I have been collecting unpublished, uncollected, and uncommon Ray Bradbury stories for years. It has been fun finding these treasures, meeting fellow collectors, and making new friends. The impending book titled The Collected Stories of Ray Bradbury: A Critical Edition will soon hit the shelves. As awesome as this collection will be, I can't help but feel a bit sad that these stories that I have worked so dilligently to obtain will now be easily obtainable! Don't get me wrong, I have all but given up trying to obtain copies of some of these early stories, and now I will be able to finally read them... but my little collection will no longer be special.

When I bought a copy of Furia Fantasia I was finally able to read these all-but-impossible-to-obtain stories. It was thrilling! But I also couldn't imagine how those few collectors who had the originals felt. There is something special about owning a rare thing... and, as all Bradbury fans agree on, Ray's stories are both rare and very special.

After reviewing the stories that are to be included in this volume I compared notes. I have placed an astrix next to the stories that I currently own (it looks like there are 5 stories I don't have). Take a look if you are interested... some of these stories I have read and some I am saving for those special evenings when I NEED to enjoy a treasure. Some of these have been collected but many have not...

I know there are a few of you who also collect these. What are your thoughts?


KENT STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS
The Collected Stories of Ray Bradbury: A Critical Edition
Volume 1: 1938-1943

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Pulp Origins of a Literary Style 10,000 words

* Pendulum (1941) c. 5,000 words
* Gabriel’s Horn (1941) c. 5,000 words
* Final Victim (1941) c. 5,000 words
* The Piper (1941) c. 5,000 words
* The Candle (1942) 4,000 words
* Is That You, Herb? (1942) c. 2,000 words
* The Wind (1942) 5,000 words
Eat, Drink and Be Wary (1942) 1,000 words
* Promotion to Satellite (1942) 4,700 words
* The Crowd (1942) 6,000 words
* Chrysalis (1942) 18,000 words
* Subterfuge (1942) 3,500 words
* And Then-The Silence (1942) 1,800 words
* The Lake (1942) 2,400 words
Morgue Ship (1943) 4,300 words
* Tomorrow and Tomorrow (1943) 7,000 words
The Monster Maker (1943) 6,000 words
* The Scythe (1943) 5,300 words
* King of the Gray Spaces (1943) 5,700 words
* I, Rocket (1943) 6,500 words
* Undersea Guardians (1943) 5,400 words
* The Small Assassin (1943) 6,000 words

Appendix A
Selected Amateur Publications (1938-1941) c. 8,000 words
* Hollerbochen’s Dilemma (1938)
Hollerbochen Comes Back (1938)
* Don’t Get Technatal (1939)
* The Pendulum (first version, 1939)
* Luana the Living (1940)
* The Piper (first version, 1940)
* The Secret (1940)
It’s Not the Heat, It’s the Hu- (1940)
* Tale of the Mangledomvritch (1941)

Some thoughts:
Much looking forward to the new Critical Edition and subsequent volumes myself. Preliminary views of the book posted in the forums impress me that these volumes are going to be everything they're cracked up to be. Am equally looking forward to Prof. Jon Eller's Volumes of Becoming Ray Bradbury.

I can understand being a bit sad about your collecting diligence being slightly eclipsed, as it were. However, many aficionados of this or that find creative ways that personalize or highlight a collecton. Perhaps this is something you do already or could give thought to. Auctioning is an option too.

I've collected a few of these, but mostly as photocopies or scans. Having them properly typeset and bound will be a step up for me. However, I know that feeling of exclusivity lost: I get it with every screenplay that Bradbury publishes. THOSE are the lost, rare treasures that I have sometimes travelled thousands of miles to see, in archives, but which Ray is now publishing for anyone who wants them. (I'm thinking particularly of the MARTIAN CHRONICLES screenplays and the forthcoming publication of the screenplay that ultimately became SOMETHING WICKED.)

Then again, there is still magic in seeing something in its original form. For example, a couple of years ago I bought a 1940s issue of THRILLING WONDER STORIES so that I could compare the "pulp" version of one of the Martian stories with the revised version in MARTIAN CHRONICLES. Seeing the story in its original form and in its original context blew me away. It was as if TWS had just been freshly published and I was seeing a new classic Bradbury story for the first time.

Final thought: even if you know these previously uncollected stories, I think you will be fascinated by the way the material is arranged in this new volume.

Final final thought: when I first started collecting Bradbury's books, back in the 1980s, I really wanted to read his stories in chronological order, to see how his ideas had developed. This was IMPOSSIBLE in those days, because the chronology of composition was hidden - incomplete, inaccurate copyright statements were (are) the norm for Bradbury's short story collections. Only academic librarians would have access to a detailed bibliography. What Eller & Touponce are doing is finally providing a developmental insight into Bradbury's writing. At last!

In my opinion, if you have stories in their originial published form, that's totally cool. I'll gladly take them. I hope you enjoy them and I'm looking forward to reading the new collected stories volume.

Best wishes.

BH