemann first edition, when I was in the process of securing firsts of as many Highsmiths as I could. And would you believe it I've blogged about the final book I'm showcasing before too, although not this particular edition:

An uncorrected advance proof of Found in the Street, Highsmith's twenty-first novel, published in the US in 1987 (the year after the UK Heinemann first edition) by Atlantic Monthly Press, with whom Highsmith signed after Otto Penzler dropped her dedication to "the Palestinian people and their leaders" from the above-showcased US edition of People Who Knock on the Door. This one I can state with reasonable certainty when and where it was signed, as it's an association copy originally belonging to Greg Gatenby, founding artistic director of the Toronto International Festival of Authors; his ownership signature can be seen on the half-title page above Highsmith's signature:

In October 1987 Highsmith was a guest at the festival, where she was interviewed for Sight & Sound magazine by film critic Gerald Peary, who noted what a coup her appearance was. According to Andrew Wilson, on 20 October, as part of her festival duties, Highsmith read from Found in the Street at Toronto's Harbourfront – and that locale, I would hazard, is where this proof of the US edition was signed.

Patriciaphernalia: A Signed Patricia Highsmith Letter Regarding Ripley's Game

I've a number of Patricia Highsmith signed books I've been meaning to blog about for bloody ages – years in fact – but the demands of work and life have meant that my blogging activity has largely been restricted to whichever books I've written or edited myself. However, I'm hoping to make more time for Existential Ennui besides simply blogging about whichever project I'm working on – case in point being my post the other day on Patrick Gierth – and have every intention of getting to those signed Highsmiths soon (and adding them to my dedicated Patricia Highsmith page). First, though, I want to showcase something even more remarkable:

A note Highsmith wrote on 9 February, 1975, regarding her "third Tom Ripley" as she puts it – in other words, 1974's Ripley's Game. The third in Highsmith's five-book Ripliad, Ripley's Game is, as I've noted many, many times, my favourite novel, not just of hers but full stop. I've never managed to secure a signed edition – though I do own a 1974 US Knopf first with an owner inscription by James Bond/Ian Fleming biographer John Pearson – so when I saw this note offered for sale I knew I had to have it so I could pair it with my 1974 Heinemann first edition of Ripley's Game (the book which began my book-collecting odyssey).

Addressed from Highsmith's then-residence in the village of Moncourt, France, where she wrote both Ripley's Game and the next book in the Ripliad, 1980's The Boy Who Followed Ripley (a signed US edition of which is one of those signed books I mentioned up top), the note is penned in response to a missive from one Peter Ladkin. An inveterate letter writer judging by the number of other examples of his author letters offered for sale at the same time (he also corresponded with the philosopher and LSE Professor John Watkins), Mr. Ladkin had evidently written approvingly of Ripley's Game, eliciting the following response from Highsmith:

Dear Mr Ladkin,

Don't worry about sending me the cost of return postage. I thank you very much for your remarks about my work and am glad you enjoyed my third Tom Ripley.

Yours sincerely

Patricia Highsmith

As the mention of "return postage" suggests, Mr. Ladkin had also seemingly requested Highsmith's signature and an accompanying inscription, which she duly supplied on a separate piece of paper, presumably so it could be used as a bookplate:

So there we have it: two notes regarding Ripley's Game, written from the house where Patricia Highsmith wrote that novel. Quite the pair of pieces of Patriciaphernalia for a Highsmith/Ripley's Game obsessive like myself.

Painter, Illustrator and Book Jacket Designer Patrick Gierth and the West Sussex Village of Wisborough Green

Among the dust jackets collated in my Beautiful British Book Jacket Design of the 1950s and 1960s gallery is an evocative one belonging to a 1951 Michael Joseph first edition of Rogue Male author Geoffrey Household's terrific rural thriller A Rough Shoot (a novel wherein, as I noted in my review back in 2012, the unsuspecting reader will find such bucolic details as badger ham). The dust jacket's designer, Patrick Gierth, also designed the wrapper for the 1951 Joseph first edition of John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids (among other jackets), but he had a broader artistic life stretching far beyond the bounds of book cover art. His 1943 painting Guard Relaxing, the Stables, Wynnstay is held in the Government Art Collection, while his poster for Shell/BP is held by the British Council, and his name pops up in the Imperial War Museum collection. Yet he found artistic expression in the parochial as well as the national, as I learned after I bought this:

This is a 9.7 by 14.6-inch watercolour painting I came across whilst googling Patrick Gierth. It was listed by the seller under the surname Gierth – it's signed, but only with a surname – dated 1986 and described as "A charming watercolour with gouache highlights." I had no idea whether it was actually by Patrick Gierth, but his was an unusual surname, and stylistically it looked like it could be, plus it was only thirty quid, so after some deliberation I decided to go for it. 

With the painting in hand I did some further digging and determined that until his death in November 1994 Gierth lived in the West Sussex village of Wisborough Green, about an hour's drive from where I live in Lewes. While I was pretty sure I'd driven through the place, I'd never visited it, so although I suspected the scene depicted in the painting might be somewhere in the village, it wasn't anywhere I recognised. Gierth's given address upon his death was School Lane; could the painting depict the road where he lived, I wondered? 

Google Street View gave me a sense that I might be on the right track, but while I thought the church glimpsed in the picture could well be the Wisborough Green parish church (alias St Peter Ad Vincula), I wasn't able to pinpoint precisely the vantage point. I did, however, discover that Gierth was instrumental in the creation of the Wisborough Tapestry which hangs in the church, and that he designed the village green sign.

There was only one thing for it: I was going to have to go to Wisborough Green. And so earlier this year, on my birthday, that's precisely what Rachel and I did, painting in hand(s). It didn't take long to find the place where the picture was painted, round the corner from the village hall and pond, just down from where Gierth lived in High Barn. You can see the view in the photos in this post, along with other photos I took of the village sign, the tapestry, and as it turns out several other pieces Gierth produced for the church.

Confirmation, then, that this rather lovely painting is indeed by the designer of the dust jacket of one of my favourite thrillers, and moreover depicts the road in Wisborough Green where he lived.

Testing, Testing: Build the Guardians of the Galaxy Ship!

Currently swooping into view in newsagents and supermarkets... somewhere in the country (I have no idea where – if you've seen it out in the wild, please do leave a comment!) is this:

Hachette Partworks' Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy Ship! It's something I've been working on for the past couple of years: a step-by-step build of the Guardians' – and Avengers' – ship from Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Thor: Love and Thunder and indeed I Am Groot, accompanied by a magazine delving into all aspects of the Guardians and cosmic Marvel both on screen and in comics. I wrote and edited the magazine – which was designed by the amazing Amazing15 – and in my capacity as author of Guardians of the Galaxy Ultimate Guide, Marvel Arms and Armour and other Guardians and Marvel books have been advising on the ship, the build, the Guardians, Marvel and multifarious other aspects of the project.

What's appearing in shops right now... somewhere in the UK (again, I really don't know where – I wish I did) is a four-issue test comprising the first four magazines and sets of parts. If the test goes well, then the partwork will launch nationally. So if you want the chance of building a huge model of the Guardians' ship (or the Infinity Saga ship as I like to call it) with working lights and engines, movable wings and tail, and even the auxiliary pod that Thor, Rocket and Groot use in Infinity War and War Machine and Nebula use in Endgame, and you want to know what else I have planned for the magazine, grab yourself an issue or three if it appears in shops near you, or head to the website and subscribe. Believe me, the ship truly is a thing of beauty – and the magazine's a damn good read too!

The DC Heroes & Villains Collection Extension Issues 101 to 110

I've blogged about the 20-volume extension to the DC Heroes & Villains Collection a couple of times now, and posted repeatedly in the DC Heroes & Villains Collection Facebook group, but those posts have been somewhat piecemeal in nature, and not everyone has the time, patience or, frankly, interest in putting the various pieces together. So I thought a straightforward rundown of the first ten releases in the extension might be of more use, along with a little additional background.

First out of the blocks, and already in some readers' clammy hands, are issues 101 and 102, namely Batman: Universe and Justice League vs. Suicide Squad, both of which I wrote about in this post, along with issues 103 and 104:

The Joker: The Series and Batman: Ten Nights of the Beast, which will be published later this month and early in the new year. Having already blogged about all four of the initial volumes in the extension, I shan't dwell on them here... except to say that as magnificent as Batman: Universe and Justice League vs. Suicide Squad are – and as huge a book as the latter of those two is, at nearly 300 pages – The Joker: The Series and Batman: Ten Nights of the Beast are even more special because they're unique to the DC Heroes & Villains Collection: bespoke volumes collecting, respectively, all of the mid-1970s The Joker series – including the 'lost' 10th issue – plus two key Denny O'Neil, Neal Adams and Irv Novick issues of Batman, and the first half of Jim Starlin's late-1980s Batman run, including the classic Ten Nights of the Beast. On top of which, both books are chock-full of bonus features.

Speaking of the Joker and bespoke volumes – and indeed big extents – later in January there's issue 106, The Joker: Vengeance. Collecting all 21 chapters of the lead storyline from James Tynion IV, Guillem March and co.'s 2021–2022 15-issue The Joker series – for my money one of the best extended comics storylines of the last five years – it's one long twisty-turny suspense thriller in one unique 328-page graphic novel. Just ahead of that book there's issue 105, the visually spectacular The Man of Steel, featuring showstopping art by, among others, Jim Lee, Jason Fabok, Steve Rude, Ryan Sook, Kevin Maguire and Adam Hughes, and then in February we have releases 107 and 108:

Batman: The Cult and Justice Society Returns! I vividly recall reading both of these on original publication, in 1988 and 1999 respectively, which is true of a good many of the comics in the DC Heroes & Villains Collection, and an indication of how personal the collection is to me (although personal preference obviously wasn't the only criteria for the selection of the stories). Published a couple of years after Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Jim Starlin and Bernie Wrightson's The Cult was only the second Batman miniseries to be published in the then-relatively new upmarket Prestige Format, and thus felt like a very different kind of Batman comic when I picked it up off the shelves of Forbidden Planet on Denmark Street: one seemingly set in current continuity, but bearing the influence of the dystopian Dark Knight Returns, as Starlin readily admitted. 

The Cult was a high-profile project for DC at the time, whereas the Justice Society Returns! event flew very much under the radar in 1999, yet was a revelation for me: a terrific introduction to the Justice Society of America (with whom I was only passingly familiar at the time) ahead of the JSA series which launched in its wake, by the architects of that series, James Robinson and David S. Goyer, plus the likes of Mark Waid, Geoff Johns, Ron Marz, Chuck Dixon, Michael Lark, Eduardo Barreto, Peter Snejbjerg, Stephen Sadowski, Chris Weston and Russ Heath. Moreover, the format of the event – two issues of a revived All Star Comics bookending seven resurrected Golden Age titles, with the story reflecting the way JSA stories of the past saw the team splitting up into smaller units – was a really nice idea.

With both Batman: The Cult and Batman: Ten Nights of the Beast in the extension, it's only fitting that the remainder of Jim Starlin's stint as Batman writer be included too, which it will be in March, in the shape of issue 109, Batman: A Death in the Family. Collecting not just that notorious storyline but the issues either side of it, it's another bespoke volume and boasts some terrific bonus content, including Jim Aparo's original art pages for the alternate outcome of Batman #428 alongside their coloured and lettered counterparts, which were only belatedly published this year. A 400-page follow-up volume, Batman: Under the Red Hood, will be published later next year – I'll blog about that book nearer the time – but before then, and rounding out the initial ten releases in the extension, we have issue 110, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. Originally published from 2021–2022 as an eight-issue miniseries, Tom King and Bilquis Evely's celebrated sci-fi fable is a story that I suspect a lot of people will be interested in reading, due to the Craig Gillespie/Milly Alcock movie currently in pre-production.

Inside the DC Heroes & Villains Collection Graphic Novel Extension

As promised in my previous post about the 20-volume extension to the DC Heroes & Villains Collection – which, lest we forget (and I mean how could we when I'm forever banging on about it), I'm the editor of – I thought I'd delve a little deeper into the extension than the four volumes thus far announced – or rather five, as subscribers have also been told about the 400-page Batman: Under the Red Hood. That volume's not due to be published until next spring, but it's worth spending a moment on it now because it might help illuminate how both the extension and the collection as a whole developed. 

Way back in the mists of time, or more accurately the tail end of 2019, when I first noted down some thoughts on which stories we could potentially include in the collection, Judd Winick, Doug Mahnke and co.'s Red Hood storyline from Batman was one of those on my initial list. It's a run of comics that I loved when it was first published in the mid-2000s, a twisty-turny Bat-thriller that audaciously brought back a character who had been killed off in the late-1980s, yet kept readers guessing as to the true identity of that character (much as Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting were doing around the same time with their Winter Soldier storyline in Captain America; truly the mid-2000s were a great time to be reading superhero comics).

With a licensed partwork like the DC Heroes & Villains Collection, there's often a bit of give and take in terms of what can and can't be included, and for whatever reason, possibly the storyline's length (I can't actually remember at this point), Under the Red Hood didn't make it onto the final list of 100 volumes. But in common with some other titles that fell by the wayside, I never forgot about it – you should see my various voluminous docs of notes and ideas – and promised myself that should the collection ever be extended I'd revisit it, even though its length would likely mean splitting it across two volumes. 

Incidentally, on the subject of the extension, there's an assumption amongst those familiar with partwork graphic novel collections that they always get extended past their initial run, but I had every reason to believe that the DC Heroes & Villains Collection would end at 100 volumes. Its extension was a genuine surprise to me, albeit a pleasant one, because it represented an opportunity to revisit previously rejected volumes and include new ones.

As discussions about the extension between myself, Hachette and DC developed – over a very short space of time I should add, as confirmation of the extension came quite late in the day – it became clear that not only would we be able to revisit stories that had fallen by the wayside and add in stories only relatively recently published, but include stories that I didn't think we'd ever get agreement on – and furthermore have a number of volumes with greater page counts, including one 400-page one. 

Well hello, Batman: Under the Red Hood.

Once Under the Red Hood came into play – and after a different story dropped out of the extension – I started thinking about another title I intended to include: a volume collecting the first half of Jim Starlin's late-1980s Batman run, including the classic Ten Nights of the Beast. If those comics were on the table alongside the Red Hood storyline, wouldn't it make sense to also include the second half of Starlin's run, in particular the notorious A Death in the Family...?

I shan't spoil the events of those stories for anyone who hasn't read then, but anyone familiar with them will understand the significance of Starlin and Winick's respective Batman runs appearing in sequence in the collection's extension. And the icing on the cake: I'd already determined to try and include Jim Starlin's other significant Bat-story, the 1988 Prestige Format miniseries Batman: The Cult – with art by the great Bernie Wrightson – and so the extension will feature all of the Bat-books written by Starlin, brought together in a unique fashion.

Batman: Ten Night of the Beast has already been announced as the fourth release in the extension, published at the start of 2025, while Batman: The Cult, Batman: A Death in the Family and Batman: Under the Red Hood will be arriving in February, March and April – and of course will be stuffed with extras and bonus content. Before those, however, there are two other volumes set for a January release:

The Man of Steel, which collects the start of Ultimate Spider-Man co-creator Brian Michael Bendis's Superman run from 2018 and features spectacular art by Jim Lee, José Luis García-López, Ivan Reis, Jason Fabok, Evan "Doc" Shaner, Steve Rude, Ryan Sook, Kevin Maguire and Adam Hughes;

and The Joker: Vengeance, which collects the entire 21-chapter lead story from James Tynion IV, Guillem March and co.'s 2021–2022 The Joker series: to my mind one of the most gripping comics storylines of the past five years, in one unique 300-plus-page volume.

As for the other titles to be released early next year, not to mention the remainder of the DC Heroes & Villains Collection extension... more anon.