First Part of Major Pulp Magazines Collection to Auction

Rare pulp magazines and 'ashcans' from the Dr. Richard Meli Pulp Collection will go under the hammer at Heritage Auctions December 4-6.

Classic detective authors such as Raymond Chandler and Agatha Christie feature, with Dr. Meli’s Collection including some of the earliest issues of the iconic mystery title Black Mask. Artists like Margaret Brundage, best known for her Weird Tales cover paintings, figure heavily in Dr. Meli’s collection as well. 

Among the lots is the entirety of Weird Tales’ original run from 1923 to 1954, including issues like the first Conan story and the October 1933 No. 118 with its Brundage 'Bat Woman' cover painting which Sasha Fraze, Comics & Comic Art Consignment Director for Pulp Magazines, estimates will be sold for between $50,000 and $250,000.

Also offered will be the June 1933 issue of Weird Tales, with cover art by Margaret Brundage illustrating the Robert E. Howard story Black Colossus, an early Conan the Cimmerian story.

The Dr. Meli Collection - much of which originally came from the collection of author and pulp collector Frank Robinson - also includes 'ashcans', test copies created solely to trademark a title. Ashcans usually had black-and-white covers made from recycled art and dummy interiors as they were not meant to be sold to the public or seen by anyone outside of trademark offices.  

“This collection has been a lifelong passion of mine,” said Dr. Meli. “I spent the last 50 years hunting for the highest-graded pulps in existence and had a lot of fun doing it. Now that I’ve achieved my goal on many of the books, I’m honored to be able to give others the opportunity to do the same.”