A while back I was in a used book store and came across an old Bradbury book I'd never seen before. I bought THE HUGO WINNERS edited by Asimov instead. I've never seen the Bradbury book since then and am now thinking I made a terrible mistake. The title of the book was something like THE ESSENTIAL BRADBURY. It was a collection of Bradbury's own personal favorites with an introduction by a woman as I recall. The copyright date was '63, '64, or '65 I think. Does this book ring a bell to anyone and if so, was there any rare or hard to find stories in it.

There is "The Vintage Bradbury," and I believe the introduction is by Gilbert Highet who may also have edited the Vintage series. There isn't any essential Bradbury of which I know, but there are several collections entitled "Classic Stories."

grasstains, I think Dandelion is right...sounds like THE VINTAGE BRADBURY, which is still in print in trade paperback. Any book store should be able to special order it for you if they don't have it in stock.

That's the one. Thanks