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254 pp. Text by Stan Lee. Illustrations by Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Herb Trimpe, John Romita, Marie Severin. Blue boards, pictorial dust jacket. First Edition, first printing. Very fine book in very fine jacket.

"Amongst the scarcest of 1970s Marvel collectibles. According to an archivist at Simon & Schuster, the hardcovers were released concurrently with the paperbacks, limiting the demand for hardcovers and resulting in exceedingly low print runs." -Comic Art: A Catalog and Reference Guide to Comic Art Hardcovers, Paperbacks, Portfolios, Etc. [Green Apple: 1996].

An incredibly clean, crisp and bright copy of this important Marvel collection, the  first in the popular Simon and Schuster / Fireside series of Marvel anthologies, and direct predecessor of the Marvel Masterworks and Marvel Omnibus series of later years. Laid into the book is an exceedingly rare publisher's promotional photo (no other examples are known); the book and the promo photo are both signed by Stan Lee. The book is additionally inscribed "All the best to Jeff" and dated the year of publication. The book was signed for publisher Jeffrey Weinberg of Water Row Press, who would go on to publish works by a number of underground and alternative cartoonists, including Robert Crumb. Accompanying the book and promo photo is a modern print of a photograph of Stan Lee taken at the 1974 signing event. The crisp condition of this copy, the ultra-rare promo photo, the two Stan Lee signatures, and the excellent provenance ensure that this is almost certainly the premiere copy of this book in existence.

Consignments Accepted for PBA's Next Comic Book Auction. Golden Age, Silver Age, Pre-Code, Original Art, Interesting Ephemera Sought. Contact [email protected] for details.